The Readers of Broken Wheel by Katarina Bivald

By Kate Phillips

As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

          Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don’t generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, backstories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

          The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald is a book about books. Two avid readers, Amy Harris from Broken Wheel, Iowa, and Sara Lindqvist from Sweden, become pen pals and trade novels.

In one letter, Amy writes: “Books or people, you ask…I’ve loved maybe a handful of people in my entire life, compared with tens or maybe even hundreds of books (and here I’m counting only those books I’ve really loved, the kind that make you happy just to look at them, that make you smile regardless of what else is happening in your life, that you always turn back to like an old friend and can remember exactly where you first “met” them—I’m sure you know just what I’m talking about). But that handful of people you love…they’re surely worth just as much as all those books.” (page 145) [A kindred spirit!]

Amy, a retired teacher who never left her home town, invites Sara to visit her when the bookstore she worked at for a decade, her first real job, goes out of business. Sara, who hasn’t much of a life outside of books, decides to travel to Iowa despite her parents’ misgivings. She lands in a small town much different than she imagined waiting over two hours for Amy to pick her up where the bus dropped her off. Luckily, she has a book to bury her nose in while time passes.

Sadly, her vacation adventure begins on the day of Amy’s funeral. However, friends and family described in her pen pals’ letters rally around Sara, a tourist in their midst, making her feel welcome. So welcome, she isn’t allowed to pay for anything.

Troubled by this, Sara looks around for a way to pay the town back. She decides to open a book shop filled with Amy’s collection and the ripples of transformation begin as books new to you are “…Unread adventures. Friends you haven’t met yet, hours of magical escapism awaiting you.” (page 303)

          While I enjoyed the story, I loved Sara recommending 56 real books to her customers as I’m always looking for recommendations. I loved her shelf titles like For Friday Nights and Lazy Sundays, Reliable Authors Guaranteed, and Happy Endings When You Need Them. With sections like those, I’d love to visit the Oak Tree Bookstore, too.  

I also loved Katarina Bivald’s outlook and the answers she gave in “A Conversation with the Author” section on pages 391-394 about her first novel. Helpful for future authors.

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

By Kate Phillips

          I love to read novels where one of the characters is a writer because it gives me another perspective into a writer’s life. Knowing this, one of my friends recommended November 9 by Colleen Hoover to me.

It’s classified as a New Adult book explained a librarian friend when I asked if she had read it. She hadn’t, but she liked some other books by Colleen Hoover.

Whether you are a new adult (ages roughly 18-23) or not, Colleen Hoover is a terrific writer who shares many insightful asides in her books. I’m going to concentrate my review on those lines as I don’t want to include any plot spoilers.

In November 9, Ben and Fallon are the main characters who meet when they are 18. He’s a writer. She’s an actress. For several reasons, they have an unconventional relationship seeing each other only once a year on November 9^th. The chapters alternate from Fallon’s perspective to Ben’s.

Here are some of my favorite lines and insightful asides:

…The man [Fallons’ father] has absolutely zero remorse. I both hate and envy it. In a way, I wish I were more like him and less like my mother. He’s oblivious to his many flaws, whereas mine are the focal point of my life. My flaws are what wake me in the morning and what keep me awake every night. (page 5)

…It’s the worst time in the world for me to get emotional, but I guess tears aren’t known for their impeccable timing. (pp. 48-49)

“Don’t push your luck.”

He laughs. “Why the hell does luck exist if I’m not supposed not to push it?” (page 52)

          …But this apartment is too comfortable, and comfort can sometimes be a crutch when it comes to figuring out your life. Goals are achieved through discomfort and hard work. They aren’t achieved when you hide out in a place where you are nice and cozy. (page 68)

Actually, I don’t even think I showed [my poem] to anyone. My mother found it in my room, which is how I came to respect the beauty of privacy. She showed everyone in my entire family and it made me never want to share my work again. (page 84)

“…When you find love, you take it. You grab it with both hands and do everything in your power not to let it go. You can’t just walk away from it and expect it to linger until you’re ready for it.” (page 168)

…It’s funny how a grown adult can just forget how to function properly in the presence of someone else. But I feel like my insides are so hot, they’re beginning to scorch my bones… (page 199)

          I found Colleen Hoover’s writing and insightful asides engaging. Her plot is twisty and wrenching—just like love so I’m recommending it in honor of Valentine’s Day.

The Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

By Kate Phillips

          In The Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about courage, enchantment, permission, persistence, trust, and divinity. Under these categories, she shares her own stories as well as stories told to her by friends and strangers. One of my favorites is about a costume party that could have gone badly awry, but courage and trust saved the evening. (“Walk Proudly” on page 260.)

          I saw Gilbert discussing this book on Well Read on PBS. During the interview, Gilbert was funny, warm, and encouraging anyone who wanted to live a creative life to live one. She states: I’m talking about living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than fear. (page 9)

          Gilbert who travels the world, speaks in front of crowds, and publishes books about her life, discusses how many fears she had while growing up—some legitimate and some hilarious—and how she decided to get over many of them thanks to her parents and the examples they set.

