Memoirs by Helene Hanff

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.

 

        You can have a wonderful literary life if you are determined to be a writer. Helene Hanff is proof of that.
 

Hanff wrote several charming memoirs—the most famous being 84, Charing Cross Road, which has a sequel, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, both set in London. She also celebrated her life in the big city in Apple of My Eye, Letter from New York, and her first book, and my favorite, the delightfully funny Underfoot in Show Business. However, Q's Legacy reveals how hard she worked to become a writer, that showing up really is half the battle, and that synchronicity has a role to play.

Before she became a successful author, Hanff dreamed of becoming a writer. She won a scholarship to college. After one year, she lost it due to the Depression.

Disappointed she had learned little about writing in college, she went to the library to find herself a teacher. The librarian sent her to the 800 section where she discovered On the Art of Writing by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, MA, King Edward VII Professor of English Literature in the University of Cambridge. It was one of several volumes of lectures delivered to his students at Jesus College, Cambridge. Delighted with his teachings, Hanff referred to him as Q.

Hanff studied Q's lectures for two hours a day, studied books he referred to and recommended for four hours a day, and wrote. However, her parents expected her to work so she was sent to a secretarial school.

After two years of office work while still studying with Q, Hanff became stage struck and started writing plays. She then entered and won a writing competition. She moved to New York City as the prize included working at the Theatre Guild. Her secretarial skills were put to good use taking notes during interviews with stars like Katharine Hepburn in the Theatre Guild's productions for press releases distributed to newspapers. At the same time, she wrote a lot of unsuccessful plays.

Also back to studying Q's lectures, Hanff was looking to buy cheaply-priced, but good quality books he recommended. A small ad in The Times led her to contact a bookstore in London located at 84, Charing Cross Road. Through a shared passion for books and years of trading letters, Hanff became friends with the staff.

Hanff moved on from the theater to write successful scripts for live TV shows shot in New York until the industry moved to Hollywood. Desperate for a job, she hoped she would not have to work in an office.

Luckily, an agent called Hanff looking for old plays or scripts she might be able to sell. Hanff went to her closet and pulled out a couple of failed plays. Then she remembered a producer once told her one of them would be better as a magazine article. It took her a month to turn the plays into articles, one for Harper's and the other for The New Yorker. After publication, Hanff received a call from an editor who asked if she had written any books. She had not, but they decided to meet for lunch anyway.

The editor suggested she spend the next six months writing a funny book about coming to New York to crash the theater scene. Hanff decided she could do that and Underfoot in Show Business was published.

Hanff then got steady work writing history books for children, but that series was discontinued. Again looking for work, she received the news that her friend, the manager of the London bookstore, had died. Hanff remembered all the letters they had shared and went looking for them.

Synchronicity led to her letters to and from the London bookstore becoming her most successful book and led to a movie deal as well. Hanff followed up with several more books of letters along with her memoirs.

        Helene Hanff's dedication to writing is inspirational considering she never stopped whether she was a celebrated bestselling author or homeless between successes. She believed in herself and her calling. She lived a true writer's life. We should all be so dedicated.

 

Have you followed through with any of your writing dreams?

Jennifer Crusie Writes Witty Chick Lit

By Kate Phillips

 

        Author Jennifer Crusie was researching women writers and romance novels for her dissertation. After reading about 100 romances, she thought she could write a good one—and she was right. Then she went on to write many bestsellers.

        Her leads are all smart, hard-working women with great friends dealing with the messes in their lives mostly caused by dating Mr. Wrongs. (Although loving, but aggravating family members certainly contribute to these messes). Since, as the saying goes, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before finding your prince, they learn from their mistakes and move on. Their Mr. Rights show up in unexpected places, under unusual conditions, or are unrecognized at first. That's when the fun begins.

