Publishing Monday: Gaian Tarot giveaway winner—and a talk from Jennifer Egan

First off, congratulations to Sally! You’ve won a copy of Joanna Powell Colbert’s luminous Gaian Tarot. Sally wrote:

What a beautiful deck. It’s great to read about the creative process behind it.”

I heartily agree. I loved the Gaian Tarot’s compassionate and expansive view of humanity—how embracing it is of all cultures and experiences. The art is truly lovely too. I especially thought the accompanying guide book was wonderfully written and very well organized. I’m finding Joanna’s tarot philosophy to be similar to mine, especially in regards to viewing the numbered minors as organic developments of a suit’s energy.

Sally, an e-mail has been sent to you with information for claiming your prize. And many thanks to Joanna for sharing her wisdom and creativity with us on my blog! As I mentioned in my interview with Joanna last week, the Gaian Tarot is now available as a trade publication from Llewellyn Worldwide as well as in a limited edition format. To learn more and try an online reading, visit the Gaian Tarot website.

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In other news, I was fortunate to attend the 11th annual National Book Festival last week. The National Book Festival is organized and hosted by the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. With over one hundred stellar authors participating, it’s a veritable harvest of publishing goodness. I was fortunate not only to attend the very glamorous opening reception (which was held in the stunning Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson building), but to also hear some of my favorite authors speak about their books: Dave Eggers, Toni Morrison, Sarah Vowell, Gregory Maguire, and others.

Recent Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan (A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD) was especially inspiring on the subject of writing fiction, a subject very dear to my heart—her words really resonated with me. Here’s a few of the many things she shared during her nearly hour-long talk. Bear in mind these are a bit paraphrased from my hastily scribbled notes:

On her reasons for writing: “Everyone advises you should ‘write what you know.’ Why do that? I write to escape to another dimension.”

On plotting a novel: “My subconscious is way smarter than I am. Writing is how I access the unconscious part of myself. I trust it to reveal the story.”

On writing A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD: “To tell this story, I had to use different narrative structures. I’ll do whatever it takes to tell a story.”

On a related note, here are the three rules she ultimately decided upon to structure GOON SQUAD:

1. Each chapter had to be about a separate character.

2. Each chapter had to have a different setting.

3. Each chapter had to stand alone as a story.

On the wisdom of story: “The story itself leads you to the place you need to go.”

On fiction: “The job of fiction is to raise questions.”

After hearing Ms. Egan speak, I was inspired to deviate from my LILY MAID-related “all-Victorian-all-the-time” reading list to read A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD. It’s really wonderful—a true tour de force of narrative structure and extremely memorable characters. It swerves dazzlingly in time from the San Francisco punk rock scene of the early 1980s into the present; and finally into a future New York City strangled by social media and global warming. While some have derided the chapter composed in PowerPoint as a gimmick, I thought it worked well.

I know there has been discussion whether GOON SQUAD is a novel or a clever collection of interlocked short stories. To my mind, it’s both. While each story stands on its own (as Egan intended), there’s a sense of elegiac loss permeating the book that ties everything together novelistically. Ultimately, GOOD SQUAD is a bittersweet Proustian meditation on the ravages of time. Highly recommended.

• Filed under The Novel, be-mused, creativity, friends and colleagues, giveaways and raffles, news & muse, publishing, the world around me | No Comments

Live in NYC? What are you doing September 17th?

There’s three great events going on in Brooklyn on September 17th. One is at the gallery—our first workshop of the new season. The second features a very talented neighbor of mine. And more!

1. Saturday, September 17, 2-4 pm: FENG SHUI YOUR LIFE WORKSHOP
With author Tisha Morris

Last chance to register at discounted rate! Bring balance to your mind, body, and home! Please join us for a special hands-on workshop with Tisha Morris, author of the new book FENG SHUI YOUR LIFE. She’ll be visiting the gallery all the way from Nashville to teach us how to put the “om” back into home with simple and practical feng shui techniques:

-Discover feng shui techniques that can quickly transform the energy in your home without spending a dime.
-Identify how areas in your home correlate with areas in your life.
-Discover energy portals in your home that you can use to bring about change in your life.
-Leave with a specific Action List to transform at least one room or area of your home.

