EarlyWord

Given the star power of the Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper combo, as evidenced in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, it’s been surprising that a third film starring the duo, Serena, adapted from Ron Rash’s 2008 novel, has not yet seen the light of day.

It seems Danish director Susanne Bier, whose movie, In A Better World, won the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, wanted to take her time in the editing room. New images from the film have just been released and are being featured on various web sites (The Playlist offers the largest selection; MTV praises Lawrence’s “retro glam”), indicate that it may soon have a release date.

Rash’s next novel, Above the Waterfall, (HarperCollins/Ecco) is scheduled for publication in 2015.

Debuting at #6 on the April 3rd Indie Hardcover Fiction Bestseller list is the #1 LibraryReads and IndieNext pick for April, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin, (Workman/Algonquin; Highbridge Audio).

That may be confusing, since the book’s publication date, April 1, is after the cut-off date for reporting sales to the list, March 30.

The book actually shipped last week and enthusiastic indie booksellers wasted no time in getting it in to the hands of readers, employing some creative methods (today’s Shelf Awareness offers an example).

Their efforts were aided by an interview with the author on Friday’s All Things Considered. 

You can stop holding your breath.

The premiere date for the Lifetime adaptation, Petals On the Wind, the sequel to Flowers in the Attic, has been set for Memorial Day, May 26th.

There may be more coming. Lifetime is also developing the other two books in the series, If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday, as well as a  standalone, My Sweet Audrina.

The covers for the tie-ins, now moved to a May 20 pub date, have ben revealed:

Petals on the Wind
V.C. Andrews
S&S/Gallery May 20, 2014
Trade paperback; $14.00 USD / $17.00 CAD
9781476789552, 147678955X

Mass market (rack) paperback; $7.99 USD / $9.99 CAD
S&S/Pocket Books; May 20, 2014
9781476789569, 1476789568

The village of Holt in Wiltshire is gearing up for the BBC’s arrival next week to begin filming the adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. The shoot will take place in Great Chalfield Manor, standing in for Thomas Cromwell’s home.

Mark Rylance, who will play Cromwell, is familiar with that house. It was used as the Boleyn family home in the 2008 film of Phillipa Gregory’s novel, The Other Boleyn Girl (S&S/Scribner), in which he portrayed Thomas Boleyn.

Fans who have been eagerly awaiting Mirror And The Light, the projected final volume in Mantel’s series, were disappointed when it was announced that her next book, coming at the end of September, is The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher and Other Stories, (Macmillan/Holt, Macmillan Audio, read by Simon Vance), which is obviously not part of the Tudor series.

She has said, however, that she plans to finish Mirror And The Light this year. That book is clearly very much on her mind. On Saturday, speaking on BBC radio about why she finds her subject Cromwell so fascinating, she addressed the inevitable final event of the story, when his “life will end abruptly on the scaffold.” Rather than seeing his life as ending of failure, she hopes the “reader, when we get there, will be moved, will be sorry, but will also be  astounded by the life I’ve narrated. I aim to leave my reader harrowed, and yet braced, ready for the next thing.”

Debuting at #15 on the New York Times hardcover fiction list this week is a book we’ve had our eye on, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s You Should Have Known, (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio). That position  puts it just below another domestic thriller, The Husband’s Secret, by Liane Moriarty (Penguin/Putnam/Amy Einhorn) which has had a fairly long 16-week run on the list.

You Should Have Known arrived with strong advance buzz and 3.5 stars from People magazine. Janet Maslin in the New York Times last week heaps praise on the first part of the book, but complains that the latter “isn’t nearly as gripping.” The Los Angeles Times reviewer Wendy Smith says, “It’s almost impossible to put down Jean Hanff Korelitz’s riveting new novel for the first 200 pages as it dismantles the comfortable existence of a couples therapist over the course of a few nightmarish weeks” and agrees that the tension “dissipates in the second half,” but doesn’t regard that as a bad thing, simply  the book developing a “quieter drama.”

Libraries that ordered it modestly are showing heavy holds, as high as 12:1.

“If you smoked Colombian marijuana in the ’70s or ’80s, I owe you a thank-you card,” says Tony Dokoupil on CBS Sunday Morning.

Why?  “Because you brought my father’s product, and you bought my baseball gloves by extension, and you put me through private school. And you paid for the boat that we crisscrossed the oceans in and the Caribbean vacations. The good life.”

Dokoupil, currently a a senior writer for NBC News, also appears on NPR’s Fresh Air today, to talk about his book, which arrives tomorrow, The Last Pirate, (RH/Doubleday) about his search for his father, who left the family when his son was a child and the surprising things he discovered about him.

Kicking off a media blitz for his latest take down of Wall Street,  Flash Boys, (Norton; S&S Audio), Michael Lewis appeared on Sixty Minutes last night. Following that story, headlines in today’s print media scream that Lewis reveals the stock market is rigged.

Tomorrow, Lewis appears on the Today Show, NPR’s Fresh Air and the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as well as many other shows throughout the week.

The book is currently at #1 on Amazon sales rankings and libraries are showing holds.

