The Unconventional Librarian blogger strikes again, with one of those make-the-writer's-day reviews of my debut novel, PHOENIXVILLE RISING:

"I’d heard the book was good. Everyone in the neighborhood raved about it. But you know me: I hafta see it for myself. I said: “I’ll be the judge.”

And you know what? It’s Good! I mean like RandomPenguinHouse you should pick it up and republish it good.

Yep. It’s a coming of age story set in Phoenixville PA, a sleepy mill town in suburban Philadelphia. Like many mill towns, Phoenixville was glorious in its heyday. I was born in Pittsburgh so I can relate to this reminiscence.  But don’t let the former mill town saga get you down. Phoenixville Rising is a story of a bunch of streetwise kids and how they cope with life in this town.  Think of it as a modern day Outsiders, by SE Hinton. There are a slew of reasons these kids should do better.

And a slew of reasons why you love them anyway.  Remember your first love? Your first fight? Your yearning to leave a legacy?

Yeah that.

Happens to us all.

And it happened in Phoenixville."

Wow. Check out the full review over on the Unconventional Librarian blog. And hear the explanation behind the attached photo. Sort of.

"Above all, writing fiction involves a desire to enter the mystery of things: that human craving to know what cannot be known. In the ordinary world, for instance, we have no direct access to the thoughts of other human beings--we cannot 'hear' those thoughts--yet even in the most 'realistic' piece of fiction we listen as if through a stethoscope to the innermost musings of Anna Karenina and Lord Jim and Huck Finn. We know, in these stories, what cannot be known. It's a trick, of course. (And the tricks in these stories have been elevated into art.) In the ordinary sense, there is no Huck Finn, and yet in the extraordinary sense, which is the sense of magic, there most certainly is a Huck Finn and always will be. ... Beyond anything, I think, a writer is someone entranced by the power of language to create a magic show of the imagination, to make the dead sit up and talk, to shine light into the darkness of the great human mysteries."

from "The Magic Show" by Tim O'Brien

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?

I am currently being swallowed whole by the initial drafts of a contemporary crime novel. The story is set where I live: Chester County, Pennsylvania. There is so much rich history here, but there is also a sense that nothing ever happens in what is essentially a quiet, tight-knit community. So I want to write about the darkness that occasionally overtakes an otherwise peaceful town.

HOW DOES YOUR WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN ITS GENRE?

Voice and setting. The crime genre (mystery, suspense, thriller, noir, however you want to subcategorize it) is certainly a well-beaten path littered with bodies and mayhem. I’m not as interested in the whodunit of a crime story. Instead I’m fascinated by setting — the history and character of a real place (or a place that feels real) — and the impact a crime has on the people in that place. Then, in telling that story of a place, I hope I bring to it a voice that is uniquely my own. I want my writing to be accessible, but also have some weight to it. It’s a difficult balance and a constant ambition. 

WHY DO YOU WRITE WHAT YOU DO?

Two answers: (1) it’s what I like to read and (2) it’s what I hear in my head. 

First, I admire all the greats of “literary crime” — in particular, Dennis Lehane, Ace Atkins, Tana French, George Pelecanos, William Lashner, Scott Turow, Laura Lippman, and so many others — and I devour it all. I’m a notoriously slow and deliberate reader (which is not exactly a helpful trait), but I’m making my way through the canon. I am attracted to stories of some social heft—stories you often hear categorized as “literary crime”—although a breezy whodunit is also a welcome read at the right moment. And I love Hitchcock films where an ordinary person is thrust into extraordinary circumstances. So, my writing is influenced by the writers I myself love to read and want to emulate. 

I also write what I do because quite simply these are the stories I hear in my head. Most creatives will tell you they are always talking to themselves, telling themselves stories, concocting tales in their imagination. I see characters and settings constantly, I hear their voices and their stories — it’s like a multi-theater cineplex running in my brain 24/7.  Most of the stories are based on some kind of “what if?” scenario — What if a dead body is found in an otherwise sleepy little town? What happens next? And then what? When these movies are playing out in your mind, sometimes a voice or a setting will speak to you a little more often or with a little more volume. And in that situation, you have no choice but to write it down. 

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS LIKE?