        From a writer's perspective, Crusie's descriptions of settings are fantastic. She makes you want to live in some of the homes (Lucy's in Getting Rid of Bradley), visit some of the businesses (the detective agency in Fast Women), and make reservations at the restaurants (especially Emilio's in Bet Me). Also, Crusie's love of food comes across in the detailed descriptions of every dish and the ambiance of the settings where characters enjoy eating these meals.

As she includes in all her books, getting together with your best friends is what keeps women sane. Girl talk, laughter, tears, and unconditional support are as essential as breathing.

        Her takes on men and relationships are funny and truthful. In the end, there are good guys and not-good-for-you guys in this world. Pain is inevitable in either case, but love, commitment, and trust make things bearable until things are resolved. And when you are truly and mutually in love with the right man, there's no better feeling.

Along with all this love, longing, and laughter, Crusie likes to include dogs and the occasional cat in her novels as women can always count on their pets for support and comfort. Some pets are there from the beginning while others make their debuts as part of storylines. However they get into the books, the dogs and cats are all delightful characters, too.

So if you enjoy reading witty Chick Lit—and based on sales, many of us do—I recommend these Jennifer Crusie novels:

Fast Women

Nell Dysart's best friend and sister-in-law, Suze, thinks working as the secretary for a detective agency would be a good way for Nell to start recovering from her over-a-year-ago divorce. Gabe McKenna is not so sure, but since his biggest client is married to Suze and his current secretary has disappeared, he reluctantly agrees. Ever-efficient, Nell starts organizing appointment books, records, past files, and, much to Gabe's dismay, updating the office décor. She discovers that the previous secretary was embezzling and dealing in secrets and blackmail. Trouble follows once Nell forces the secretary to repay the money and then shares all the bad news with Gabe and his associate, Riley. Nell is also in the doghouse for dognapping a dachshund, along with Suze, for a 'client' on a case Gabe refused to take on. The 'client' then refuses to keep the dog so Nell now has a constant companion. Gabe has never been so angry or so intrigued with a woman, but his life doesn't need any more complications. Too bad because Nell is part of Gabe's destiny as is a long ago murderer who thought certain secrets were buried forever, but now has to kill again.

 

 

Bet Me

Actuary Minerva Dobbs, wearer of gray suits but great shoes, gets dumped by her boyfriend, David, whom she has not slept with yet, at The Long Shot club a few weeks before her younger sister's perfect wedding. Knowing her mother will be disappointed in her yet again, Min needs a new boyfriend stat. As she puts a plan of action into place with her two best friends, she overhears her now ex-boyfriend betting Cal Morrison that he cannot sleep with Min within one month, but she mishears the response. Min moves away calculating that the handsome Cal can be her wedding escort before she breaks up with him so he loses the bet—or maybe she will sleep with Cal so David will lose the bet. Details to be decided later. For now, dating Cal would solve her biggest problem. After asking her out that same night (a bet he did make), Cal introduces her to Emilio's, an Italian family-run restaurant for 80 years and home of the world's best bread and Chicken Marsala. However, despite the great food, Min cannot see herself dating Cal. Wishing each other well, they go back to their own lives until chance meetings bring them together again and again to discover their mutual love of classic movies like Big Trouble in Little China, Krispy Kreme donuts, and Elvis music although it turns out to be Costello for him and Presley for her. Their families are dysfunctional. Their best friends are dating each other. And their relationship is based on a bad bet everyone thinks Cal made. Are the odds for true love—and a home with Elvis the cat and a dog to be named later—in their favor?

 

 