Finally arriving next week, as we turn the corner to the spring book season, is a novel that both librarians and booksellers can’t wait to get in to readers’ hands, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry.

Among the big names arriving are new books by Mary Higgins Clark, Barbara Taylor Bradford and Brian Freemantle (download our spreadsheet for ordering information on these and more).

Below are seven to have on the tip of your tongue:

Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, (Workman/Algonquin; Highbridge Audio; Thorndike)

After an extraordinary amount of  advance buzz, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, finally arrives on shelves next week. It is the #1 pick for April for BOTH LibraryReads and IndieNext. If you haven’t gotten your hands on a galley, scroll through the reviews on Edelweiss to get a sense of how much excitement this novel is generating among your colleagues.

Here’s the response from someone who has read the book in depth, the audio narrator Scott Brick:

I’ve been blessed to narrate over 600 audiobooks thus far, and this book instantly pushed its way to the top of my list of absolute favorites. I told someone recently that I wish I could redo the book, and they asked, ‘Why, did you not like the way it turned out?’ I said ‘No, I just wish I could have that experience of reading every word again over and over again.’

Wendy Bartlett from Cuyahoga P.L. suggests, “Read this one before the customers find it.”

A.J. Fikry is a lonely and grumpy young widower whose life is transformed by the power of story. The wonderful Gabrielle Zevin (and if you don’t already have a favorite Gabrielle Zevin title, honey, where have you been??) begins each chapter in Fikry’s life with a page about a great book or short story whose theme is explored as you turn pages—like Eudora Welty’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” for instance. [NOTE: Thanks to the commenter who pointed that we confused the attribution — the author of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is actually Flannery O’Connor. Our apologies — Zevin has the proper attribution in her book].

But you (or your customers) don’t have to know the stories or books to enjoy this paean to booksellers, book people, and readers. Okay, sure, it’s set on a gorgeous island in the bookstore we’ve all wanted to own, with the townspeople we’ve all wanted to live next to. It’s a universal story with a bookstore setting, and I can’t tell you anymore without spoiling it except know this: you’ll be utterly and completely charmed.

Michael Lewis, Flash Boys, (Norton; S&S Audio)

Every new title by Lewis is an event and like his other books, this one is embargoed, so there hasn’t been much  information to go on, other than the author’s stunning track record as someone the media hotly pursues (the media blitz begins on Sunday with 60 Minutes and includes the Today Show on Tuesday, NPR’s Fresh Air and the Daily Show with Jon Steward. Download full Michael Lewis Media Roundup). More information emerged yesterday when the International Business Times broke the embargo, saying the book  “Shines Light On High-Frequency Trading,” a practice that enables banks to “Screw Their Customers.” The promotion for the 60 Minutes segment, released today, is headlined, “Stock Market Rigged, Says Michael Lewis in New Book.”

Emma Donoghue, Frog Music,  (Hachette/Little, Brown)

Most libraries have bought this one conservatively, but early consumer reviews indicate that, although quite different from Donoghue’s best selling Room, it will find its own large audience. In addition to Ron Charles’s rave in the Washington Post, it’s the lead book review in this week’s People magazine, with 3.5 of 4 stars and the author is profiled in this Sunday’s New York Times Book Review.

Frances Mayes, Under Magnolia, (RH/Crown; BOT; Thorndike)

Mayes is known, of course, for her books that made everyone dream of restoring a falling-down ruin in Tuscany. In this one, she examines her troubled childhood in Georgia. The prepub reviews are extraordinarily enthusiastic, indicating this one bears watching.

Michelle Huneven, Off Course, (Macmillan/FSG/Sarah Crichton Books)

Expect reviewers to be jumping on this one, based on the critical success of the author’s previous title, Blame, a National Book Critics Circle finalist. The L.A. Times review is the first one. It includes this intriguing line, “What Huneven so skillfully points out here is that love triangles, torrid affairs and the like are not just reserved for protagonists in Jackie Collins airplane novels.” Plus, we’re taken with that cover, which looks like something from Ransom Riggs’ collection.

Max Brooks, The Harlem Hellfighters, (RH/Broadway)

The book we most often see people reading on the subway is Brooks’s World War Z (before Brad Pitt turned it into something unrecognizable). Brooks’s new one is graphic novel about an actual war and an actual group of soldier; the black World War I regiment nicknamed, “The Harlem Hellfighters.” Sony has picked it for a big screen adaptation.

Katherine Addison, The Goblin Emperor, (Macmillan/Tor Books)

As we head in to the new season of Games of Thrones, readers may be interested in other fantasy books that explore politics and power. This one has extraordinary pre pub reviews, such as LJ‘s; “Court intrigue and politics are popular fodder for fantasy novels, but rarely have they been done better than in this fantastic new novel from Sarah Monette (writing as Addison). The writing is lovely, with characters who live and breathe.” It is also a GalleyChat favorite.

[Note: the following is from our regular GalleyChatter columnist, Robin Beerbower]

Librarian friends on Edelweiss have been busy marking and reviewing hot e-galleys. Below are a few that have interested us the most. I will be writing about new titles rising to the top of TBR piles; if you want to join in, please friend me.