My process is dictated by the project. But for the most part it comes down to filling the well every day with stories, characters, places, situations, and letting them play for a while in my unconscious. Then a partially formed story or character will bubble up from the plasma — I can’t let go of it, can’t stop shaping it, messing around with it, thinking it through. That’s when I know it’s time to start drafting.  

For me, the actual writing usually starts with a storyboard. I create a wall of index cards and Post-It notes with all the possible scenes in the story. Some of these will never see the light of day, but I put them on the wall until something else occurs to me. I tend to use a three-act structure (or more specifically four acts - I, IIA, IIB, and III) and place the index cards loosely within that structure. Bits of dialogue, scene descriptions, character notes will all go onto the index cards. I’m also constantly mind-mapping the story into my notebooks and keeping a running list of random thoughts in Evernote. It’s all very visual — I need to “see” the story.

Sometimes I just write from the storyboard and notes, which is kind of a loose skeleton outline (I usually transfer the boards to Scrivener writing software, which is in part a virtual corkboard, so I can carry it around with me). For the novel I’m working on now, the storyboard led to a more detailed synopsis. I’m finding I need that because I’m using several different points of view and time periods and the complications of the plot itself depend very much on structure and keeping everything straight.

My favorite part of “process” is REVISION. Early drafts are just a way to get at the real story you’re trying to tell. For my novel PHOENIXVILLE RISING, I worked from a storyboard until I had a solid first draft. Then I broke apart that draft into other outlines/storyboards and rewrote and rewrote. I read the story aloud, gave the manuscript to beta readers, hired professional editors, workshopped pieces of the book. And rewrote again. During the rewrites, new things will occur to you and you invariably will see connections or themes that weren’t visible in the early stages. One draft sparks the next. 

It’s fun but also requires patience. Because of their desire to get work out there—coupled with the fact that in this new age of publishing anyone can publish anything—too many writers unleash their work too soon. The writing is incomplete, not yet fully formed. Of course, it’s hard to know when you’re actually finished. Truth is, many of us will always see something in the final book that we would like to change. It’s never going to come out exactly the way you hear it in your head.

And that is the great frustration and the great joy of being a writer.

The reading I recorded a while back for "The Author's Corner" is airing this week on National Public Radio stations across the country. The segment spotlights fiction and non-fiction authors reading brief (90-second) excerpts from their work. I'm proud to be part of it. Listen for it in your area! Or hear my reading of PHOENIXVILLE RISING at this link: https://www.authorscorner.org/

Recently, at book-club visits, readings/signings, and the WRITERS IN PARADISE’ conference I just attended, I have been asked a lot about my decision to self publish my first novel. 

By any measure (industry thresholds, personal goals, etc), PHOENIXVILLE RISING is a "success." No matter how it was published. Best of all (and let’s not lose sight of this), people seem to like the book. It's being embraced by enthusiastic readers. The reviews are kind and thoughtful and the response is overwhelming.

But I'm well aware that as a debut novelist--and a self-published debut novelist--I am an anomaly. If, like the many writers I met down at the conference, you are thinking about self publishing your own work (or just interested in the machinations behind getting a book to its readers), I still have several concerns about this brave new world of publishing that we find ourselves in. Here are my two biggest issues:

1. Just because anyone can publish anything now doesn't mean they should. If anything, self publishing puts an even greater burden and responsibility on the writer to make sure his work is the best it can be. PHOENIXVILLE RISING had a ten-year gestation period. In that time, I hired two different professional editors (at great but appropriate and necessary expense), workshopped the novel with many different talented writers and readers, got invaluable feedback from my literary agent, trusted beta readers, published authors, etc etc. After I decided the book was ready, I hired a professional cover designer, proofreader, photographers, and developed a business plan--with eyes and wallet wide open. My interest was two fold: I wanted the book to be the best it could be for the readers AND I felt a responsibility to other authors (no matter how they are published) to make sure my work represented well our “industry/vocation/calling/brotherhood." 

2. Traditional publishing (I'm not even big on that term--I just mean anything that isn't a self publisher) is NOT the enemy. There are very loud and obnoxious voices on either end of this debate. A small number of self-publishing evangelists argue that "traditional publishers (and therefore their authors and retailers) are dinosaurs and we should take glee in their eradication." Yeah, um, that's bullshit. And there is a small number of traditional publishers/authors who claim that "self-published books are not real books" or “those books were self-published because they couldn’t get one of the big NYC publishers to sign them.” Um, yeah, also bullshit.