          She gives us words of wisdom like:

“…you have treasures hidden within you—extraordinary treasures—and so do I, and so does everyone around us. And bringing these treasures to light takes work and faith and focus and courage and hours of devotion, and the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning, and we simply do not have time anymore to think so small.” (page 27)

“You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your success or failures. You can battle your demons…instead of battling your gifts… You can believe that you are neither a slave to inspiration nor its master, but something far more interesting—its partner…” (page 41)

          I love Gilbert’s theory of ideas showcased in “How Ideas Work” on page 34, “An Idea Goes Away” on page 47 and “The Tiger’s Tale” on page 64. Her advice on finding ideas: “…Trust in the miraculous truth that new and marvelous ideas are looking for human collaborators every single day…Let them know you are available.” (page 49)

          She tells an enchanted tale of friendship with author Ann Patchett starting with “Wizardry” on page 49 through “Multiple Discovery” on page 61. It will amaze you.

          The Big Magic is not just for writers. It’s meant for anyone who wants to be creative, to follow their gifts, to find joy in their work and life.

“An Amplified Existence” on page 9 tells the story of a woman who loved ice skating as a girl, but gave it up when she wasn’t talented enough to be a champion. At 40, she took up skating again. “It was a revolution. A literal revolution, as she spun to life again on the ice.” (page 11)

“And while paths and outcomes of creative living will vary wildly from person to person, I can guarantee you this: A creative life is an amplified life. It’s a bigger life, a happier life, an expanded life, and a hell of a lot more interesting life. Living in this manner—continually and stubbornly bringing forth the jewels that are hidden within you—is a fine art, in and of itself.” (page 12)

Any creative person will find The Big Magic a tour de force.

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

By Kate Phillips

 

          How many of us say yes to every invitation and opportunity that scares us? Being writers—often introverts who need solitude to read, think, and work—I’m guessing very few of us. So who knows where the roads not taken would have led us?

          Shonda Rhimes knows the answer. After almost a decade of saying no, she chose yes as her word of the year in 2014. She said yes to every opportunity and invitation that scared her. As the creator, writer, and/or producer of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice, and How to Get Away with Murder, many, many opportunities and invitations that scared her came her way.

          In her book Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person, Rhimes shares her journeys behind the scenes and in the spotlight as she welcomed opportunities and faced her fears. The worst things she worried about never happened (passing out and fear snot among many others) while the best things she never considered happened (joy, new friends, playing more often, and losing over 100 pounds).

          Her words of hard won wisdom resonate:

 

Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral. Pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change. (page 78)

 

                   “The rule is: there are no rules.

Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to. As your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.” (page 286)

 

Her feelings are real and relatable when faced with scary situations like appearing on Jimmy Kimmel’s show live:

 

“You can die from the hiccups. For real. I’m a fake doctor who writes fake medicine for TV. So I know stuff. And I’m telling you, we killed Meredith’s stepmother with hiccups and that could happen to me. I could laugh until I hiccup and hiccup and die.” (page 48)

 

 “…I am afraid I may accidentally Janet Jackson Boob Jimmy. Or pee on his sofa like an excited puppy. Or fall on my face before I even make it to the sofa. Or die. I don’t say anything about any of that.

Because I’m a lady, damn it.” (page 50)

 

Her experiences are varied: sometimes funny, and sometimes, as her young daughter Emerson says, mazing. Her take on motherhood and how it evolved during this year is also shared. If you want to know more, say yes and read this book.

Yes is a powerful word. Rhimes’ life was transformed inside and out simply by saying yes.

Reading this book might make you choose yes as your word of 2015.

Rhimes also writes about writing in this book. And about her TV shows. And the actors on them. Who her hero is and why. It’s a book worth saying yes to for so many reasons.

 

 

Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession edited by Elizabeth Benedict

By Kate Phillips

 

The essays in Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession edited by Elizabeth Benedict address not only straight and curly, long and short, gray or colored hair, but the cultural and political mores that pressure women to make sometimes uncomfortable choices.

These essays from different points of view are eye-opening. The writers’ descriptions, emotions, and voices are real and universal and passionate.

 

I loved Maria Hinojosa’s essay “My Wild Hair” on page131 which is as much about her hair as a love story.

“…I let it be as wild, long, and curly as it is.

And yes, I do this for love. Because I love myself more like this and because this way I show my husband my love, not in words or deeds, but in hair.” (page 138)

 

“Why Mothers and Daughters Tangle Over Hair” by Deborah Tannen on page 105 is a funny tribute to all the “helpful” comments from moms whether their daughters’ hair is on display or hidden under a head scarf.

 

Serious topics are covered as well:

 

Baldness due to cancer is addressed on page 9 in “Hair, Interrupted” by Suleika Jaouad. “Chemotherapy is a take-no-prisoners stylist.” (page 13)

 

On page 19, “My Black Hair” by Marita Golden reveals the pain and struggle Black women deal with when making hairstyle choices as “hair is knotted and gnarled by issues of race, politics, history, and pride.”