The March GalleyChat round-up featured The Bees by Laline Paull, (HarperCollins/Ecco, May), and it has since received even more buzz with seven librarians giving it “much love” on Edelweiss. Vicki Nesting said “Every once in a while a book that you never expected captures your imagination.” I’m keeping my fingers crossed this will be a top LibraryReads choice for May (the second image, above, is from the back cover of the book).

A few lucky librarians have received a sweet little drawstring bag marked with a skull and crossbones containing an ARC of Taylor Stevens’ The Catch, (RH/Crown, July). Fourth in the popular Vanessa Michael Munroe series, the “informationist” goes to Africa and gets involved with kidnappings and Somali pirates. Might be a good fiction match for Captain Phillips.

It’s been four years since book group favorite Jane Smiley has published an adult book, so it’s no wonder there is high anticipation for her next book Some Luck, (RH/Knopf, October), the first in an epic trilogy featuring a farm family.

On Edelweiss Jen Dayton raved about Lily King’s Euphoria, (Grove/Atlantic, June), a novel loosely based on Margaret Mead’s journals, saying “King’s language is as lush as the landscape…” It has received “much love” from five peers and the publisher compares this to Horan’s Loving Frank and McLain’s The Paris Wife.

Last year, I loved Ann Hood’s The Obituary Writer so much that I selected it as a Thorndike Peer Pick. Many of us are excited to see Hood has a new one coming, The Italian Wife (W.W. Norton, Sept.), a multi-generational novel about an Italian family in America. I’ll be watching closely for the e-galley tentatively scheduled for April.

Paul Doiron’s fifth in the Game Warden Mike Bowditch mysteries, The Bone Orchard, (Macmillan/Minotaur, July), has snagged the interest of a number of Edelweiss friends.

This atmospheric series set in Maine are good for those who like C. J. Box and William Kent Krueger.

Set a story on a beach and I’ll read it, so I am pleased two of my favorite authors have galleys available for their June books. Nancy Thayer’s Nantucket Sisters, (RH/Ballantine), and Elin Hilderbrand’s The Matchmaker, (Hachette/ Little, Brown), are not only perfect for fans of women’s fiction but they also have covers that scream “stuff me into your beach bag.”

We’re looking forward to hearing out what you’re reading. Join us on Twitter for GalleyChat, this coming Tuesday, April 1 (we kid you not), from 4 to 5 p.m. EST (4:30 for virtual cocktails), #ewgc.

If you heard the promo for Karen Russell’s interview on NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday, and thought, “I didn’t know she had a new book out,” you are not alone.

Her new book is actually an eBook-only novella titled Sleep Donation. Dozens of writers have released eBook-only short fiction, many of them “bridge” stories between titles in a series, to tide fans over between books, (such as Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novella, High Heat, RH/Delacorte). But when an author with Russell’s literary cred does it, it gets attention.

Adding further to the media allure, this is the first release from Atavist Books, a joint venture between media mogul Barry Diller and movie producer Scott Rudin, run by former Picador USA publisher Frances Coady (more on the company here, but fair warning, this story buys the Kool Aid that it is “revolutionary,” even though there are many others in this business). Adding even more media-worthy names, it comes with an audio read by indie actress Greta Gerwig, and even has an interactive cover designed by that oxymoron, a famous book designer, Chip Kidd. Plus, it has its own website.

Unfortunately, however, it does not seem to be available to libraries.

Appropriately, the novella is about an insomnia epidemic ravaging America, the result of people paying too much attention to electronic devices (take note, Arianna Huffington; this could be a cross-promotional opportunity for your book).

In addition to the attention from Fresh Air, the novella was also the lead title in Entertainment Weekly’s book section last week, in a story titled “Let’s Get Digital” that includes Joe Hill’s short story Wolverton Station (from HarperCollins/Morrow and available to libraries), Greg Iles’s novella, The Death Factory (also HarperCollins/Morrow and available to libraries) plus upcoming titles by two other literary darlings, Column McCann’s Gone (released March 18 by another ebook-only publisher Byliner and apparently not available to libraries) and Adelle Waldman’s New Year’s, a companion story to her The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., coming in May, from the old world publisher where Francis Coady used to work, Macmillan/Picador (presumably one of those places she refers to as “print originators [who] tend to see digital as a slightly embarrassing offshoot of print.”)

Our Live Chat has concluded. To sign up for the program and join future chats, go to the Penguin Debut Authors Program.

(more information here).

