Author of Enough, Emmy in Harding, After His Heart, Banff Springs Abbey, Suspiciously Reserved: A Twist on Jane Austen's Emma, Expectations: A Continuation of Pride and Prejudice, and Subgirl. This blog is dedicated to all things reading and writing.
I once had a poet friend ask me if the poems in my book Defacing Poetry were meant to be well-written. Hahaha. I can only assume this means they aren't great. Even though I'm no poet, I can't help but indulge myself in a poem once in a while. This sunny, warm day in January demanded verse. This one is illustrated with photos to help those who dare to read on.
It was February, 2010. The doorbell rang. Hurray! My new book club arrived with their books and winter coats. A couple of brave souls tried the Negus. "It's wicked!" said Christine, although she turned down a second cup.
We gathered in the living room on mismatched couches with the propane fire glowing. It wasn't exactly Regency, but it was the best I could do. We found the rose water in the Little Iced Cakes a surprising (and not necessarily nice) taste on our modern Canadian palates.
Usually our gatherings begin with sharing personal stories and troubles, although I don't recall what we discussed that night. I remember that we turned the talk toward the book sooner than we usually did. Perhaps we all wanted to get it over with.
"The language was easy to follow."
"I hated Lydia. She was horrible." (This made me laugh. I loved writing Lydia, but I may have gone too far.)
"Some parts were so well written while others weren't. I'm not sure why." (I was grateful for the honesty, but I wish I had asked which scenes I should fix.)
"I liked the part with the pig." (See chapter XII).
All in all, my friends were extremely kind in their reviews, but the night was all a bit awkward. I'm grateful they were willing to try the book club experiment, but I haven't repeated it since. I'd love to hear if any other writers have tried this!
Once I baked my Little Ice Cakes and placed my Negus in the crockpot (See Once Upon a Book
Club: Part One for details), I settled the kids into bed and began to worry that having my own book as the book club that month was a mistake. What if no one came? What if they all hated the book?
Like the book nerd I am, I prepared some questions for our book discussion.
Questions
1. What was your experience with Pride and Prejudice before reading
Expectations? (ie movie, book, heresay etc.)
2. Did you find the language difficult and if so, did it become easier at some
point?
3. Did you find the Austen characters I used stayed true to Pride and
Prejudice?
4. Which character could you best relate to? Least relate to?
5. Was there a particular scene you found especially humorous?
6. Were you disappointed with any of the occurrences in the novel?
7. Were you surprised by any of the customs? If so, which ones?
I've been very lucky in book clubs. Three times, I've found a group of women who share a love of books, but more importantly the desire to encourage and support one another.
When I was fairly new to our Alberta home, I published my first book, Expectations: A Continuation of Pride and Prejudice. I had a long list of ways to promote and distribute my book. I couldn't wait to share it. I dreamed of book signings and readings and I wanted it to be part of my newfound book club. The women were willing to try it out and buy their own copies of my creation.
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I checked out The Jane Austen Cookbook from JASNA Calgary and imagined making each of the strange recipes. In the end, I settled on Negus and Little Iced Cakes. Here are the ingredients for Negus:
1 pint port wine
1 lemon
12 sugar lumps
5 cups boiling water
Grated nutmeg
I followed the directions which included rubbing the lemon with the sugar lumps, and kept the concoction warm in my modern crock pot.
The Little Iced Cakes required rose flavouring which I'd never heard of and couldn't find in our little rural town. After searching the internet, I found a small convenience store in Calgary which sold the ingredient. I stepped into the culinary wonderland with my then two-year-old son in tow. We found the pretty clear bottle along the shelves and waited in line to pay. Ahead of us was a man with a long white beard. My little guy said "Look mummy. It's Moses!" A memorable experience, indeed.
I've been anticipating the end of my first draft for about a month now. I could see the loose threads of several stories beginning to come together. Plus, the word count was creeping up. I even jumped ahead and wrote the last scene, as it sat in my mind, ready. Then, of course, I had to go back and fill in the rest.
