Month: May 2008

It’s a wet, cold May morning. Water spattered bags and boxes have made it inside Panera, and all of us are waiting for Dan and Lisa, so we can trek to Madison. I suspect the bags and boxes will be quiet on the trip. They’re a studious lot.

I will be coming back with less than I’m going with. Drollerie sent many bookmarks and fliers for new publications. John Rosenman sent me some fliers for his latest works. I’ve got some equipment and materials for Las Habladoras’ reading on Friday. My academic paper on Monday is compact by comparison.

One year ago, Wiscon made me settle down and try again with my writing. Strangers heard me read, and all weekend long I was cajoled and supported into the idea that I ought to be doing this, instead of wishing I was doing it. My fruits for the first year are tiny, but sweet. I’m building that sturdy platform from which I will find an agent. As with all the things I do, there will be a slow and steady building. Fifteen years from now, I’ll nod and be satisfied.

Meanwhile, where am I as a writer? Almost done sending out agent queries for The Substance of Shadows. One partial out there. Sister Night, Sister Moon out from Drollerie this year. Hulk Hercules out from Cats Curious next year, the fall semester giving me lots of time to write it and a curriculum guide for kids. I have work I think through December. In December, we’ll send Hulk to Henson and Startz.

And we’ll see what comes of this year at Wiscon. I look forward to seeing Sonya, my writing group friends, and spending time with two dear friends who always make the Wiscon trek with me. I look forward to seeing the Girl Wonder crowd. I want to see the parties, meet new people. It all sounds lovely.

Work has been horrible this week. I make the mistake of giving myself to things because of a lack of strong family roots, I think. I need to sink more into myself than my work, and writing is the best way I know to follow the dreams I have for myself. I’m not giving up my work, but even though I can pretend that they do deserve my all, they don’t. I deserve my all. Wiscon is a chance to reinforce this ideal.

Happy first birthday, Writer Tamago. Keep trying to peck your way out and revolutionize the world.

Catherine

Work has just become chaotic and disillusioning. The mistakes that make more work for me are less problematic than a couple of moral issues I’m grappling with. I’m trying to decide whether the issue is deeper than my stubbornness, but I can’t escape the feeling that someone is being allowed a special dispensation that is unfair to the other students. I think the college would just shrug at me if I brought this up though.

I don’t want my job to be morally ambiguous. It gnaws at my insides.

***

Well. Trying not to think about that, then, I’m off to my Russian lesson. Wiscon is a load of laundry and final packing away. I’m going to stopper my ears, go la-la-la about the student in question, and enjoy the company of friends and writers.

Catherine

And here are some gems of wisdom from tonight’s book group. The subject: Michael Chabon’s Yiddish Policeman’s Union. If you’ve read the book, join in the discussion!

The group says: Recommended to mystery readers, but not to SF readers. Don’t expect this to be SF, in spite of the Nebula. Striking a blow for Speculative Fiction as a fantastic genre, we wonder.

Also, does this book help the reader understand Jewish history, or does this perpetuate Jewish stereotypes? What does someone Jewish think of the book? Tracie says she’s Jewish, and she’s okay with it. A lot of fruitful discussion here. Michele actually want out and did culture research.

Is genre more important than character here? Can we push the chess metaphor?

Spoiler’s Ahead. (NOTE: There is a Michele and a Michelle. Just so you know.)

Continue reading “Book Group Discussion: Michael Chabon’s Yiddish Policeman’s Union”

I’m at home today working on a project or two for Convergence with friends, but I’m at the point where I’ve started sending out my queries. So far, I’ve sent out

Rachel Dowen of Talcott Notch
Jennifer Schober of Spencerhill
Lucienne Diver of The Night Agency
Laura Blake Peterson of Curtis Brown
Alexia Paul of Joy Harris

There will be two more this week via snail mail. I’m officially out of e-query opportunities, and the twelve agents who remain on my list will be sent letters the traditional way.

And in today’s post, rejections from Jennifer Weltz and the Lazear Agency.

Over the weekend, I’ve begun preliminary research for Neville Longbottom and the Hero’s Journey, but my next major project is putting together our Japan trip. It goes without saying that there will be Wiscon preparations right up to the last minute this week.

So, probably ought to get a couple of query letters ready for the post office, and get them off after I’m done catching up with all of you.

Catherine

Azazello’s Cream is done. Yes!

I await a student’s results ‘ere I can leave the school, else I would go shopping. Since the Wiscon program mock up is partly done at home, I will start working on the Japan agenda while I wait.

Meanwhile, for all you Master and Margarita groupies, here’s the world’s best website on the subject, versions available in 4 languages.

One more academic paper left: Neville Longbottom and the Heroic Journey for Portus 2008.

Catherine

Jane Dystel said no.