Live Chat with Celeste Ng, EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU

(03/26/2014)

  

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3:08	Nora - EarlyWord:  Getting ready for our live online chat with Celeste Ng, author of EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU, coming from The Penguin Press in June. Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:08 Nora - EarlyWord

3:08	Nora - EarlyWord Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:08

3:34	Nora - EarlyWord:  Below is a special video that Celeste recorded to introduce herself to you... Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:34 Nora - EarlyWord

3:42	Nora - EarlyWord:  You are welcome to enter questions at any time. We will try to get to all of them in the hour. Don't worry about typos (and please forgive any on our part!) Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:42 Nora - EarlyWord

3:43	Celeste:  Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be here! Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:43 Celeste

3:44	Nora - EarlyWord:  Hey, Celeste! Glad to know you're in the house. We'll begin chatting in about 15 minutes. Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:44 Nora - EarlyWord

3:45	Celeste:  Looking forward to it! Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:45 Celeste

4:00	Nora - EarlyWord:  HI Everyone -- we're ready to start! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord

4:00	Nora - EarlyWord:  Unfortunately, it seems the comment section is running slow... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord

4:01	Nora - EarlyWord:  If comments are not coming through, I may ask you to email me. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord

4:01	Nora - EarlyWord:  But, let's get started. Welcome, Celeste! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord

4:02	Celeste:  Thanks, Nora! And hi, everyone! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:02 Celeste

4:02	Nora - EarlyWord:  I see some people gathered -- please say hi to Celeste! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:02 Nora - EarlyWord

4:04	Nora - EarlyWord:  OK -- I don't see any comments coming through, so there may be a problem. You can email questions an comments to me -- Nora AT EarlyWord DOT com. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:04 Nora - EarlyWord

4:04

Nora - EarlyWord:  Let's start with an advance question about your intro video. One of our program members wants to know how you created that great painting based on the Annie Dillard quote. She says she wants to do her own version of one of her favorite quotes. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:04 Nora - EarlyWord

4:05	Celeste:  Oh, thank you! I'm happy to tell you how I did the painting. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste

4:05	Nora - EarlyWord Celeste's Image of a Quote from Annie Dillard Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05

4:05	Nora - EarlyWord:  Here's what it looks like... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Nora - EarlyWord

4:05	Celeste:  The painting was inspired by the work of an artist called Lauren DiCioccio (http://laurendicioccio.com), who lays clear plastic over pages from magazines and covers the letters with tiny dots of paint. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste

4:05	Celeste:  I wanted to use a quote that had special meaning to me and make it beautiful. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste

4:05	Celeste:  I wrote the quote out on the canvas very lightly, in pencil. Then I got 26 different colors of paint and assigned each letter a color-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:05 Celeste

4:06	Nora - EarlyWord:  oops - a bunch of greetings just came in -- will post them... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Nora - EarlyWord

4:06	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  Good afternoon from the Midwest; looking forward to the chat session Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Lucy

Celeste:  Hi Lucy! Nice to meet you!   Celeste

4:06	Celeste:  And then I made a blotch of paint over each letter, using the appropriate color. So if you look REALLY closely, you can see the letters very faintly beneath the paint. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Celeste

4:06	[Comment From Sue DSue D: ]  Hello - I really enjoyed the video Celeste created. My kids horned in and asked me to play it again. They enjoyed it too!!! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Sue D

Celeste:  Ha! Thank you, Sue! So glad you (and your kids) enjoyed it.   Celeste

4:06	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  HI, Celeste Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Lucy

4:06	[Comment From AnneAnne: ]  Hi Celeste - Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Anne

Celeste:  Hi Anne--welcome and thank you for coming!   Celeste

4:06	[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ]  Glad to join you for this author chat! Can't seem to log in to twitter. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:06 Catherine

4:07	Nora - EarlyWord:  Sue -- sounds like you have some very cool kids! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:07 Nora - EarlyWord

4:08	Nora - EarlyWord:  Celeste -- I love the telling details in your book, like the heartbreaking moment when Hannah reaches for her mother’s hand and she doesn’t see it. How did you develop that? Is it natural, or did you consciously work on it? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Nora - EarlyWord

4:08	Celeste:  I've always been drawn to details, and in fact they've always been a big pat of my writing. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Celeste

4:08	Celeste:  My early stories were probably about 98% detail and 2% plot. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Celeste

4:08	Celeste:  I've always felt that details aren't just "details"--in a lot of ways, they *are* the story. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:08 Celeste

4:09	Celeste:  And details help especially with writing about children--those details reveal what they may not be able to verbalize. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:09 Celeste

4:10	Nora - EarlyWord:  I found it especially effective in portraying children -- it's those details that reveal what they may not be able to verbalize. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:10 Nora - EarlyWord

4:10	Celeste:  Yes, *exactly!* Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:10 Celeste

4:10	Celeste:  Those details can put us right into a child's mind. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:10 Celeste

4:11	Nora - EarlyWord:  And then, for adults, sometimes what we articulate is not what we really feel! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:11 Nora - EarlyWord

4:11	Nora - EarlyWord:  Another advance question about the video -- from Boston Librarian: Tell us about the “major structural” changes you mention in the video. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:11 Nora - EarlyWord

4:12	Celeste:  The first draft of the book was in multiple parts-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste

4:12	Celeste:  2 chapters in one time period, then 3 chapters of Marilyn in college, then 3 chapters of James in college, etc. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste

4:12	Celeste:  That didn't work, so I tried braiding the timelines together-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste

4:12	Celeste:  And it took me a long time to figure out how to move back and forth in time, so that past and present made sense together. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:12 Celeste

4:13	Celeste:  Was that not clear from the diagram? :) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Celeste

