Claire M. Caterer

Review: Going Bovine

Claire Caterer — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:31:58 +0000

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Delacorte Press, 2009
480 pages, $17.99

Oh, readers and writers, wouldn’t we all love to be as clever as Libba Bray? How about we all just sit down at our desks and hammer out original, smart, wacky, poignant, lovely stories? She makes it look so easy, I’m tempted to think that I too could do it.

Her 2009 novel Going Bovine begins with a pretty out-there premise: A 16-year-old hero who is a bit lazy, uninterested in his own life, and unmotivated to do much of anything, suddenly finds out he’s got no time to waste. He’s got mad cow disease, and his only chance of curing it (and, oh yeah, saving the world) involves going on a complicated quest accompanied by an impromptu dwarf sidekick, a punk-rock angel, and a yard gnome/Norse god.

Oh, sorry–did you already come up with that plot? Chuck it. You won’t write it as well as Bray did. It’s hard to know what to say about this tale, beyond listing its many endearing qualities: funny as hell, unexpected, fantastically imagined. And it’s just as important to note what it’s not: overwrought, sentimental, preachy. The internal journey of our heroes is as important as their cross-country trek, and yet somehow we don’t feel like we’re being told anything–we readers are just along for Libba Bray’s crazy, funhouse ride. And then just when you’ve settled back and are thinking this is nothing more than a kind of goofy frathouse-type prank, some little truth manages to bite you in the butt. This book is a little bit Douglas Adams, kind of like Don Quixote, and sort of similar to nothing else you’ve read. Yes, it’s marketed as a young adult title, but it’s so much more than that. It’s science mixed with fantasy mixed with that always-terrifying real world we all try to escape from.

So read it already. Four stars.

Beware the Overeager Agent

Claire Caterer — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:16:48 +0000

Today I ran across the website of the Writers Literary Agency. I’m a fan of the Facebook page of Facebook4Freelancers.com, hosted by Brian Scott of FreelanceWriting.com. (Brian, by the way, works tirelessly finding freelance writing leads all over the web. He’s a great guy and writer’s best friend; I’m not ragging on Brian.) A recent post on the page concerned a call for writers from The Writers Literary Agency, and a commenter immediately alerted everyone to the Writer Beware report on the agency.

Dare I remind us all to beware of something that sounds too good to be true?

I’m generally an optimistic person, but anyone working in publishing right now can’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed at the changes the industry is facing. The digital revolution, publishers tightening their belts, bookstores hanging by a thread–it all adds up to everyone praying for the next Twilight or Harry Potter series to buck us up out of the gloom. No, all is not lost, but all ain’t looking so hot, either. One thing that seems to be universal is that supply (of writers) has far outstripped demand (for writing). At least that seems to be the case in the book biz. That means you’ve got to write better, and your chances of publication are slimmer, than was the case a few years ago. It’s not impossible, folks–but it’s tough out there, and anyone who says otherwise needs to visit my pyramid scheme website, where I’ve got several major monuments selling for a super-low price.

Here’s the takeaway: Hardly anyone is begging for writers. Any agency that says they can sell just about anybody’s work, and insists on listing their clients by first name only, is a scammer. Anyone who says the business is easy to break into? Scammer. Anyone whose site reads like a used-car ad? Scammer. The only way to break in is to break in. Sounds like work? It is work, but it’s infinitely easier today than in the pre-Google age. Before pursuing an agent for your work, search for interviews, references, and cautionary tales. And never pay anyone to read your work!

This concludes today’s lecture. Happy submitting.

Review: In the Woods

Claire Caterer — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:43:24 +0000

In the Woods by Tana French
Penguin Books, 2008
429 pages $14.00

I reviewed Lisa Unger’s Beautiful Lies last month and gave it a half-hearted “fun summer read” rating. But if you really want to lose yourself in a summer crime story, put Tana Woods’ first novel on the top of your nightstand stack.