Getting Rid of Bradley

Detective Zack Warren depends on his instincts as well as his training to track down white collar criminals which is why he and his partner, Detective Anthony Taylor, are waiting over an hour in a diner for embezzler John Bradley to show up. Bradley doesn't arrive, but watching two attractive women at another table has made the wait more interesting. The sisters, Lucy and Tina, are celebrating Lucy's divorce from Bradley Porter. As they leave, Lucy [promises her sister], "…As soon as I get home, I will get rid of Bradley." She meant his belongings still in the house, but Zack doesn't know that. He thinks she is involved with his embezzler so he follows her out the door and down an alley where someone takes a shot at her. Lucy thinks Zack is a mugger and fights to get away hitting him in the face with her bag full of textbooks and runs flagging down two cops to arrest Zack. Exhausted, she is too tired to wait for the cops to come back so she leaves her name and address under their windshield wiper and heads home. Frustrated, and tired of being teased about a high school teacher beating him up, Zack goes to Lucy's house for an interview where he meets her three canine housemates. Turns out, Zack's instincts were right. The two Bradleys are connected and someone is out to scare off or hurt Lucy. Since she will not abandon her cozy Victorian dream home, Zack moves in and falls for Lucy and her dogs while learning to cook and keeping them safe from a determined criminal. Luckily for Zack, Lucy is fearless enough to keep him safe, too. Phoebe the cat, living with her owner next door, provides wonderful comic relief in this novel.

 
 

Charlie All Night

Radio Producer and untitled-station-manager-everyone-turns-to-in-a-crisis Allie McGuffey has just lost her morning drive show. She thinks it's because her ex-lover and the host of the show wants her out, but, unbeknownst to her, the station owner has hired Charlie Tenniel to investigate a threatening letter sent to the station. Since Allie is the best producer, he needs her to make Charlie's show succeed so no one guesses he is not a real DJ. Allie is angry about the demotion, but not enough not to notice Charlie's good points. Who wouldn't fall for a guy with a smooth voice, sense of humor, love for Mrs. McCarthy's Chinese food, and great hands—especially when he is helping to keep Sampson, an abandoned tiny black Lab puppy, alive by taking his turn bottle feeding him every hour while hosting the Charlie All Night show from 10pm-2am? Pulling out all the stops, Allie is determined to make Charlie a star while he wants to keep a low profile, solve the letter mystery, and move on to his next adventure. Their polar opposite goals lead to a whole lot of friction and a crazy bet. While the investigation comes to a painfully touching conclusion, Charlie debates his wanderlust versus love and lust for Allie. When it comes right down to it, there's only one place Charlie wants to be all night—now he just has to convince the love of his life it's simply wherever she is.

 

 

What do you think of Jennifer Crusie's writing style?

The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

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.

 

 

        In this post, I'm writing about a series that I loved then stopped reading because, in my opinion, the author made some big mistakes that should have been avoided. I prefer to celebrate only books I love, but there are writing lesson to be learned from books not so well written, too.

 

        As I have previously mentioned, I watch CBS Sunday Morning every week as it is an excellent program that quite often highlights authors. About 14 years ago, author Janet Evanovich was interviewed about her Stephanie Plum series just before the sixth book was released. Evanovich was wearing a hockey jersey as she took the interviewer on a tour of the neighborhood that she used as the basis for Stephanie's hometown. She then explained how she decided to make Stephanie a hockey-jersey-wearing bounty hunter.

        Intrigued, I checked out the first book in the series, One for the Money, and loved it! (Do not judge the book by its movie!) Evanovich won a Dilys Award for the book.

       

         Evanovich's characters are flawed and funny. Desperate for a paycheck after she loses her job as a lingerie buyer at a third-rate department store, Stephanie Plum stumbles into a new career when her mother reminds her of a filing job at a cousin's business. Instead, she ends up working as a bounty hunter for the same cousin (a bail bondsman who has odd proclivities) along with a high school classmate office manager as well as a wise-cracking sidekick Stephanie meets on her first case.

 

        Living in an apartment only a few miles from the house she grew up in, she is often home for dinner cooked by her mother for her semi-retired father and a grandmother who moved in when her husband died. Grandma is almost everyone's favorite character as she has trouble staying out of trouble—much of it inspired by Stephanie's new career.

 

        Besides the criminals she chases down in each book, there are two other vital and, I must add, hot characters: Vice cop Joe Morelli and bounty hunter Ranger. Stephanie and Morelli have a complicated relationship having known each other since grade school. Ranger becomes her bounty hunter tutor when Stephanie realizes she is ill-equipped for her new job through a comedy of errors. Sexual tension in this romantic triangle is off the charts!