4:13	Celeste:  (I'm looking at it now, and it kind of bewilders ME...) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Celeste

4:13	Nora - EarlyWord:  I'm afraid that the Legal Seafood Menu was much clearer! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Nora - EarlyWord

4:13	[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ]  As the title suggests, the characters have trouble verbalizing their thoughts and communicating with each other. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:13 Catherine

Celeste:  Catherine, that's a great point--there's so much that these characters leave unsaid, to each other and to themselves.   Celeste

4:14	Celeste:  While writing the novel, I kept asking other writers what they'd done, and got vague answers. Now I understand why--we're all just muddling around until things click into place. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:14 Celeste

4:14	Nora - EarlyWord:  Did you realize you needed to make that change, or did it come from your editor. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:14 Nora - EarlyWord

4:14	Celeste:  I realized it. The parts of the story weren't coming together the way I wanted them to. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:14 Celeste

4:15	Celeste:  Fortunately, when I thought I'd gotten it right, my editor agreed! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:15 Celeste

4:15	Nora - EarlyWord:  I like Catherine's comment about the title. How did you come up with it? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:15 Nora - EarlyWord

4:16	Celeste:  It came to me in the first draft, as I was roughing out the final scene--it's an echo of one of the final lines of the book. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:16 Celeste

4:16	Celeste:  It struck me that it really applied to the whole book, and might work as a title. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:16 Celeste

4:16	Nora - EarlyWord:  I was wondering, as a parent, how are you able to write about something as horrible as a child disappearing. Didn't it scare you? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:16 Nora - EarlyWord

4:17	Celeste:  It terrified me! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste

4:17	Celeste:  But that's usually my approach to writing-- I often find myself writing about the things that scare me most. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste

4:17	Celeste:  It's almost a way of exploring things I hope never to experience in real life. "What would this be like? How would I respond?" Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste

4:17	Celeste:  I think that often, we write (and read) about horrible things, as a way of stretching ourselves emotionally without going through the experience--an empathy exercise. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:17 Celeste

4:18	Nora - EarlyWord:  That may also be why we are willing to read books that scare us in some way. What else have you written? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:18 Nora - EarlyWord

4:18	[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ]  I think you're quite brave, Celeste, to examine the things that many of us would prefer not to think about. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:18 Catherine

Celeste:  Thank you, Catherine. I'm always happy when readers are willing to read books about things that scare *them*, as well.   Celeste

4:19	Celeste:  I've written a bunch of short stories, and some essays--all of which fall under the same category of "exploring things that scare me." Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:19 Celeste

4:19	Celeste:  And two extremely awful "novels," when I was about 13 and 15, which are consigned to a locked file cabinet. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:19 Celeste

4:20	Nora - EarlyWord:  How did you get this one published? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:20 Nora - EarlyWord

4:20	Celeste:  My route was pretty traditional: I started it in grad school, worked on it for 6 years while holding various strange, ill-paying jobs-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:20 Celeste

4:21	Celeste:  And then, when it was finished, my agent was able to sell it to the Penguin Press. I was very lucky, in short. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:21 Celeste

4:21	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  Were those early novels also explorations of things which scared you? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:21 Lucy

Celeste:  Lucy, they weren't--they were more fantasy/wish fulfillment, like "What if I lived in Colonial America?" (which I thought was a cool time period, at 13). That's one of many reasons they didn't work, I think. :)   Celeste

4:23	[Comment From A First Flights MemberA First Flights Member: ]  I found these charachters staying with me and that I was thinking about them long after I had closed the book. Have they stayed with you? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:23 A First Flights Member

Celeste:  Thank you--what a kind thing to say! I'm so glad to hear that. They *have* stayed with me; it's hard to spend 6 years with anyone and not have them work their way into your brain on some level.   Celeste Celeste:  I do miss them, now that the book is done.   Celeste

4:23

[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ]  I experienced a very palpable sense of sadness reading this novel. The lost dreams and potential--and the issues of abandonment, alienation, and otherness--really got to me. There's a lot in this story for readers to relate to. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:23 Catherine

Celeste:  Thank you, Catherine (or perhaps I should say, I'm sorry). One of the things I hope the book will do is get readers thinking about otherness, and alienation, and what it's like to be an outsider in some way.   Celeste

4:24	Nora - EarlyWord:  I agree, Catherine. I was very moved by another telling detail; the quotes Marilyn had marked in her mother's cookbook and what it said about her. Where did THAT come from, Celeste? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:24 Nora - EarlyWord

4:25	Celeste:  The cookbook itself is based on my mother's own Betty Crocker cookbook from the 1960s-- which actually had all of that commentary in its recipes. I didn't make those up. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:25 Celeste

4:25	Nora - EarlyWord:  I wondered if you had made them up, but we have proof that you didn't... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:25 Nora - EarlyWord

4:26	Celeste:  I saw them one day while idly flipping through the cookbook, and they just stuck with me. Eventually they found their way into the novel. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 Celeste

4:26	Nora - EarlyWord Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26

4:26	Nora - EarlyWord:  That word "behooves" just kills me! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 Nora - EarlyWord