The premise is intriguing enough: The only surviving victim of an old unsolved case of missing children has grown up and become a detective. Once a carefree twelve-year-old in the suburbs of Dublin, now-Detective Rob Ryan has joined the Murder Squad and has only one real friend: his partner, Cassie Maddox. When Ryan and Maddox are assigned to a murder case involving a twelve-year-old ballet student from Ryan’s hometown of Knocknaree, Ryan’s memories start to return: The dense wood that was his childhood playground; his two best friends; the day the police found him catatonic and covered in blood, able to offer no memory of what had happened to his playmates, who were never seen again.

It seems Ryan has two mysteries to solve–who murdered young Katy Devlin and who robbed him of his own childhood twenty years ago? And could the two cases be related? And we’re off and running.

One thing that makes Tana French’s book such a great lose-yourself read is that the tension never dials down to a quiet hum. Despite being very much a police procedural–you get it all, investigation techniques, police banter, the blustering supervisor–the story is as much about Ryan’s injured psyche and his relationship with Maddox as it is about the mystery. Each of the three stories–Katy’s investigation, Ryan’s memories, and his changing partnership–keeps its own thread of suspense taut throughout a surprisingly long novel. Told completely from Ryan’s viewpoint, the book moves along, prodded by a complex, flawed narrator.

The prose style is elegant without being flowery, the pacing solid, the ending satisfying–or, at least, real. If you enjoy a good mystery, great characters, and late nights of annoying your significant other by keeping the reading light on, pick up In the Woods. You won’t be sorry.

Review: Beautiful Lies

Claire Caterer — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 17:07:21 +0000

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger
Three Rivers Press, 2006
384 pages $14.00

Lisa Unger has written a couple of more books since this one, her first, which I just finished for my book club. Both Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist starred their glowing reviews of Beautiful Lies, so I feel a bit petty in offering anything less. But let me be clear, first of all: I was eager to finish the book; it held my interest; it was a great summer read. But.

Backing up: The heroine of this novel, Ridley Jones, is a more-or-less happy freelance writer living in New York’s East Village. Never mind the sour grapes here, that yours truly would’ve liked to have had the cash to do just that instead of being reduced to an illegal studio in Long Island City back in the day. But then, yours truly didn’t have the benefit of a hefty inheritance from a deceased family friend to help pay the bills. Ridley does.

Her life is turned upside down when her photo appears in the newspaper and she starts receiving notes from a man who claims to be her father. She’s already got a father, thanks, and a mother, who raised her in comfort and love. But Ridley starts to see the holes in her family’s story as she falls deeper and deeper into a twisted tale of deception. Suddenly people start stalking Ridley, even trying to kill her, and she can’t figure out who to trust: her sweet parents? her mysterious new lover? her memories of dear Uncle Max, who left her a big wad of cash? The pages start flying by as the reader races to catch up with Ridley and sort the truth from the lies.

So it’s a great summer read, as I said. If I was disappointed, it was only because I felt the writer could have tightened her prose a little–maybe given us a bit less detail on lover Jake’s ripped abs, maybe not repeated some points that I’d remembered just fine by myself. The point of view is first-person friendly. In other words, it’s as if you the reader are sitting in Starbucks while the author tells the story, injecting phrases like, “you know what I mean?” and “wouldn’t you feel this way, too?” Maybe I do know what she means, and I would feel this way, but I kept thinking the writing had more potential than that. The Epilogue makes some interesting points about the way our lives can change in the blink of an eye over the smallest of choices that we make. I liked that; I liked the opening, with its taught suspense and well-turned phrases. And I liked the rest of the book, too. I just felt that writer’s confidence give way a few times, as if she were afraid I the reader was losing my way and she had to pop in with her Mapquest directions.

I will definitely look for more Lisa Unger books, however. Great fun, great suspense, and I suspect in later books that the flashes of elegance in the prose became more the rule than the exception.

Yann Martel’s Noble Mission

Claire Caterer — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:24:16 +0000

It was so exciting to see and hear author Yann Martel (Life of Pi, Beatrice & Virgil) speak a couple of weeks ago at one of Rainy Day Books’ events. For those of you who don’t know, RDB is the coolest bookstore and almost the only voice of indie booksellers here in Kansas City. Owner Viven Jennings books the best authors for the best events, and Martel’s talk was no exception.