Autographed books will be available for purchase. Please bring a notebook and writing materials. Registration required.

early registration discount:
$25 before September 9; $30 afterward

2. Saturday, September 17, 1-6 pm: MADE IN BROOKLYN ART RETROSPECTIVE – ARTIST RECEPTION
With artist Zane Treimanis

My friend and neighbor Zane Treimanis‘ art is created primarily with wood, assembling pieces that have been chopped, sawn, nailed and glued. After acquiring a band saw and other tools, Zane began to cut her own shapes and started to develop a personal vocabulary of abstract contours suggested by the human form, as well as forms in nature. “Made in Brooklyn” weaves together several decades of Treimanis’ work. Her most recent work explores the “bare bones” of wood, taking advantage of its natural color and texture.

This exhibit takes place at the BWAC Gallery located at 499 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231. The artist will be at the exhibit every weekend 1-6 PM to greet you and offer a personal tour. Can’t make the opening reception? The exhibit is up September 17 through October 16, 2011. Gallery is open weekends 1-6 PM.

For more information, visit Zane’s website at ZaneTreimanis.com.

3. Saturday, September 17, 6-9 pm: FLATBUSH ARTIST STUDIO TOUR AT WHISK
Opening reception and grand opening

The Flatbush Artists Studio Tour, or FAST, will have an opening reception for a collective exhibit at the Whisk Bakery Cafe located at 1119 Newkirk Avenue on the corner of Westminster Road.  The FAST exhibit will be on view through October 11. This reception will coincide with the Whisk Bakery Cafe’s Grand Opening scheduled for that weekend.  FAST is a group of local artists interested in showcasing the work of Visual Artists living and working in the Victorian Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. It should be a fun time!

• Filed under events, friends and colleagues, news & muse, studio and gallery, the art world, the world around me | No Comments

Publishing Monday: Ack, it’s August!*

As you can see in the above photograph, the Wall of Projects has been quite full this season. That’s the only excuse I can give for allowing this blog to go dormant for a full month. I don’t think I’ve gone this long between updates since, well, I don’t know when. My semi-lame excuse: I’ve been overwhelmed with trying to finalize several major projects before going on summer break.

Did I accomplish everything I wanted to? No. But I got quite close.** A quick recap to bring you up to speed on some of what’s going on in my studio:

1. THE LILY MAID. Goal: To finish revising and workshopping Part 1 and Part 2 (about 75k words) of my novel. Accomplished: Revised all but one chapter of Part 1; Part 2 semi-revised. Once I finish this, I’ve just the last third to edit. On the plus side, I’m very pleased with the feedback I’ve gotten so far on my revised chapters. My readers have been so supportive that I’m feeling so much more confident about my writing these days. And I’ve gained several astonishingly good critique partners and beta readers through the HNS conference and my novel-writing workshop at Sackett Street Writers.

Here’s a post-revision excerpt from the first page of THE LILY MAID, which I’m quite happy with:

A painting undermined my father. And, as you will see by the end of my story, a painting nearly destroyed me. Art is dangerous like that, an unruly thing. I used to consider it as superfluous as those who dedicated their lives to creating it. But I no longer do—I’ve learned this lesson, along with so many others, over the past months. During this period my life has become as foreign to me as another land.

When a life is about to be turned upside-down, there should be some sort of sign so you can prepare yourself. In my case, I received it about a year ago as a communication from beyond the grave. The message was so obvious that I ignored it. I couldn’t believe that fate would be so inelegant.

