Collected Miscellany

What makes a book a children’s book (or young adult, etc.)? Is it the publisher; the style; the nature of the content? I have never been sure where that line is exactly. The Flame Tree was published by Simon and Schuster young adult but I thought it as compelling as most “adult” novels. I on occasion take flak for enjoying this young adult fare and wonder if many people aren’t aware of the quality that is out there. I am not denying that there are young adult and children’s books that wouldn’t be enjoyable or challenging to adults, but there are also books in this genre that are highly entertaining and even thought provoking.

One such example is Frances Hardinge’s debut Fly By Night. Fly by Night is an imaginative and creative adventure story with an interesting philosophical/historical question weaved in. Despite this being Hardinge’s first book, the story moves at a good pace and the philosophical element rarely disrupts the adventure. The writing is witty and her descriptions of the characters and settings are poetic and quite often subtly wise. What a joy to read a story that is fun, mysterious, and thoughtful all at the same time!

Clearly I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the book as it recently won The Branford Boase Award which is awarded annually for “the most promising first novel to a first-time writer of a book for young people.”

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Jeremy Lott is a writer, editor, and blogger and author of the recently released In Defense of Hypocrisy. With the release of his first book and its controversial – or perhaps counter intuitive – nature, I thought it might be fun to send a few questions his way. He was nice enough to answer them, so they follow below. As usual, my questions are in bold.

1) This is your first book. How did it come about? Did you get an
agent, write a proposal, shop it, etc.? Or did someone approach you?

I’d done some work for Nelson Current and associate publisher Joel Miller
asked if I had any book ideas. I thought about it and gave him a list of
possible proposals. Of those, he thought a book defending hypocrisy was
the most promising, so I wrote that proposal. Both the editing and
publishing boards then had to approve it. To my mild shock, they said yes.

2) How would you describe the process once you had a contract
(writing, editing, cover art, publication, publicity, etc.): smooth,
painful, educational, all of the above?

Good writing is always hard and I think that’s especially true of your
first book. It helped that I was able to go back to my hometown of Lynden,
Washington for three months. The air is better there and there are fewer
distractions and the bartenders at the Nut House — bless them — never
objected when I brought my laptop into the bar and typed for hours.

I was constantly rewriting as I went, mostly in response to my test
audience. I sent sections out to maybe a dozen readers who helped to
“prescreen” the manuscript. They told me when they didn’t understand
something, or when I had overdone it, and they corrected errors. Because
of them, the editing went pretty smoothly once I got it into Nelson
Current.

The cover art was the publisher’s doing but I had something like veto
power. I was skeptical but when Joel sent the cover they wanted to use, I
was blown away. I was also a little bit upset, because I knew that I’d
have to write a better book to earn it. It’s just beautiful. In Defense of
Hypocrisy is one of the most attractive books I’ve ever held in my hands.

The publicity end of things has been interesting and a little bit
frustrating. But I’m learning a lot that will come in handy for the second
book and beyond.

Continue reading →

Jeremy Lott is a writer, editor, and blogger and author of the recently released In Defense of Hypocrisy. With the release of his first book and its controversial – or perhaps counter intuitive – nature, I thought it might be fun to send a few questions his way. He was nice enough to answer them, so they follow below. As usual, my questions are in bold.

1) This is your first book. How did it come about? Did you get an
agent, write a proposal, shop it, etc.? Or did someone approach you?

I’d done some work for Nelson Current and associate publisher Joel Miller
asked if I had any book ideas. I thought about it and gave him a list of
possible proposals. Of those, he thought a book defending hypocrisy was
the most promising, so I wrote that proposal. Both the editing and
publishing boards then had to approve it. To my mild shock, they said yes.

2) How would you describe the process once you had a contract
(writing, editing, cover art, publication, publicity, etc.): smooth,
painful, educational, all of the above?

Good writing is always hard and I think that’s especially true of your
first book. It helped that I was able to go back to my hometown of Lynden,
Washington for three months. The air is better there and there are fewer
distractions and the bartenders at the Nut House — bless them — never
objected when I brought my laptop into the bar and typed for hours.

I was constantly rewriting as I went, mostly in response to my test
audience. I sent sections out to maybe a dozen readers who helped to
“prescreen” the manuscript. They told me when they didn’t understand
something, or when I had overdone it, and they corrected errors. Because
of them, the editing went pretty smoothly once I got it into Nelson
Current.