Here’s the beginning of what I’m working on currently. It will be out of my life, for better or worse, by next weekend. I’m also pulling together the last disparate bits for Wiscon. Gonna need an extension cord…

***

The Master and Margarita has had a checkered reception. Originally banned in its native country, it eventually became a rallying point for the liberal branch of the Russian Communist party (Barratt 14). Two novels in one, it has been analyzed as a religious commentary, a rejection of the materialist world view (Barratt 16), a parody, and a romance. In this paper, I wish to focus on Margarita, suggesting that she is worthy of a second look as a feminist character.

My fascination with the novel began when I was introduced to Bulgakov through a trip to his museum in St. Petersburg while on a Fulbright-Hayes GPA to Russia. In 2006, Bulgakov’s work was beloved by the Russian people. In 2007, a Russian citizen broke into Bulgakov’s museum and destroyed significant parts of his archives. Bulgakov’s life, works, and political views continue to be controversial.

Bulgakov began the novel in 1928. By 1937, the novel was finished for the fourth time “Bulgakov’s archives preserve eight versions of the novel which took 26 years to be published” (Natov 92). Currently, two separate versions of the novel are published in English. Bulgakov’s third wife, Elena Sergeyvna edited the novel after his death, and published it posthumously (Curtis 132).

The idea of Margarita as a feminist character has not been examined much in the literature. Margarita has been considered a romantic character and an idealized woman in a patriarchal society. It is hard to know what Bulgakov’s intent for Margarita was, as his biographical commentaries on his work were few. There is strong evidence of a link between his third wife Elena Sergeyvna and the character (Natov 102). Margarita is a character of action. “Whereas [the Master] represents primarily a state of being, she represents in large measure a course of activity” (Ericson 111).

This paper lays out some discussion of feminism, focuses on previous interpretations of the character of Margarita, and finally applies feminist criticism to Margarita’s actions in the novel.

First draft is done!

First draft is also an inchoate mass of notes.

TIME for the power of rigorous outlining!

Catherine

Finally, we come to it. What makes the successful break out novel? In order to get here, we’ve played with the concepts of literature and genre. Lines are often arbitrary drawn between the two. We’ve also talked about the issue of popularity and how sales don’t necessarily mean a break out novel, although people do get confused in regard to that point.

Continue reading “The break out novel”

Noting that JABberwocky sent me my rejection yesterday afternoon.

***

On our way to the break out novel so far, we’ve discussed the “good” book, what makes a book good for discussion, and what the heck literature is anyway. I try to keep this discussion very accessible to my college students.

I’ll admit, the genre discussion is one that we don’t have in class. My colleagues at the college and I *do* teach genre books frequently in our classes. Two of us use Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale for example. At its core, another book I teach, Native Son is a murder mystery as well as a social commentary. The separation of literature from genre is often artificial. Speculative fiction, a “new” field of writing, suggests that it is novel to combine genres. I have friends that are currently publishing “forensic fantasy.” Alternative history has been accepted as fantasy, but is really a happy marriage of fantasy and historical. Urban romance combines the fantastic with gritty action-adventure.

Genre divisions are very artificial indeed. How do we decide what a genre is? After all, we can break out of a genre with our break out novel if we don’t know we’re trying to break out of.

Continue reading “What makes a genre?”

Well, there’s always got to be one.

I received a rude return from an agent today. I made the mistake of sending out a query to an agent whose criteria fit my novel’s when I added her to my list, but no longer do. Yup, I should have visited all the sites in regard to the agent, and I shouldn’t have been in a hurry to get my five done this week, and get on with my day job.

Because I didn’t do this, however, I rated a scolding. Visit my site and see how your query doesn’t match my criteria. Implication: you should have known better than to waste my time.

The good news here is that I have learned that this would be an agent I wouldn’t do business with. This afternoon, I had a student in my office try to tell my how unjust and unfair one of my better instructors is. I know he was full of venom because he didn’t get the grade he wanted, and I did essentially what this agent did to me. I walked him through his test. I showed him how she had figured the grade, and where he had gone wrong. With a student like this, well, he’s never going to believe me, sure, but the point is I treated him with respect and heard his complaint.

So. We’re all in business here. It’s about respect. I expect an agent, even if that agent thinks I am the most foolish clod in the universe, to treat me with respect. There’s no reason for a rejection to be negative. Neutral, even, is acceptable.

I am not thin skinned. I’ll admit I wasn’t thorough this time. And sometimes you take the long shot, especially when the agent tells you that they don’t do your genre, but they like good writing. You dare to assume you have good writing. However, just like you shouldn’t take your bad day or frustration with the industry out on the agent, an agent owes you courtesy.

Because I owe even an agent with poor bed side matter courtesy, I’ll not write a name. I want to re-iterate that the other agents I’ve had interaction with have been strongly professional or neutral. I also want to mark the occasion to let you guys know that this can happen, but you shouldn’t let an unprofessional agent take you out of the game, or even bother you…much.

Catherine