I learned that evening what some of you probably already know: Yann Martel has set himself a mission to sell the Canadian prime minister on the value of literature. Frustrated by the lack of enthusiasm the Canadian Parliament shows for the arts, Martel decided to send–yes, mail–a different book each week to PM Stephen Harper. Each book has been inscribed by Martel (and, more recently, some other writers who have taken up the cause) and sent with a letter of introduction about the book. While the letters are interesting in themselves, even better is the growing list of books Martel has compiled. If you’re looking for a fabulous book, you’ve got a whole list to choose from! You can read all about it here.

Summertime Reading

Claire Caterer — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:09:57 +0000

If you’re like me, summer calls to mind long, lazy, school-free days of reading your favorite books. While summertime is a great time to reread the entire Harry Potter series (I’ve done that more than one summer in recent memory), some great new reads are coming out soon. On the always wonderful ABA/Indie Bound site, independent booksellers from around the country offer their best recommendations, along with mini-reviews, for those titles about to hit the shelves this July. Also helpful is their list of notable books that are about to come out in paperback.

Get ready to read!

the entire Harry Potter series

Annual Reading Progress

Claire Caterer — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:32:30 +0000

Every year, schools in the USA have to assess their Adequate Yearly Progress through a series of standardized tests. It’s called AYP, and it strikes fear into the hearts of many a school administrator, not to mention teacher.

Me, I’m working on my ARP–my Annual Reading Progress. That is, I’m here to tell you, as the school year winds down, what I’ve read since January. And no, I haven’t written reviews of all these books, because I’ve been a dismally neglectful blogger of late. Still, here’s the list:

Nonfiction

Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum
Mugglenet.com’s Harry Potter Should Have Died: Controversial Views from the #1 Fan Site by Emerson Spartz and Ben Schoen
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook
Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife by Francine Prose
Deaths on Pleasant Street by Giles Fowler

Drama

Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Fiction (Adult, but Not Porn)

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The Impartial Recorder by Ian Sansom
The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Old School by Tobias Wolff
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

Fiction (YA & Children’s–Again, Not Porn)

A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy Book #1) by Libba Bray
The Magician’s Elephant by Kate diCamillo
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Rebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy Book #2) by Libba Bray
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Mister Monday (Keys to the Kingdom, Book 1)

Brit Lit for the Modern Age

Claire Caterer — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:13:32 +0000

I may blog sporadically, but at least I share the goodies when I find them. Thanks to Nathan Bransford for directing me to this gem:

Lean & Mean

Claire Caterer — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:46:58 +0000

Is it a coincidence that about the same time I joined Jazzercise I was inspired to fire up the weed whacker and attack this manuscript anew? Maybe. In any case, both the book and its author are noticeably more svelte these days. Alight’s final draft weighs in at 82,000 words–at last, the figure I was more or less looking for.

What got cut? Probably more dialogue than anything. I realized my characters yammered on far longer than necessary. In real life, an argument can go on for an eternity, even when the question is simple, as in, “Which path should we take out of the woods?” But in fiction, pointless back-and-forthing is wearying to readers, especially young ones. For God’s sake, someone, please take the lead and silence the malcontents!

And yes, a couple of scenes did get axed–but they were superfluous. The action is tighter without them. Scenes have to propel the plot forward, not sit as pretty window-dressing. And again: Realism takes you only so far. Fiction shouldn’t mirror reality; it should simulate reality. (Yes, even in fantasy, reality has its place.)

So I’ve been sending happy little manuscript pages on their way to face the sometimes unforgiving jaws of the publishing world. I trust they’ll be just fine.

The End (Almost) (In Sight)

Claire Caterer — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:09:59 +0000

For the legions of readers out there who have been hanging on my every blogged word: I can put your minds at ease. I have officially read and edited every single word of Draft #2 of the current novel and thus produced a complete Draft #3. I have reduced this book from 526 manuscript pages to 301. That’s a cut of 27,500 words. Is it still too long? Oh, yeah. That’s where typing “The End” gets dodgy.

Draft #4 commences today. That means combing through some of the earlier chapters with the same ruthlessness that I brought to the back end of the book. After that–after trimming perhaps another 2,000 or 3,000 words–some hard choices will be made. Do I ax some big subplot? Or do I submit with the conviction that this story–this whole story–needs telling?

Stay tuned.