Can’t we all just get along? This isn’t about HOW the work finds the reader. It’s about READERS who find the work. That’s the game.

In the end, as a writer, I just want to tell stories that people want to read and enjoy. I want to get these stories out of my head, onto the page, and out into the world. As a businessperson/marketer (and yes, we creatives must wear this hat too), I want to give my stories the best chance to connect with as many readers as possible. In the case of PHOENIXVILLE RISING, I felt confident I had a book that readers would enjoy and I was optimistic--although not exactly confident--that readers would discover the book through enthusiastic word of mouth, supportive retailers, and the time/energy/$$$ I was willing to put into marketing my work.

That doesn’t work for everyone or every book. Self publishing might make sense for you, or (more likely) it might not. It might not even make sense for my next book. But it did in the unique case of PHOENIXVILLE RISING.

There is so much I want to say on this topic. If you are curious about my experience so far, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Or just read this essay: Chuck Wendig says all this much better than I ever could. I’m sharing his blog via my friend Laura Lippman, who posted it yesterday. (Btw, Laura's new book AFTER I'M GONE comes out February 11!)

Thanks for reading. Really. That’s all I care about.

RC

PS: The most popular questions I get at readings and book-club visits are: 
(1) where is Wishing Manor?; 
(2) are you going to self-publish Book 2?; and 
(3) this should be a movie -- when is it going to be a movie? 

Answers: 
(1) Wishing Manor is not real. 
(2) See post above. 
(3) I agree about the movie, but I know even less about independent film making than I do about self-publishing a book. So if a movie is going to get made, it will be through "traditional" film producers. I happen to know a few. So we'll see. Right now, I’m hard at work on Book 2. When I’m not ranting on blogs.

Hey John, thanks for being here. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? When did you know you were one?
For me, it was more about writing than becoming a writer. I started writing stories in third grade and never stopped. Honestly, to this day, if someone asks me what I do for a living and I tell him or her that I’m a “writer,” I feel like a phony. I very much suffer from impostor syndrome, and even at this moment, I’m waiting for the book cops to kick in the doors and drag me off to a prison for literary posers.

Who or what inspired you as a kid or teenager?
I grew up in rural upstate Pennsylvania, and I was obsessed with three things: Dungeons & Dragons, the outdoors, and boxing. Especially boxing. I wanted to make a living fighting, not writing.

What creative work most recently inspired you?
I just finished re-re-re-re-re-re-reading THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, which is one the finest, most impressive books I’ve ever read. I’m staggered by it, by Harris, every time.

The most underrated creative is …
Jack London. He’s been pigeon-holed as a nature writer. The guy wrote a wide variety of stuff and was an absolute genius. Don’t believe me? Go back and reread the opening page of WHITE FANG or the final two paragraphs of chapter two of THE CALL OF THE WILD.  

In moments of self doubt, how do you push through?
Self-doubt plagues me. It’s horrible. Over the years, I’ve quit 75% of the things I’ve started, including at least a dozen would-be novels where I wrote a hundred pages or more. That is my great failing and my great struggle.

Have you ever abandoned a creative project?
Ha ha. *Twitches*

What was the best creative advice you ever received?
An editor – I think it was David L. Felts – once rejected one of my short stories with the advice to keep my main character in the driver’s seat. The protagonist’s actions should drive the plot, he explained, not the other way around. That piece of advice instantly changed the way I wrote, and I started selling more stories right away.

My favorite fictional character or hero is …
Harry Potter

The next book on my reading pile is …
RED RISING by Pierce Brown. Can’t wait!

My favorite book to teach in English class was …
RUMBLE FISH by S.E. Hinton… an absolute masterpiece. I’ll never understand how she fit so much into so slim a volume… and so smoothly.

The book I really should have read by now is …
WAR AND PEACE

Does The Great American Novel exist (yet)? If so, what is it?
For me, it’s Stephen King’s THE STAND. It’s an epic story that reduces the American population to vulnerable few then reexamines our country, from its size to its conventions to the smallest bits of Americana, uncanny in this post-apocalyptic context, through a lens that invites nostalgia and fear, absurdity and tenderness. A terrific read.