 

I was so happy I could buy and quickly read the next four books and only had a two-week wait for book six instead of a whole year as book five ended with a cliff hanger.

 

        I highly recommend the first six books with a warning NOT to read book four in public. Everyone I know screamed with laughter in several places. And despite my warning, one friend had to scramble off a public bus and another had to run out of doctor's waiting room because they did in fact scream with laughter.

 

        Now for the bad news.

 

After a buildup through six books, the author did not live up to a promise she made that spending the night with one character would ruin Stephanie for all other men. No author should let readers down after a statement like that, but Evanovich did. Combine that with weaker plots in books 7-12 and the series didn't keep my interest any longer although book 20 has been published.

 

        I learned important writing lessons from this author.

 

In the two weeks I was waiting for book six to be released, I bought copies of the romance novels Evanovich wrote before she hit it big with her series. I like to read things in order and it really paid off as you could see her evolve as a writer.

 

The books were pretty bad frankly, but each one improved a bit until the last one (I've forgotten the title—it was 14 years ago) which had the seeds for both Stephanie's and her grandma's characters in it. I saw bad writing become better writing become prize-winning writing right before my eyes. Please note: these romance novels have been updated/improved by a co-writer so you have to look for the originals if you want to see the same progress.

 

LESSONS LEARNED:

 

In the end, the more you write, the better you will write.

Finish a book—only 1% of all writers do.

Send it out. It may be published.

In the meantime, start your next book.

Persistence will pay off.

It did for Janet Evanovich. Why not for you, too?

Do You Reread?

By Kate Phillips

 

        Rereading reveals insights in books from different perspectives as I mature. I reread other books for comfort because they remind me of the loved ones who gave them to me or because I know these books by heart and they're good for my soul as they stay constant and true.

We connect with authors who draw us in, expand our minds, and touch our hearts. They are "the company we want to keep" to paraphrase Ruth Whitman in The Writer's Home Companion.

The company I keep and reread includes:

 

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

This may be my all-time favorite book. Fadiman's passion for books, reading, and writing are captured in a series of thoughtful, funny, and poignant essays about, among other things, marrying libraries, courtly and carnal love for books, and an ode to a favorite fountain pen. She shares stories from her literate upbringing as well as raising a family with her husband, a fellow writer. A book all readers and writers will revel in!

 

 

Reflection on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion edited by Diane K. Osbon

This book details a 30-day workshop led by Joseph Campbell of "Follow Your Bliss" fame. From the flyleaf: "…poet Diane Osbon has selected Campbell's most illuminating perceptions into those fundamental subjects that are of perennial human concern: the challenge of living in the world, the process of spiritual awakening, the struggle to come into awareness, and the art of living in the sacred. This exquisite volume, crafted with love and care, will enrich, uplift, and inspire everyone it touches." I completely agree.

 

Running From Safety: An Adventure of the Spirit by Richard Bach

The premise of this book from the back cover: "If the children we were asked us today for the best we've learned from living, what would we tell, and what would we discover in return?" Bach writes this book as a tale where his ten-year-old self confronts him as an adult to ask him questions both mundane and profound. Even if the questions are painful, the child demands honesty. Bach's soul-searching answers contain mind-expanding wisdom—truly words to live by.

 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert Pirsig.

Books and workbooks have been written about this true account of a father and son on a long motorcycle trip with friends. The father, Pirsig, is a brilliant man who had electric shock therapy which affected his life, relationships, and memories. From the back flyleaf: "[The book] speaks directly to the confusions and agonies of existence. In the intimate detailing of a real-life odyssey—personal, philosophical—Robert M. Pirsig has written a touching, painful, and ultimately transcendent book of life." A fascinating read.

