Frey owns up to this fiction: HarperCollins to publish ‘Bright Shiny Morning’

After imploding his career—profitably—with his alleged memoir, ‘A Million Little Pieces,’ James Frey continues his—profitable—success with the sale of his novel to HarperCollins. The book is scheduled for publication in summer, 2008. Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president and publisher at HC, said in a corporate news release, “James Frey is an immensely talented writer who has written a truly extraordinary and original novel, one of great breadth and ambition.” Gosh—sounds just like his first “novel” packaged as a memoir, doesn’t it?

American publishing knows no boundaries when it comes to making money. Remember Clifford Irving—faker of the Howard Hughes biography in 1971? Irving actually did time in a federal prison for his scam. Frey gets a new book deal and praise from his publisher.

The saddest thing about Clifford Irving is what makeup artists did to Richard Gere when filming the movie about Irving, ‘The Hoax.’ I literally could not even look at Gere, made up so poorly he brought to mind the image of Alfred E. Neuman of Mad magazine fame.

Well, we all have our ups and downs, I suppose. Can you fathom musings about my own success? What if I were to claim my next book has just been acquired by a mega-publisher who wined and dined me recently in New York, offering a $2 million advance for my brilliance in penning an account of my life as personal poet to Diana, Princess of Wales. I might tell you I include stories of our teatimes together. I might conjure how we shared everything —finger sandwiches, Earl Grey tea (loose leaf, of course) and even Prince Charles. And how when Di wanted a poem, I composed one on the spot. “Formal or free?” I’d ask—“a sonnet, perhaps?”

I confess she preferred free. I think I’ll use the pen name Jamie Frey for my “memoir.” Nonfiction, they say, is a great way to break out on the best-seller list, even if your book is as we say on the street, a pack of lies.

Author Cheryl Snell hits home run with manuscripts—twice

Visit links noted below to learn more about Snell's work.

Most authors are glad to get a contract for one book. Cheryl Snell can celebrate getting two, and one of those contracts is a double deal, so technically, she hit three home runs.

Snell says it was hard to find a publisher for her novel ‘Shiva’s Arms.’ In an email interview, she wrote, “It took awhile. The first publisher I sent the manuscript to accepted it, but wanted me to cover half the cost of publication. It was a reputable company, as it turns out, but I thought co-publishing was the same as working with a vanity press, so I passed. The next company went belly-up before the book could even be edited. The third time was the charm however (cliché or not), and Writer’s Lair Books offered me a two book deal.” The novel wasn’t her only charm. Pudding House Publications, a well-regarded publisher of poetry chapbooks, picked up Snell’s manuscript, ‘Samsara.’

Right now, Snell is planning author events, hoping to reach out to readers in different ways.


“An online campaign is one way to cast a wider net,” she says, offering other authors a tip for a good resource. “Felicia Sullivan, the editor of Small Spiral Notebook, has a good online marketing how-to at her site. She has a suggestion or two about using video. I noticed that Out of the Book Films recently sent a thirty minute video of Ian McEwan’s book around to bookstores, and caused a bit of a stir. An authorless author event could supplement the traditional readings nicely, I think. And, of course, I like the idea of a blog book tour.”

Asked what inspired her novel, Snell points to geography. “It began as an effort to record my husband’s stories about growing up in Bombay. Pardon me, Mumbai. We’d been talking about the nature of nostalgia—I swear! But as soon as I put pen to paper, my characters began to run amok, to take on a separate reality. I was dragged along in their service. Didn’t Flannery O’Connor remind us that the novel is an art form, and when you use it for anything other than art, you pervert it? The novel’s set-up—American girl marries into a traditional Brahmin family—is drawn from my life, but I am not Alice, although I know her very well.”

Her successes will bring demands aplenty, but Snell doesn’t foresee obstacles to her writing. “I’m pretty rhythmical in my work habits. I always say that if inspiration wants to find me, I’ll be at my desk from 9 a.m. to noon. Well, O’Connor might have said it first.”