What creative work might we be surprised to find on your shelf, iPod, or TiVo?
Given that my favorite band is Iron Maiden and my favorite song is “One” by Metallica, it might be surprising that I own “Edelweiss” from the soundtrack for THE SOUND OF MUSIC.   

Facebook and Twitter: friend or foe to a creative?
Both, of course, but mostly foe. Anything that keeps me away from reading, writing, and real life is the enemy.

In addition to writing, how do you express your creativity?
When I was a teacher, I used to draw a lot. Not impressively. I had more enthusiasm than talent.

The most difficult thing about the life of a creative is …
Self-doubt

The best boxing movie (or story) is …
ROCKY, of course. The first one, I mean. As far as books go, though, I’m a big fan of THE CONTENDER by Robert Lipsyte. A magnificent, soulful story.

I wish I could see a boxing match between … 
Right now? I’d love to see a match between Gennady Golovkin, the world’s most exciting fighter, and Sergio Martinez, the long-reigning champ of the middleweight division. If they ever sign the deal – and I doubt they will – I think Golovkin will stop Martinez.

Another great Q&A -- thanks, John! And believe me, folks, PHOENIX ISLAND is a knockout. A fellow member of the Brandywine Valley Writers Group here in PA, John is a writer's writer and just a great guy -- we are thrilled by our friend's success (and blown away by his talent). To learn more about John and PHOENIX ISLAND, visit his website johndixonbooks.com.  You can also find him on Facebook and twitter. And be sure to catch "Intelligence," every Monday night at 10pm ET on CBS. 

George Pelecanos tells it like it is. Like it really is. That's what makes him one of my all-time favorite writers, hands down.

Sure, his books are entertaining page turners--suspense, thriller, mystery, whatever label you want to put on them. But Pelecanos's stories stay with you because of his people and places. His characters are realistic portraits that make you think "hey, I know those guys" (or even "I was that guy"). And his depiction of his beloved Washington D.C. leaves no doubt there is a whole other world beyond Capitol Hill. With his fiction, George Pelecanos is crafting a chronicle of his city and our time.

The author of 19 novels, Pelecanos has created several crime series that readers just can't get enough of. His latest novel, THE DOUBLE -- the second in the new Spero Lucas series -- is the hot book on every crime lover's wish list. His writing has won all kinds of awards, including the Raymond Chandler Award (Italy), the Falcon (Japan), the Grand Prix du Roman Noir (France), and the Los Angeles Times Book Award (twice). He has served as a producer/writer for the acclaimed television series "The Wire" and "Treme," writer/co-producer for the WWII mini-series "The Pacific," and producer for several feature films. Novels, screenplays, short stories, essays. A stunning résumé -- and the guy is still going strong.

I could go on and on, but let's just say it's a huge thrill to welcome one of my true creative heroes, George Pelecanos, to the blog today.

Hey, George, thanks for being here today. Let's start here: when did you know you wanted to be a writer? And when did you know you were one?
I knew I wanted to be a writer and filmmaker when I was a little kid.  When my first novel was published, when someone actually paid me to do this…that’s when I felt like I could call myself a writer.

Who or what inspired you as a kid or teenager?
Movies and music.  I came up watching films in the Golden Age of the 1970s.  Westerns, crime films, Blaxploitation, martial-arts pictures…I searched out films in repertory theaters, urban second-run houses, and drive-ins.  That’s how I learned story.  Music jacked up my imagination.      

What creative work most recently inspired you?
LIGHT YEARS, by James Salter.  THE SON, by Phillip Meyer. 

The most underrated creative (writer, musician, artist) is …
Novelist and musician Willy Vlautin.  I’ve also been listening to a lot of Nick Cave lately.  THE BOATMAN'S CALL is a masterpiece.

In moments of self doubt, how do you push through?
Keep working. 

Have you ever abandoned a creative project?
No, never.  I’m stubborn in that way.

Which of your works comes closest to the way you heard/saw it in your head?
HARD REVOLUTION

What was the best creative advice you ever received?
My agent, Sloan Harris, told me many years ago that I should focus on my work and let him worry about the business aspect of my career.  He said that I should pace myself, because it was going to be a long race.  He was right, and I’m still in it.     

My favorite fictional character or hero is …
Fred Exley

The last film I enjoyed was …
ROLLING THUNDER, directed by John Flynn.  It’s recently been rereleased on DVD.