The cover art was the publisher’s doing but I had something like veto
power. I was skeptical but when Joel sent the cover they wanted to use, I
was blown away. I was also a little bit upset, because I knew that I’d
have to write a better book to earn it. It’s just beautiful. In Defense of
Hypocrisy is one of the most attractive books I’ve ever held in my hands.

The publicity end of things has been interesting and a little bit
frustrating. But I’m learning a lot that will come in handy for the second
book and beyond.

Continue reading →

I have mentioned this before, but if any one asked me to name the best thing to come out of this blog I would have to put the ability to correspond with authors high on the list. Richard Brookhiser was one of the first authors I ever “interviewed” and by interview I mean a Q&A conducted via email. He continues to be one of my favorite authors/writers. He is knowledgeable about history, careful with his words, and pithy and witty and the same time. Inexplicably, he continues to answer my emails.

When What Would the Founders Do was released I thought it a great chance to do another Q&A. Mr. Brookhiser graciously agreed. The result follows below with questions in bold.

1) Why are we still arguing about the Founders? Why do they still matter?

This is a relatively new country. Many of the institutions and arguments that preoccupy us go back to the founders. Much of their thinking was pitched at a level of generality that will make it perennially relevant.

2) In what areas do you think the Founder’s world is most similar to ours? Most different?

The founders lived among superpowers and world wars. They saw the beginnings of modern media, modern economics, democratic politics and even (in the French Revolution) totalitarian ideology.

Slavery is gone from this country. Preoccupation with the self, which in their day occurred only in a few diaries and novels, is now a spectator sport.

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Dave at Faith-in-Fiction brings word of the 2006 Christy Award Winners:

Contemporary – Dale Cramer, Levi’s Will (BHP)

Contemporary Series – Vanessa Del Fabbro, The Road to Home (Steeple Hill)

Historical – Liz Curtis Higgs, Whence Came a Prince (Waterbrook)

Suspense – Athol Dickson, River Rising (BHP)

Romance – Deeanne Gist, A Bride Most Begrudging (BHP)

Visionary – Karen Hancock, Shadow Over Kiriath (BHP)

First Novel – Nicole Mazzarella, This Heavy Silence (Paraclete)

Dave doesn’t toot his own horn, but he is a fiction acquisitions editor at Bethany House (BHP) and so has every reason to be proud of the results. Congrats to the authors and to Dave and Bethany House.

BTW, I reviewed This Heavy Silence last fall:

This Heavy Silence would be a depressing book were it not for its note of redemption and grace. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read it, but in the end Dottie comes to a realization about her life; she comes to understand the repercussions of her choices and her actions. Thankfully, Mazzarella doesn’t attach some cheesy miraculous happy ending to this poignant tale. Rather, Dottie must still deal with life as it is but she can begin to work toward undoing the damage and begin to mend the relationships in her life. She can see the world with a new perspective and begin to appreciate the small graces in her life.

This Heavy Silence is a gem of a book. A powerful story about the choices we make and the relationships we build while at the same time a poignant, insightful portrait of the struggles of life in rural America. I heartily recommend it.

Another award winner, River Rising, is in the TBR pile and I hope to get to it soon. I will, of course, report back when I am done.

What are the Christy Awards? See here.

In today’s world of “gotcha” politics, and the “expose” as news, hypocrisy has become the accusation of choice. If you are looking to undermine someone’s platform or rob them of moral authority, simply dig up some dirt and reveal to the world that they are a hypocrite. “Aha!” you would say. Why should we listen to this person when they don’t even practice what they preach? In a world awash in vulgarity and libertinism the charge of hypocrisy is an easy stick with which to beat up on so called moralists, puritans, and scolds.

But this is a good thing, right? It means we are more in touch with our feelings; less fake more authentic. We don’t allow people to say one thing in public and do another in private. We have moved past the stifling social pressure of the past. Right?

Jeremy Lott isn’t so sure. The author of In Defense of Hypocrisy: Picking Sides in the War on Virtue thinks maybe we “doth protest too much.” The insider cover claims “Though the word has long since reached epithet status, Lott beckons the reader to see the real virtue-impoverished agendas behind the accusations and embrace a sturdier, more realistic understanding of a much-maligned vice.”

It might be hard for me to offer an unbiased judgment about Lott’s success in this endeavor as I was solidly in his camp before reading the book. I have viewed hypocrisy as the least of our problems for quite some time. But I think it is safe to say that even if you don’t agree with Lott’s politics or his arguments about hypocrisy, you will find the book interesting and thought provoking.

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