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Learn more about Cheryl Snell’s books and her work at these sites:

http://www.shivasarms.blogspot.com
Blog for Snell’s novel, ‘Shiva’s Arms.’

http://www.writerslairbooks.com/snell.html
Publisher site, Writer’s Lair Books, for Snell’s novel, ‘Shiva’s Arms.’

http://www.puddinghouse.com
Publisher site, Pudding House Publications, for Snell’s poetry collection, ‘Samsara.’

http://www.alsopreview.com
Literary site for Alsop Review, where Snell is book reviews editor.

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Please visit Covering Florida for our essay about Patriot Day, in honor of those who died at the World Trade Center September 11, 2001.

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Kim Addonizio’s new novel makes a gritty world shine

Kim Addonizio’s work first engaged me when I read her poems. There are gems in her collections, poems that just stop you cold. Poems like “Therapy,” “The Divorcee and Gin” and “Mermaid Song” should become classics—they’re like a favorite song replayed, instantly winging into your world like exotic little birds catching your eye. Her new novel My Dreams Out in the Street: A Novel is equally engaging.

The book is one part mystery, one part love story and one part epic. Addonizio creates a character we might bump into on the street—Rita Jackson. Rita is down on her luck, a scavenger, a survivor. At 13, she witnessed the murder of her mother and as a young woman, her husband disappeared. She moves from shelters to corners in public parks to seedy hotels to a married man’s bed, perpetually homeless and confidently desperate. She’s always looking for Jimmy, and she’s always on edge. Addonizio gets into Rita’s head with passages like the following:

Now anxiety was with her all the time, even when she got drunk; when she slept, her dreams were full of vague problems she worried over, trying to fix whatever it was, not able to figure out what was wrong. Her dreams were inhabited by specters. Or wolves. They looked like dogs but they were wild. She would be running from them, and then come up against the dread certainty that there was something worse up ahead, and she’d stop cold in her tracks, and the fear would drill into her.

Rita’s journey yields encounters with others who are homeless, with cops, detectives, and managers who run flea-bitten hotels. She is an empathetic character, but one we are constantly shaking our head over as well. Her redemption lies in finding Jimmy, her husband whom she still loves, and in solving the riddle of why, after a nasty argument, he didn’t come back to her. Running parallel to Rita’s story is Jimmy’s story, and we slip into his thoughts as he remembers the wife he left. Whether the two will meet again, coupled with the way Rita and Jimmy feed off one another despite their separation, is the mystery that keeps the reader turning the page. Add in a sub-plot involving Rita witnessing a murder and fleeing thugs, and the tension just gets tighter.

Addonizio’s latest novel is a binge read of a book; close the covers and you miss Rita, her shortcomings and virtues all rolled into one. The book deserves a wide audience—here’s hoping it achieves widespread success long overdue this talented author.

Couldn't put it down: The Alexandria Link

Steve Berry’s latest book is, in my opinion, his best.

The Alexandria Link builds a story around the lost library of Alexandria. Berry is a history buff, and so am I. He always engages my interest because he does his research carefully and he prods the story along with lots of action. He’s widely traveled, so the descriptions of locale always feel authentic.

What’s riveting about this book relates to a real theory put forth by a Lebanese scholar, Kamal Salibi. Salibi theorized, in a series of books, that many Biblical locations are mapped incorrectly—that the traditional land of Israel is in fact in West Arabia. Further intrigue revolves around the Saudi leveling of a neighborhood in that very area after Salibi’s works were published.

The novel's plot sends Berry’s main character Cotton Malone, a seller of rare books, retired from a U.S. intelligence agency, on a fantastic chase to track down the library by way of clues. Berry puts Middle East politics and American politics on the front burner, but this doesn’t impede the reader’s pleasure. Salibi's premise of Biblical locations mapped incorrectly contributes an air of intrigue and makes the reader think about something most of us never even considered. Berry skillfully weaves the real-life premises into his fiction.

This is easily his best book. I’ve read each of his novels, and he is just really coming into his own. He’s much more at ease with the characters, and his prose is very graceful. Berry is a natural-born storyteller.

I’ve met Steve several times at author events where we both were speaking, and he is a very nice fellow. Despite his string of bestsellers, he comes off as a regular fellow. Knowing that makes reading his work even more pleasurable for me.