The next book on my reading pile is …
SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST, by Wallace Stroby 

The book I really should have read by now is …
That Shakespeare guy.

Does The Great American Novel exist (yet)? If so, what is it?
TRUE GRIT and ALL THE KING'S MEN immediately come to mind.  Those are just two on a very long list.

What creative work might we be surprised to find on your shelf, iPod, or TiVo?
I like comedy.  My favorite television series these past few years was "Eastbound and Down." BLAZING SADDLES and ANCHORMAN are often playing in my house.  And I like all kinds of music, if it moves me.  Anything from soul to country to Western soundtracks.     

In addition to writing, how do you express your creativity?
I punch a wall.

The most difficult thing about the life of a creative is …
Trying to beat time.  There is so much I want to do, and the hands on the clock spin faster with each passing year.

A creative work that perfectly captures its setting is:
THE MOVIEGOER, by Walker Percy.

The three best Washington, DC stories are:
I would recommend anything written by Edward P. Jones.  He’s the best fiction writer to ever come out of D.C.

On November 7, 2013, I was the guest speaker at "Wine, Wit & Wisdom," the annual fundraiser for the Phoenixville Public Library. Every new writer would love the opportunity to promote a debut novel to a roomful of avid readers.  I talked about PHOENIXVILLE RISING, of course, but mostly I talked instead about my love of libraries.

This is the text from my speech:

I am honored to be here tonight.  My wife and I have attended “Wine, Wit & Wisdom” as supporters in the past and it's a real treat to stand up here now as a speaker. 

To be honest, it’s also a little unnerving.  I mean, putting “wit” and “wisdom” in the title sets a pretty high expectation.  Be witty and wise?  That’s just too much pressure.  “Mildly amusing”? Maybe. “Somewhat intelligent”? OK, perhaps. But “wit and wisdom”??  Come on.

I wore a bowtie tonight in the hope that it would make me look witty.  Or perhaps wise.  But I fear it just makes me look like I’ve had too much wine.

So yes, this is stressful. After all, we writers are not really known for our public speaking.

But my debut novel PHOENIXVILLE RISING was released a few weeks ago. And a big part of being a writer in today’s world is marketing your own work.  So when I was invited to promote my book tonight to the very people I wrote the book for, this roomful of avid Phoenixville readers and book lovers, some of whom have already had a glass or two of wine.  Well, it’s a marketing opportunity that’s too good to pass up.

The thing is, my speech is not really about my book. 

What I want to talk about is why I’m standing up here in the first place.  Why I am in fact a writer.

And the answer to that is quite simply one word:

Libraries.

I am a writer because libraries unlocked my imagination. They instilled in me a love of reading and learning.  And they sparked my desire to tell my own stories.

I am a lifelong library rat.  In fact, my path to becoming a writer can be charted directly through the different libraries in my life. Perhaps your life can be tracked the very same way.

I grew up in Baltimore, a product of the Enoch Pratt Free Library System. And the first library I remember is a library that came to me. On wheels.  

Every week, the Bookmobile would stop at the playground directly across from my house and, armed with my very own library card, I would come away with an armload of picture books and chapter books that kept me busy until the next week.

As seen through the eyes of a certain six-year-old waiting by the window of a Baltimore rowhouse, the Bookmobile was perhaps the greatest invention in the history of the world.

Along with my teachers and my parents, the Bookmobile taught me to read.

When I was old enough, I graduated from the Bookmobile. I would ride my bike a few miles to the Govans Branch of the library.  And my world opened up even further.

I discovered my love of fiction through Encyclopedia Brown and Three Investigators, DC Comic books, and the Hardy Boys.  I took part in summer-reading programs and I learned the consequences of not returning books on time.

The Govans Library taught me to love reading.

A little older still and I was taking the public bus all the way to the Towson Library, a new contemporary structure filled with books and magazines and vinyl records.  It also was filled with older college girls from Towson State, which might have had something to do with my eager bus trips at fifteen years old, but it was also about the books.

At my high school, I was given the books my teachers thought I needed to read -- and that was important. But at the Towson Library, I found the books I wanted to read. I got caught up in The World According to Garp and The Once and Future King. And I devoured books about the Apollo astronauts, US Presidents, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Lost City of Atlantis.

Towson Library taught me to explore my passions.