4:26	Nora - EarlyWord:  Here's the one about preserves... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26 Nora - EarlyWord

4:26	Nora - EarlyWord Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:26

4:27	Celeste:  Those quotes really startled me. And they were all throughout the cookbook--which came out in 1968, by the way. (I backdated it for the novel, so that Marilyn's mother could have it.) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27 Celeste

4:27	Nora - EarlyWord:  And here's the cover of the book -- some of you may still have it in your libraries! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27 Nora - EarlyWord

4:27	Celeste:  We tend to think that the era when women were expected to just cook and sew for their families was long ago--but it wasn't actually that long ago. Just a generation or two ago... It's so easy to forget that. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27 Celeste

4:27	Nora - EarlyWord Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:27

4:28	Celeste:  It's strange to say, I actually adore that cookbook. It represents a lot of things that bother me deeply, but at the same time, it belongs to my mother's. It's a complicated object with a complicated personal history. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Celeste

4:28	Nora - EarlyWord:  Amazing that it came out in 1968 -- that summer students were getting their heads beat in for protesting the war in Chicago -- such disparate strains in the culture at the time! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Nora - EarlyWord

4:28	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  I have a copy of this edition in my kitchen and still use it :-) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Lucy

Celeste:  My mom still uses hers! In fact she won't let me have it because she still uses it as a reference.   Celeste

4:28	[Comment From CatherineCatherine: ]  I had one of those Betty Crocker cookbooks and thought it was the bible--it was a required textbook for a home economics class I took in high school! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:28 Catherine

4:29	Nora - EarlyWord:  I was wondering about the use of the term "Oriental" in your book. It's a fraught term, but of that time. Did you feel strange using it? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Nora - EarlyWord

4:29	[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ]  I still use my Betty Crocker book. It doesn't have quotes in in , but I did find a four-leaf clover. Perhaps I was hoping it would bring me good luck since my mother really never taught me to cook. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Andrea

Celeste:  Andrea, I love that story.   Celeste

4:29	Celeste:  I did feel strange using the term "Oriental." It's a complicated term, as you point out, and not one I use myself... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Celeste

4:29	Celeste:  But it would have been inaccurate to use the term "Asian," as we might today. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Celeste

4:29	Celeste:  And in many ways I also wanted to startle the reader, to jolt them by using a term we don't see much now, as a way of asking them to think about its usage and its implications. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:29 Celeste

4:30	Nora - EarlyWord:  That also makes me wonder why you chose this particular time period. You're too young to have known it personally. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:30 Nora - EarlyWord

4:31	Celeste:  Yes, I grew up in the 1980s--so I was *just* after this time period. But my family lived through it, and my childhood was really colored by that experience. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:31 Celeste

4:31	Celeste:  It was the right time period to explore some of the issues I saw this family grappling with--race and ethnicity, being in a "mixed" marriage, women's roles and opportunities. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:31 Celeste

4:31	Celeste:  And I was surprised, in writing the novel, how much of the '70s in particular had carried into my childhood: we had rotary phones, record players, all of that. Maybe my family was a throwback? It didn't feel foreign to me. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:31 Celeste

4:33	Nora - EarlyWord:  I wonder if some people identify with their parents' time periods more than with their own? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:33 Nora - EarlyWord

4:34	What time period do you feel shaped you? The one I grew up in  ( 33% ) My parents' time period  ( 0% ) Both  ( 50% ) None; I am my own person  ( 17% ) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34

4:34	[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ]  First lines are critically important to engage the reader. Did you always have the first line or did it come to you later in the writing process? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34 Andrea

Celeste:  The first line came in the last draft, actually!   Celeste Celeste:  The original first line was "At first they don't know where Lydia has gone."   Celeste Celeste:  But in the last draft, I wanted it to be more decisive, and to not withhold information from the reader.   Celeste Celeste:  Funnily enough, though, I recently looked back at my very first notes--and I found that when I started writing the proto-draft, I'd started it with "Lydia dies: that's the first thing" and then scrapped it. So the opening kind of came full circle.   Celeste

4:34	Celeste:  There's an interesting theory about immigrant families--that in many ways the children sort of get stuck half in the current time and half in the older generation's time period. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34 Celeste

4:34	Celeste:  I don't know if that's true, but it's interesting to think about. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:34 Celeste

4:37	Nora - EarlyWord:  "Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet." IS much more effective and let's the reader in on what happened. Were you afraid to show your hand so early? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:37 Nora - EarlyWord

4:37	Celeste:  Yes, I was really afraid of "giving too much away" in the early drafts. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:37 Celeste

4:38	Celeste:  But in the later drafts I realized that the real story is not "Where is Lydia?" but "How did this come to happen?" Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:38 Celeste

4:39	Celeste:  In the new draft, you know several important things by the end of the first chapter-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:39 Celeste

4:39	Celeste:  That Lydia is dead (and where she is), and that Marilyn had also gone missing years before. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:39 Celeste

4:40	Nora - EarlyWord:  Speaking of Marilyn, I wonder what readers think of that event. Here's another poll. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:40 Nora - EarlyWord