So what's a writer to do once they've finished the first draft? Since reading On Writing by Stephen King, I've mostly been following his advice. "Congratulations! Good job! Have a glass of champagne, send out for pizza, do whatever it is you do when you've got something to celebrate. . . Take a couple of days off -- go fishing, go kayaking, do a jigsaw puzzle -- and then go to work on something else. . . How long you let your book rest. . . is entirely up to you, but I think it should be a minimum of six weeks." Stephen King, On Writing p. 196-197
So this morning, I finished my first draft. I turned to my husband (who was fortunately home) and said "I finished my first draft!!" He asked how many words. "70727!" I said proudly. I recorded the date, page number and word count in my little notebook with the words "1st draft complete. Ahh. Then he went to work while I celebrated with toast and a second cup of coffee (it was too early for champagne and pizza.) Then I added a few more details. Then I save it and emailed it to myself.
Next a nice hot bath, a little read, a nap on the couch and another little sentence at the end of the book. I think I'm ready to let it rest. In the meantime, here's a little warning that it's not a Jane Austen adaptation this time. However, I think my main character has many similarities to Elizabeth Bennet in that she loves dancing and isn't afraid to draw out a quiet man. Here's a little picture clue as well.
I'm extremely blessed to have a fun and creative husband. Sunday night, he set up a mystery date for us in the city. Waiting in the ferry line-up, he revealed we were going English Country Dancing at a Legion in Kitsilano. I would not have guessed that!
Phil and I took ballroom dancing when I was pregnant with our first. It was a fun way to meet people, but became increasingly difficult with my growing belly. That was thirteen years ago. Now our baby is old enough to baby-sit, so we are free to dance again. But should we?
English Country dancing is the type shown in Jane Austen movies. It has similarities to square dancing in some of the shapes, patterns and steps. For instance, a do-si-do is called "back to back". The English Country Dance group in Kitsilano is an amazingly welcoming place. Phil called ahead and was greeted by the woman he spoke to as soon as we arrived. We were whisked away to the dance floor so we wouldn't miss the first dance.
We were each assigned a more experience partner and were immediately walking through our first dance. There was a live band including a piano, fiddle, bodhran and several others. My partner was patient and encouraging as I frequently went the wrong way or stood looking widely confused. The best advice came from the caller who said, "whatever you do, don't panic!" After each dance, we traded partners and learned more steps. I felt okay about the first three dances, but then my brain began to fail me. At one point I stood in the middle of the floor with absolutely no clue what came next, but I did not panic and the moment passed.
I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or because I've recently moved and want to keep things low key, but I find I have fewer things I actually enjoy doings. I like to be home, read, write, go for walks and have coffee with friends. I'm glad my hubby still surprises me into trying new things from time to time. I don't know if writer's can dance, but I think we, like everyone else, should try. If nothing else, it will probably make a great scene in a story one day.
I bought this collection of short stories and novel excerpts in the hopes of attaching stories to my new
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home. I imagined beautiful odes to our incredible surroundings, mysterious histories and poetry. Instead, this collections seemed dedicated to the weird and depressing. I supposed it has something to do with Douglas Coupland being the mind behind the collection. His introduction states that he wants to disprove the idea that Vancouver is just a "nice" city.
This book included an excellent variety of writers. From Pauline Johnson to Alice Munro to Shani Mootoo, I was introduced to many Canadian writers I had never read before. I found The Bravest Boat by Malcolm Lowry extremely irritating, even with it's surprise ending.
I especially loved Alice Munro's story, which included a reference to my new home. "The last days of May are among the longest of the year, and in spite of the ferry-dock lights and the lights of the cars streaming into the belly of the boat, she could see some glow in the western sky and against it the black mound of an island -- not Bowen but one whose name she did not know -- tidy as a pudding set in the mouth of the bay."
I was intrigued by Timothy Taylor's excerpt from his novel Stanley Park titled The Canvasback which tells the story of a a chef meeting his father at night in Stanley Park. His father, The Professor, is so obsessed with studying the homeless people who live there that he has moved in with them. He pridefully displays his ability to survive in the woods by killing and cooking a duck. I am similarly curious about what happens at night in this amazing park.
The collection also includes a poignant family story by Madelein Thien titled A Map of the City. Thien is the most recent winner of The Giller Prize. She certainly gave me a new way of seeing Vancouver.
It took me a while to get through and I don't think I understood some of them. While this book was not what I was hoping it would be, I'm still glad to have read these stories.
