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Friday
05Feb2010

I've Proposed!

DateFriday, February 5, 2010

No, not that way. Sheesh, I'm already married.

But I did spend the past six weeks hunkered down, drafting a 30-page narrative proposal for the historical novel I'm about to start writing. And I'm pleased to report that it's good, really good.

My agent had asked me to put the narrative proposal together to help sell my story collection, potentially as part of a two-book deal. But the whole process has turned out to be incredibly useful to me as a writer too--it's forced me to map out the entire book chapter by chapter. Plot and characterization kinks that might otherwise have bogged me down mid-way through the book have largely been worked out already. Hoping this will cut down on my writing time by about ten years.

So today I officially begin. And now that I've got my new Macbook Pro, I'm toying with the idea of using Scrivener for managing the novel. Any recommendations for or against? 

AuthorSeth Fleisher | CommentPost a Comment |
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Thursday
28Jan2010

RIP JDS

DateThursday, January 28, 2010

Mr. Salinger has finally called it quits after 91 years, just weeks after his birthday. We miss you already, JD.

As many have speculated, he may have left behind him shelves full of new stories about the Glass family. Salinger took the Glasses through Catholic and Zen phases 50 years ago--rumor has it that Judaism might be their next stop.

A great gift to the world it would be if he's agreed to allow publication of his later writings posthumously.

 

AuthorSeth Fleisher | CommentPost a Comment |
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Tuesday
12Jan2010

Titular Troubles

DateTuesday, January 12, 2010

No, this is not an ad for Viagra. I'm talking about titles, and specifically, titles for that elusive animal, the short story collection. My agent doesn't love my current working title. Doesn't hate it, but she suggested diplomatically that for her it may not be quite memorable enough. I've kept a running list of alternatives, but so far neither of us has landed on anything we like as much.

Seems like there are several commonly used methods for titling a story collection. 

  • Find an evocative title that manages to capture the essence of the collection. e.g., Joyce's Dubliners, or even Salinger's Nine Stories (the latter so literal it's almost ironic, and hey, it worked)
  • Name it after one of the stories, and everything else gets relegated to "And Other Stories." Think David Bezmozgis's Natasha (and Other Stories).
  • Name it after a line in the collection that resonates with the book's larger themes. e.g., Adam Haslett's You Are Not a Stranger Here

I landed on my current title via method number one, and several people who have read the book have given the title multiple thumbs up. I considered the second approach as well, as there are several story titles in the collection that I love, but I'm not quite comfortable letting a part stand for the whole. Call me synecdochally phobic. I'd be the first to admit it. I gave the third approach a try too, but similarly, no one line feels quite big enough to stand for the book. Alas, I'm back where it all started.

How have you gone about titling a book of fiction (and particularly a story collection)?

 

AuthorSeth Fleisher | CommentPost a Comment |
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Friday
18Dec2009

Back from the Bushveld

DateFriday, December 18, 2009

I spent most of the 60-hour, round-trip journey from San Francisco to Cape Town combing through my agent's edits to the book. One of Kathy's recommendations was a wholesale reordering of the stories. She's edited Mary Gaitskill and Ursula Hegi among others and proved that she knows how to make a story collection hum with just a few, deft strokes.

Part of my time in South Africa was spent in the veld, three hours north of Pretoria, researching my novel. With less than a week slated for this, I had concerns about how much I'd be able to get done. The thing is--and I remember this from my time as a grad student in Sri Lanka seventeen years ago--when you're researching arcane historical stuff, and especially when it comes to biography, local experts really do crawl out of the woodwork. It's as if they're waiting for someone, anyone, to just show a little interest. I'll be forever indebted to Clive Walker and Mauritz Hansen in particular, who magically wrangled entry for me to a few key sites that had been closed to South Africans for decades.

Highlights of the trip? Too many to mention, but waking up to two giraffes breakfasting just outside my tent certainly ranks up there. (Whereas, say, blowing out a tire on the rental car in the middle of nowhere does not.)

AuthorSeth Fleisher | CommentPost a Comment |
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Wednesday
11Nov2009

Signed, Sealed, and...

DateWednesday, November 11, 2009

Almost delivered.

I just signed the agreement with my incredible new agent...drum roll please...

Kathleen Anderson of Anderson Literary Management.

Yes, I officially have representation. And damn fine representation at that. I couldn't be more delighted to be working with Kathy. You should see the little dance I do each time I think about it, which has been on average 23 1/2 hours a day for the past week.

Kathy happened to be out in San Francisco last week right around the time I needed to make a final decision among the several offers I received. She showed up having redlined my entire manuscript, then proceeded to wine and dine me. About five hours into dinner, my choice was clear. "By the way," I said oh so casually and woozy with wine. "I'd really like to work with you."

We hugged, we laughed. It was better than Cats. Seriously.

And now I'm off to the airport--bound for South Africa for two weeks. First half for my day job, second half conveniently to research for the novel I'll soon be starting....

AuthorSeth Fleisher | Comment5 Comments |
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