4:40	What did you think of Marilyn leaving? Surprised by her ambition  ( 0% ) Understood why  ( 67% ) Revealed her disconnection  ( 33% ) Sorry she had to return  ( 0% ) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:40

4:40	[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ]  I love the first two sentences. It just mde me want to find out the whys, how and whos. It certainly didn't give too much away for me Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:40 Andrea

Celeste:  Thank you, Andrea! That's great to hear.   Celeste

4:41	Nora - EarlyWord:  I agree with Andrea; the mystery was how it happened and not so much what happened. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:41 Nora - EarlyWord

4:41	Nora - EarlyWord:  According to our poll, more people feel their lives were shaped by both their own time period and their parents'. I feel this is true for me, too. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:41 Nora - EarlyWord

4:41	Nora - EarlyWord:  It seems like James’s wish for his children to have friends is a good counter to their mother’s demand for popularity. Yet, interestingly, you show how heavily each can weigh. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:41 Nora - EarlyWord

4:42	Celeste:  Yes, I think the real burden is not the particular expectation, but the pressure such a loaded expectation carries with it. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:42 Celeste

4:42	Celeste:  It's so hard to disappoint your parents. I wonder how many things people do to try and avoid that. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:42 Celeste

4:43	Nora - EarlyWord:  Why did you choose the daughter, rather than the son, to bear the burden of the mother’s career expectations? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Nora - EarlyWord

4:43	Celeste:  Marilyn’s expectations are so closely tied up with gender--it made more sense to me that she’d look to Lydia to fulfill those dreams. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Celeste

4:43	[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ]  I think we all try to please, esppecially our parents. Who wants the burden of that disappointment? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Andrea

4:43	Celeste:  It wouldn’t have been as revolutionary, or as difficult, for Nath to become a doctor, nor would it have meant as much to Marilyn, I think. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:43 Celeste

4:44	[Comment From Sue DSue D: ]  Are you planning on touring with your book? If so, where? and are you coming to the Midwest? Say St. Louis?? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:44 Sue D

Celeste:  Sue, I am! I'm working out the tour with my publisher now.   Celeste

4:45	Nora - EarlyWord:  Do I get the feeling you're in St. Louis, Sue? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Nora - EarlyWord

4:45	Nora - EarlyWord:  Are there other ways for librarians to reach you? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Nora - EarlyWord

4:45	[Comment From Sue DSue D: ]  Yup Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Sue D

4:45	Celeste:  Currently I have events planned in Boston, NYC, Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, and Ann Arbor-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:45 Celeste

4:46	Celeste:  but I'll be working to arrange more. St. Louis would be lovely! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste

4:46	Celeste:  Right now, you can contact me (or my publicist) directly through my website: celesteng.com. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste

4:46	[Comment From AndreaAndrea: ]  Where in Houston? I'm there. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Andrea

Celeste:  Andrea, I'll be at Brazos Bookstore!   Celeste Celeste:  It would be lovely to meet you--if you come to the reading, be sure to say hi!   Celeste Celeste:  Oh, the date would probably help. It's tentatively scheduled for July 17, time TBA.   Celeste

4:46	Celeste:  There will be a page for book clubs up there soon, with a book club kit that Penguin is designing (we're actually putting it together right now!). Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste

4:46	Celeste:  And I'll be available to visit book clubs as well, in person locally or via Skype. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:46 Celeste

4:47	Celeste:  Oh, and all of my events are also listed on my website. (Or will be when I get the details!) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:47 Celeste

4:47	Nora - EarlyWord:  We're nearing the end of our chat -- just a few more minutes to get your questions in. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:47 Nora - EarlyWord

4:49	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  Oh, will let our book discussion leaders know about the forthcoming book club kit! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:49 Lucy

Celeste:  Lucy, thank you! Please do! It'll have some goodies in there--a playlist, some articles, likely a vintage recipe, and more.   Celeste

4:49	Nora - EarlyWord:  Right; I feel this book has rich discussion material for book clubs. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:49 Nora - EarlyWord

4:50	Nora - EarlyWord:  Speaking of the characters living with you -- I keep wondering how Hannah and Nath grow up. What about you, Celeste? Do you see them as being able to escape the weight of their parents expectations? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:50 Nora - EarlyWord

4:50	Celeste:  I hope so! I hope that this experience will make their parents more aware of the demands they make on their children... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:50 Celeste

4:51	Celeste:  ..and make Nath and Hannah more understanding and tolerant of their parents, as well. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:51 Celeste

4:51	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  Plenty of 'issues' to talk about along with the cookbook tie in - book club heaven! :) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:51 Lucy

Nora - EarlyWord:  What a thought! Everyone could learn to cook eggs "husband style"!   Nora - EarlyWord

4:51	Celeste:  I tend to think the only way to survive a family tragedy is to grow closer together. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:51 Celeste

4:52	Celeste:  And I love all of these characters--so that's what I hope will happen for them. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:52 Celeste

4:53	Nora - EarlyWord:  I am very curious about the character of Jack. I saw the surprise about him coming in a way, but was still surprised. How did you come up with him? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:53 Nora - EarlyWord