My college library at Bucknell University was the first library I saw as more than just a place for books and reading.  It was a hub of information and technology.  There was a computer lab, where I could write term papers and my very first short stories. There were research materials for even the most serious scholar.  There was incredibly comfortable furniture that was well suited to afternoon naps. 


And yes, there were also college girls.  And this time, I actually married one of them. 

When Joan and I moved to Phoenixville more than twenty years ago, one of the first places I sought out was the public library.  And I was delighted to find an original Carnegie Library, a hundred years of history, right at the center of town.  Amazing! 

Best of all, this library was clearly not content to sit back on its history -- the place seemed to be in a constant state of transformation, keeping up with the times and the needs of its community.  Whether bringing in new computers or services, offering DVDs or ebooks for your iPad, or expanding its children’s section, our library is at once a place of history and a place of the future.

When my wife and I decided to put down roots in Phoenixville, I wanted to learn more about this place my children would call their hometown.  And so I turned to the place I always turn to: the library. I became an amateur history buff, learning about Phoenix Iron & Steel, the Revolutionary War and Civil War, the Underground Railroad, and the evolution of businesses at Bridge & Main Streets.  Not only is Phoenixville a wonderful place to raise a family, but this town is steeped in history and story.  You can’t help but be inspired. 

And all of that inspiration led to my novel, PHOENIXVILLE RISING.

In my book, a man returns to his hometown after many years away and revisits the tragic autumn that occurred when he was a teenager up to no good in the abandoned millyard of Phoenix Iron & Steel.  The story moves back and forth in time between the Civil War era, when the mill was flourishing and the new community was rising around it, and 1980, when the steel mill was gone and things weren’t looking so good for our little town.  It’s been described as “part coming-of-age novel, part crime story, and part historical romance.”

I conducted my research at the Library and the Historical Society and I talked with residents who were here when the mill was active and when it was closing down.  And the more I learned, the more I wanted to challenge the universal feeling that so many people have about small towns at some point in their lives: “nothing ever happens here.” 

In PHOENIXVILLE RISING, readers will discover that plenty has happened here in our town, and continues to happen here even today.

Although this is not a history of Phoenixville, it is a story of Phoenixville. And if you’re telling a story of Phoenixville, then the library has to be part of it.  You’ll be happy to know that a few key scenes in PHOENIXVILLE RISING actually take place within the library.  And in fact, I worked on the book in the library at my favorite table near the window.

The library is a true centerpiece of our community, for many of us, the heart of Phoenixville.  Not just a place to check out a book (although it’s great at that), but also a place to learn something you didn’t know before and to participate in events with your neighbors and friends.

A few weeks ago, I did my first public reading of PHOENIXVILLE RISING at the library upstairs in the Carnegie Room and it was a standing-room-only night.  There is a hunger in this town for shared experiences, for personal connections, for community.  And that is exactly what the library provides.


At the risk of preaching to the choir, I remind us all that it is vital that we support our library.

It’s no secret that funding our libraries is no longer a priority in this political world.  As a community, we must shout from the rooftops when funding does not come. And as individuals, we must contribute what we can to help ease the burden, to continue that mission of transformation.  We must donate our dollars, our volunteer hours, and our hearts to make sure the library not only survives, but thrives. 

I want to do my part.

When the library invited me to speak here tonight, they also invited me to make PHOENIXVILLE RISING available for sale in the lobby. I’m happy to sign and personalize any books you might want to purchase.  

But I want to surprise the library tonight by announcing that all of my profits from the books I sold at my first library reading a few weeks ago AND all profits from any books I sell tonight will be donated back to the Phoenixville Public Library.

So if you’re thinking about picking up the book, for yourself or perhaps as gifts for the holidays, tonight is the best night to do that.

There is an African proverb: when an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.

I suggest that when a library dies, an entire community disappears, as surely as Atlantis sank to the bottom of the sea.

So thank you for buying a ticket tonight, for bidding on the auction items, and perhaps picking up a copy of PHOENIXVILLE RISING.

I ask you to continue to support this centerpiece of our town, the Phoenixville Public Library, not just tonight but every day.  I thank you for keeping it alive.


And most of all, please remember to encourage that little kid who rides his bike to Second Avenue to spend his free time at the library. The kid who wants to get lost in a good book or a new passion.