 

The Writer's Life: Insights from The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

From the back cover: "Cameron's pivotal insights and pointers are distilled in a pocket-size daily companion that will help readers lead a writer's life more easily, joyfully, and powerfully." Very inspiring!

 

What books do you reread?

Escaping into the Open by Elizabeth Berg

By Kate Phillips

     

Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True is novelist Elizabeth Berg's invitation to anyone interested to join her in the writing world. "…I believe many people do want to share, do want to write, and are afraid to try. They need a gentle nudge to get going. It is my mission and my high privilege to try to make this book that nudge. …You feel the call. That's the most important thing. Now answer it as fully as you can. Take the risk to let all that is in you, out. Escape into the open." (page xv)

        Berg makes it easier to take the risk, to escape into the open because she is so open about her writing life, style, routines, successes, and failures. She started writing knowing nothing about the publishing world, only writing true to herself.

        "When you are first starting to write, you don't need to buy a whole lot of things. What you need most is a fierce desire to put things down on paper; and you need a certain sensibility, a way of seeing and feeling. These things cost nothing and, like many things that are free, are worth a lot—worth everything in fact." (page 19)

        Her Chapter 2 Getting Started is a descriptive list of all the useful information you need to begin. It's amusing that the first 16 items all begin with the letter P from Purpose, Plan, and Place to Privacy, Playfulness, and Payoffs, but Berg gives you all the information you need to know as a fellow writer.

        Berg's writing wisdom is found on every page. Here are a few examples:

 

"I'm sure you've also heard…Write what you know." I would change that to "Write what you love." The knowledge can be learned, the passion can't be…" (page 43)

 

"Nuance works. Subtlety works. Make the act of someone reading you an interactive process by expecting the reader to bring a level of willingness and acceptance—and imagination—to you. Lure, don't force, readers into a story with you. Remember they want to be lured, they want to lose themselves in your words." (page 47)

 

"Whenever people ask me where I get my material, I am befuddled…We need only be awake, and curious, and willing to share." (page 104)

 

"The best thing that can happen to me when I am writing fiction is to lose sight of the fact that I am writing at all. It's as though I enter into a kind of trance. I know I am writing, but I don't think about it. I just let my fingers type—it's as though the feeling comes out directly through them, bypassing the brain altogether. When that happens, I feel completely transported. There is nothing else like this feeling, very little else more important to me. That intimacy I feel between myself and my work is what makes me feel at home on the earth. I am basically a shy person, basically a loner and an outsider; and I have been all my life. But when I achieve the kind of connection I can get through writing, I feel I'm sitting in the lap of God." (page 118)

 

"I'm interested in helping people I know and people I don't know, too; that's why I wrote this book. I believe the more good writers we have, the happier we readers will be." (page 201)

 

        Many writers will be happier, too, if they read this book.

Masterclass: The Quiet Center edited by Katherine Ball Ross

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.

 

        Please note this blog is based on a book written by women for women so I wrote it for women writers in particular.

       

        Most women are particularly busy this time of year: cooking, cleaning, decorating, providing hospitality to out-of-town visitors as well as hosting and attending parties on top of all our regular responsibilities—so much to do, so little time for ourselves.

        When do we have time to reflect and write? Never mind entering the Novel in a Month event. By the way, I have never understood why November was chosen as the month for the Novel in a Month project. Writers don't need any more pressure this time of year. March makes much more sense—no holidays to prepare for, muddy outside so better to be inside, and 31 days long so more time to write.

        But I digress.

        If you have a moment to read at any time, pick up a copy of The Quiet Center: Women Reflecting on Life's Passages from the Pages of Victoria Magazine edited by Katherine Ball Ross. Noted writers including Diane Ackerman, Madeleine L'Engle, Jane Smiley, and many others share their thoughts about Childhood, Motherhood, Grandmothers, Sisters, Places of the Heart, Rituals, In the Company of the Past, On Writing and Writers, and The Quiet Center of One's Life.

        These essays are a delight to read. They bring back our memories even as we read about other writers' lives. We can write essays of our own in answers to theirs—a wonderful communal activity.