4:53	Celeste:  He was there from the beginning. In the early draft, this neighbor kid kept showing up-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:53 Celeste

4:54	Celeste:  --and at a certain point I realized how he fit into their story. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:54 Celeste

4:54	Celeste:  Jack is actually one of my favorite characters in the book. Am I allowed to say that? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:54 Celeste

4:55	Celeste:  I feel like I just picked a favorite child. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:55 Celeste

4:55	Nora - EarlyWord:  Ha! I don't think it's like kids -- I think you CAN have a favorite! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:55 Nora - EarlyWord

4:56	Nora - EarlyWord:  I hear that so often from writers -- that characters "show up" and demand to be in the book. Is it supernatural? Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:56 Nora - EarlyWord

4:56	Celeste:  For me, it's probably more "subconscious" than "supernatural"-- Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:56 Celeste

4:57	Celeste:  In a lot of ways, writing is kind of an act of faith. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Celeste

4:57	Celeste:  Your brain puts all these things together and you have to trust that they do, in fact, all fit together somehow. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Celeste

4:57	Nora - EarlyWord:  We are ending in a just a few minutes. Had to get in this comment from Lucy, envisioning the book club... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Nora - EarlyWord

4:57	Celeste:  Or that the character who just keeps showing up and insisting he belongs actually has a role to play. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Celeste

4:57	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  I can hear the members discussing which style of eggs their husbands prefer ... :-) Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:57 Lucy

Celeste:  Ha! I love it.   Celeste

4:58	Nora - EarlyWord:  We do have to end now. Thanks so much Celeste, for your thoughtful answers. Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:58 Nora - EarlyWord

4:58	Celeste:  Thank you so much, Nora! And thank you to all for chatting! Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:58 Celeste

4:59	[Comment From LucyLucy: ]  "... an act of faith." Your own 'commitment' to the story ... Wednesday March 26, 2014 4:59 Lucy

Celeste:  Lucy, exactly.   Celeste

5:00

Nora - EarlyWord:  And thanks to all of you out there for joining us and for your great questions. This Chat will be archived here on the site. If you enjoy this program, be sure to tell your friends and colleagues that they can sign up here. And, watch for the ARC of the next title in the program, Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch. Wednesday March 26, 2014 5:00 Nora - EarlyWord

5:00	Nora - EarlyWord:  Bye everyone! Wednesday March 26, 2014 5:00 Nora - EarlyWord

 

 

Watch Celeste’s video message for Librarians.

The first footage seen outside the studio of the forthcoming adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey was shown to theater chains yesterday at their annual convention, CinemaCon. According to reports, the focus was  on the romance between the two leads, with the L.A. Times calling it “more romance than raunch” and adding,”It’s clear that the studio is rolling this out as carefully — and meticulously — as possible. It’s just unclear whether playing up the romance in the early footage is the way to get theater owners interested in the property.”  (More details on Entertainment Weekly‘s “Inside Movie” column).

In addition, Universal signaled it’s high hopes for the adaptation of Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, by bringing the film’s director, Angelina Jolie, to introduce the preview.

After the huge success of Room, it’s no surprise that critics are vying to be the first to review author Emma Donoghue’s next book, Frog Music, (Hachette/Little, Brown; Hachette Audio and Large Print), which arrives this coming Tuesday (although some libraries are showing that it is in process).

The Washington Post‘s is among the first of the consumer reviews, with Ron Charles noting, “The millions of readers who know Donoghue only from the harrowing tale of that little boy [in Room] will discover in Frog Music just how expansive and boisterous this Irish Canadian author can be … Donoghue has created a full-throated murder mystery, spiced with song and forbidden love.”

The Wall Street Journal profiles the author’s background research, in which she came up with a solution to a real-life murder that took place in San Francisco in 1876.

The film rights for Room were acquired in 2013. It is still in development as of January, according to a story in Deadline.

Getting a strong boost for the launch of her new novel from Kathie Lee & Hoda on The Today Show, author Jane Green says Tempting Fate (Macmillan/St. Martin’s; Macmillan Audio; Wheeler Large Print) is based on observing women in her Connecticut neighborhood (in this case, her actual town of Westport), “suddenly getting gorgeous and glamorous,” a signal that they are unhappy in their marriages and like the main character, are seeking attention elsewhere.

Video below, or link here.

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The Kickstarter-funded movie, Veronica Mars, may not have done well at the box office (or with the NYT critic, or with some of the funders), but the related book (which picks up the story after the movie) The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, released yesterday (RH/Vintage) is currently at #8 on Amazon’s sales rankings.

In addition, the audio book (BOT download), read by Veronica Mars herself (that is, Kirsten Bell as Veronica) is getting attention. New York magazine’s “Vulture” says Bell’s “mellifluous yet extremely sardonic delivery will really cure what ails you, if what ails you is a disease brought on by a Veronica Mars deficiency” and The Week magazine adds, “Bell voices all the characters in the audiobook version, giving fans the chance to hear her version of characters like Weevil Navarro and Cliff McCormack.”

The Thousand Dollar Tan Line is the first of two planned Veronica Mars novels.