Because that child just might grow up to be a writer ...
or a doctor 
a teacher
an inventor ...
or -- if things really go right -- a librarian.

Thank you very much.

One of my all-time favorite writers, Laura Lippman, stopped by the blog to answer a few questions about creativity, inspiration, and (just for the hell of it) TV dads. 

I’ve loved Laura’s novels from BALTIMORE BLUES, the very first book in her top-notch Tess Monaghan mystery series, and I’ve long considered her stand-alone thriller WHAT THE DEAD KNOW to be a perfect crime novel. Laura has won every major award out there for crime and mystery writing--including the Edgar, Shamus, Agatha, Anthony, and Quill Award--and I was thrilled this New York Times bestselling author took the time to answer some questions for our readers here on robbcadigan.com.  

[Laura and I were going to play a game of 4 Questions, but we had so much fun, we’re sharing the whole Q&A with you.]

Hi Laura. Thanks for being here.  Why don’t we start off with this: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? When did you know you were one? 
Laura:  I was four when I first attempted to write a book, I was 12 when I made a run at it, but I think I knew I was going to be a writer when I took some pretty tough criticism from a workshop leader who didn't like my work. I wasn't discouraged or deflated by the experience. (It helped that her predecessor, Sandra Cisneros, had been immensely supportive.) 

Who or what inspired you as a child? … as a teenager? 
I had some really good teachers as a kid. Mrs. Schapiro for 2nd and third grade, who shared her love of modern art; Miss Klemm in 8th grade, who was kinder to my untamed imagination than my previous year's teacher; Lynn Collins in high school. She taught math, but she was my homeroom teacher and she kept me from doing the stereotypical girl panic at mathematics. 

Does the “Great American Novel” really exist (yet)? If so, what is it? 
How can there be just one? Whose America? 

In moments of self doubt, how do you push through? 
I look at the previous work-in-progress when it was at the same point as the current work-in-progress and am immensely cheered to see that it was even shittier than I remember.

Have you ever abandoned a creative project? 
Not yet. (Knocking wood wildly.)

Can you “turn off” your creative impulses and disconnect? 
Yes. 

The best fictional detective is … 
Harriet the Spy. 

Facebook: friend or foe to a creative? 
Well, it's like alcohol and I don't think I have a problem with alcohol and no one's staged an intervention, yet. I actually like Facebook. It's my water cooler.

The book I can’t wait to read again is … 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR BEANY. It's the only Lenora Mattingly Weber book I don't own, so it's been a while. 

The most underrated creative artist is … 
I do wish more people read James Hynes. Lots do. But more should.

Which of your works comes closest to the way you heard/saw it in your head? 
Closest? I think it really might be the next one, AFTER I’M GONE. I saw a series of set pieces, rituals that define lives. They all ended up in the book. 

In addition to writing, how do you express your creativity? 
You've heard about dancing like no one's looking? I hope no one's looking. I also love to cook. 

Mike Brady, Howard Cunningham, or Eric Taylor? 
None of the above. Danny Thomas! I want to be the child of a New York entertainer and live in that apartment. 

What is a “guilty pleasure” creative work we probably would be surprised to find on your shelves or your Tivo? 
I refuse to feel guilty. I like the “Real Housewives” of pretty much every city. And you know what? I never shame people about their choices in TV. Unless you're watching child pornography, animal torture or something that really exploits/demeans a person without that person's informed consent, what's the big deal? 

Who is your favorite literary character or hero? 
I'm going to go ahead and say it: Tess Monaghan. I created a character I wanted to be able to spend lots of time with, and I succeeded. She's funny and loyal. 

Do you read reviews of your work? 
Sure, but I don't seek them out. 

The book I really should have read by now is … 
written by a friend. It's hard, in a wonderful way, knowing so many talented people.

What was the best writing advice you ever received? 
"Finish."


A big thanks to Laura Lippman for visiting the blog today.  If you’re looking for a first-rate read, give yourself a treat and grab Laura’s most recent novel, AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD, or any of the terrific Tess Monaghan series (I’m partial to IN A STRANGE CITY because of its Edgar Allan Poe connection and THE GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT). And be sure to look for Laura’s next novel, AFTER I’M GONE, coming in February 2014.  You can find out more at lauralippman.net.  But you’ll only hear about her affection for Danny Thomas right here.