        In Suzanne Berne's essay "The Gift of Memory" on page 36, she writes, "Nostalgia, after all, is our remembrance of focused attention, our romance with the particular. Without the odd glimmering detail, childhood would be a faded blur, lost to us…"

        Doesn't that make you want to rush to pick up your pen or sit at your keyboard and write down the glimmering details of your own childhood before they fade?

For writers, this quote jumps out in Marian Seldes essay on page 304:

        An older writer, Sarah Jewett, advised the young Willa [Cather], "you must find your own quiet center of life, and write from that to the world that holds others, and all of society, all Bohemia; the city, the country—in short you must write to the human heart."

        Brilliant advice given to a talented writer who wrote short stories, poetry, essays, nonfiction, and novels; Cather won a Pulitzer Prize.

        Patricia O'Toole's essay, "The Romance of Old Books," on page 322 sums up every avid reader's greatest joy. "Happening onto a favorite story is like an unexpected encounter with a friend too long unseen: You seize your good fortune and make time for each other. The rest of the world must wait."

        I first read this book about a decade ago. A reader of this blog asked my opinion of it and I'm so thankful she did. The Quiet Center is a timeless classic that should be reread often. It's inspiring. It's comforting. It's a kindred collection of essays I recommend that 'you make time for and let the rest of the world wait.'

 

What books do you make time for?

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:

 

        Writers need time to write so ask family members for 30- or 60-minute Time-to-Write coupons. Redeem the coupons by posting them where you write and listing a start time.

 

        A timer to get yourself writing quickly. Works great with the Time-to-Write coupons!

 

Mascots to keep you company in your Writers' Crates. A gift of a stuffed dragon became my first mascot. I also have two small plastic dragons on my computer tower that make me laugh. They have such disapproving faces and body language that I feel compelled to keep writing whenever I stop and they catch my eye. I also have a deep blue solid glass turtle with a smooth shell that I hold sometimes when I am considering what to write next.

 

Quote posters and large quote transfer stickers to decorate the walls of your Writers' Crates. I love the "You're A Writer" mantra available at www.kmweiland.com. (Cheryl discovered this gem.)

 

Cheap notebooks so you feel free to write anything in them. Filling one a month, as recommended by Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones, is a great way to keep you writing on a regular basis.

 

        InkJoy pens come in bright, assorted colors. The ink does glob a bit, but they're cheerful, fun, and especially helpful when you don't feel like writing. Pilot V-Ball fine point pens are excellent everyday pens. (Not paid endorsements.)

 

Blank journals to use as common books where you copy down inspiring quotes and passages written by other writers or to record your Six-Word Memoirs—they're great warm-up writing exercises. Search Six-Word Memoirs online for details or buy the Six-Word Memoirs books.

 

        For book suggestions, I recommend all the books I wrote about in the Masterclasses and Reads for Writers categories on this blog as well as the 16 I listed in my post on 12/17/12. However, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott, and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield are hard to top. If I'd discovered/been given just those three books when I first decided to become a writer, I'd have felt invincible. In her first book, Goldberg reveals how to start living a writer's life with practical ideas and prompts. Lamott shows you the good, the bad, the funny, and the tough aspects of living a successful as well as a published writer's life. Pressfield keeps you writing with his advice and experiences on fighting through Resistance. There are no excuses not to finish your projects. It's a book I refer to whenever I feel myself faltering.

 

        As I think every writer should blog, I recommend Are You There Blog? It's Me, Writer by Kristen Lamb and Publishing a Blog with Blogger, second edition, by Elizabeth Castro (reviewed on 9/2/13).

 

        I'd specifically recommend Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar (and her best seller Wild) by Cheryl Strayed (reviewed on 1/28/13) and Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir by Beth Kephart (reviewed on 8/26/13) as each author has a strong, unique voice that resonates with readers. I aspire to reach as deeply within myself and write from that place.

       

        Happy Holidays!