 

A religious tradition of shaving a bride’s head the morning after the wedding is the focus of Deborah Feldman’s essay “The Cutoff” on page 147. “And yet, my shaved head did not buy me full acceptance either, although it purchased a kind of tolerance that, for a while, seemed like it would be enough.” (page 152)

 

“While it’s easy to make light of our obsession with our hair, very few of the writers in these pages do that. We get that hair is serious. It’s our glory, our nemesis, our history, our sexuality, our religion, our vanity, our joy, and our morality.” (Introduction, page xvii)

Women’s hair means much more than it appears.

 

The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia Scarry

By Kate Phillips

           If you celebrate Christmas, what comes to mind when you read that word? Christmas trees? Fresh wreaths? Cookies for Santa? Candy canes? Not just the seasonal objects, but delicious aromas as well.

          As a writer, I learned the aroma lesson early. On Christmas day when I was six, my one-year-younger sister received a book gift entitled The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia Scarry and illustrated by J. P. Miller. Included in the story of Little Bear waiting for Christmas are six pages with scratch and sniff fragrance labels.

The text and illustrations depict a cozy, old-fashioned home where the Bear family prepares for the holiday on Christmas Eve. Little Bear starts the story with: “Something wonderful is going to happen…My nose tells me so.” Each reader’s nose does, too.

I borrowed that book without permission quite often. I just loved the combination of words and aromas. Father Bear and Little Bear went in search of a Christmas tree and I could smell the pine branches. Mother Bear baked a pie and I could smell the apples. I also loved that there was an orange in Little Bear’s stocking as we always had one in the toes of ours. However, the hot chocolate shared with the carolers was my favorite scent.

Aromas bring readers deeper into anything they are reading. That’s why it’s important to be specific—not just flowers, but roses; not just dinner, but roasted turkey with cornbread stuffing; not just dessert, but chocolate cake. Readers will add the thick swirls of frosting covering two layers on their own.

Aromas made this book truly memorable. They can make your writing memorable as well by simply adding “invisible scratch and sniff labels” whenever possible—a terrific writing tool.

  

 

2015 Gifts for Writers

By Kate Phillips

 

          If you’re looking for some gift suggestions for writers you know or for yourself, here are some of my favorites:

 

The Writer’s Book of Inspiration: Quotes on Writing and the Literary Life selected and edited by Stephanie Gunning

This book of 270 quotes is elegant. Each page contains only one quote in larger print—suitable for framing if you make copies. It’s easy on the eyes while reading straight through or flipping open to random pages. Two examples:

 

 

“I love writing. I love the swirl

and swing of words as they tangle with

human emotions.”

--James A. Michener

 

 

“Concentrate on what you want to say

to yourself and your friends. Follow your

inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.

You say what you want to say when you

don’t care who’s listening.”

--Allen Ginsberg

 

 

If you are looking for wise words from a favorite writer, there is an alphabetical listing of all contributors on pages 280-287.

 

 

Women Who Write by Stefan Bollmann

          In this beautiful oversized book printed and bound in Italy, read about dozens of famous and not-so-famous women who changed cultures and history with their books, letters, and essays. On the glossy pages, each author has her likeness in a painting or photograph followed by one to three pages about her work and background. Photos of handwriting, homes, and offices are also interspersed in the book.

          Bollmann’s accompanying text covers the difficulties and successes of being a woman writer back when it wasn’t accepted through to today.

          “In a certain sense, [this] book…is a gallery and a refuge, made up of stories of women whose urge to be writers drove them to opt for a dangerous life.” (page 41)

          Starting with Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179, Christine de Pisan, 1364-1430, and Madeleine de Scudery (1607-1701), to Toni Morrison, Assia Djebar, Isabel Allende, and Arundhati Roy, Bollman discusses women writers’ lives and their works.

           Many of the women wrote serious books and pieces like Simone de Beauvoir and Marguerite Duras, but woman who wrote about characters that became world-famous like Heidi by Johanna Spyri and Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren are given their due as well.

          This is an inspirational book for all women who write.

 

Screenplay: Writing the Picture by Robin U. Russin and William Missouri Downs.

Both graduates of UCLA School of Film and Television who wrote every day and eventually sold screenplays, their book is a truly useful and often funny guide that gives you the basics, excellent advice as well as stating mistakes to avoid. The authors give examples of sceenplays, formats, and discuss line by line what should be there and why. They give terrific explanations of what works and what doesn’t. Then they share what readers for production companies are looking for as they read screenplays.

This book is well organized and easy to read. At the end of each chapter are exercises that get you writing the screenplay you’ve dreamed about in the correct format. Russin and Downs cover every genre with their suggestions. They presume you have a story in mind so they want to help you polish it as well as look professional when you send your screenplays out.

 

 

2016 Writer’s Market

A perennial choice both for the listings of periodicals and book publishers as well as the helpful articles that make the business side of writing easier.

Is this the year you submit a piece—or more—for publication?