It was on the first anniversary of my father’s unexpected death in the July of 1888 that my maternal great-aunt Georgiana decided to contact him in a séance. The truth was that my father, while a respected scholar, was not the most practical of men. While Aunt Georgiana was better off than we were thanks to an advantageous marriage, she was reluctant to financially help us from a fear of making us dependent. Instead she claimed my father’s spirit would guide us to some undisclosed funds. His family had been wealthy in Italy, but less so once they’d fled to England for political reasons. Having little experience with the frisson of the darkened room, Aunt Georgiana decided that the Bloomsbury Proper-gandists of Spiritualism would be the vehicle for my family’s liberation. She knew nothing about this group beyond the claims of their London Times advertisement—Novel and Marvelous Manifestations in Full Light. Daily at 3 and 8. The address listed was near the Strand just off Fleet Street.”

2. GODDESS TAROT ANDROID APP. Goal: On the market by the end of July. Accomplished: Almost finished—one last round of revisions and it should be ready for submission to Android Market. The good news is that the app has been designed to work on Android phones and tablets. It’s exactly the same as the Goddess Tarot iPhone app with a few very minor modifications for the Android platform. (On a related note, I’m hoping to put the Goddess Tarot iPad app into production this fall.)

3. SACRED WORLD ORACLE. Goal: Finished and to the published. Accomplished: Three cards left; the booklet text underway. This project is definitely a case of “so very close”—I’ve been trying to finalize it since the end of 2010. Sometimes my time in the studio seems like a giant game of Whack a Mole.

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On top of all this, my website needs a major overhaul, I’ve several design jobs underway—I’m helping the lovely and amazing Sandra Gulland launch her new e-book imprint!—and the new gallery show needs to be hung. I’ve decided this time ’round to present a selection of my books and art—something I haven’t done in some time.

We’re also moving forward with scheduling new events for this fall. Our first event will be a feng shui workshop with author Tisha Morris on September 17th. Spaces are limited; registration is required. Learn more here.

And how was your summer so far? Feel free to post about it in the comment section. In the meantime, I’ll be catching my breath before diving in again.

*So much for my HNS recap “coming soon.” Sigh.

** In tarot, the Nine of Staves traditionally represents a brief break for rest before jumping back into the fray. Completion is so close, yet feels so far!

• Filed under The Novel, news & muse, publications, publishing, tarot and oracles, the world around me | 2 Responses

Publishing Monday: HNS update coming soon….

I haven’t forgotten about posting about my experiences at the Historical Novel Society conference in San Diego. I’m just totally snowed under with work and responsibilities and solo parenting.

In the meantime, here are a few recaps from the following participants:

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon – author of SCANDALOUS WOMEN

Teralyn Rose Pilgrim – she has a series of posts about HNS.

Susan Spann – ditto as Teralyn.

C. W. Gortner – author of THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI and THE TUDOR SECRET.

Christy English – author of TO BE QUEEN.

I know there are lots of other HNS updates out there—send me your links if you have one. And my update coming soon!

• Filed under The Novel, the world around me, travels | No Comments

Gallery events this weekend: Creative Women’s Salon and Children’s Art Show closing

This is a busy weekend at my studio gallery! We have two great events planned. If you live in the NYC area, I hope you’ll join us!

Friday, June 10, 7-9:30 pm
CREATIVE WOMEN’S NETWORKING SALON
Suggested donation for refreshments: $5.

As featured on Brooklyn Independent Television! Are you an artist, writer, or creative entrepreneur and practioner? Come out and meet other like-minded women for conversation, inspiration, and wine. At our previous gatherings, we were joined by photographers, crafters, publishing people, designers, artists, writers, and illustrators. Watch a television clip about this event.

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Sunday, June 12, 1-4 pm
CLOSING RECEPTION:
THE ART OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS:
Inspiration to Illustration
free admission – children welcome

Please join us for the closing of this wonderful exhibit. We’ll have cookies and other kid-friendly goodies. Also available: autographed books and prints for sale!

About this exhibit: Everyone has a favorite picture book from their childhood. But have you ever wondered at how the art for these gorgeous books are created? The Art of Children’s Books: Inspiration to Illustration offers a behind-the-scenes look at the art, design, and production of illustrated books. It presents a wide variety of art techniques and styles—from the witty digital art of Sara Varon to the soft classicism of Donna Diamond, and beyond.

Butterfly Inkblot art: © Margaret Peot.

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