Book Review- Alexis M. Smith's Glaciers

Do yourself a favor....set aside a few hours and curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and Alexis M. Smith's wonderful novella, Glaciers. 

Although I was immediately drawn to Glacier's with Smith's beautifully written passages, I wasn't so sure about the plot. Don't stress the plot. This is a book about themes, rather than large actions. It's very slice of life. Just go along for the ride and take heart that the story will piece itself together by the end. 

Glaciers follows Isabel, a twenty-something library worker, with a fondness for thrift stores and antiques. In particular, Isabel loves objects that have been abandoned and that have a previous history. Isabel's story jumps around with chapters on her childhood in Alaska and chapters in  the present, set in Portland, where she has a crush on a coworker, who is returned soldier with physical and emotional scars. 

Glaciers is a story about stories and of all of the little details that make up our lives. In some respects it's an extended character study of Isabel, yet what I felt made it a story was the grander over-riding themes. Like its title, the core of the unfolds as the layers melt away.  It's poignant and affecting.

I read Glaciers in a single ninety-minute stretch last night and I've been thinking about it every since. The story may be short, but the ideas and tone lingered long after I put the book down. I was blown away by Smith's talent and the impact-fulnessof her writing. 

This beautiful story is a must read. 

Booksparks 2014 Summer Reading Challenge - Colleen Oakes' Elly in Love

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Elly Jordan's has a lot of things going right in her life. She has recently started dating an amazing man, she has just found out that she has a younger brother and she has been selected to be the florist for a celebrity wedding on a reality show, which will give her business a huge amount of exposure. Naturally, when things seem to be going right, everything starts to fall apart. 

I experienced a book first with Colleen Oakes' novel, Elly in Love. I read the second book in the series, without having read the first. Actually, I had no idea that this book was part of a series, until I hit the end and found out that the next adventure for Elly was coming soon. I'm really particular about reading things in order, however, this being an accident, I can honestly say that it didn't matter that I hadn't read the first Elly book, Elly in Bloom. Elly in Love stands on its own. 

There is a lot to like about this romantic comedy. Elly is an every-woman type of character, much like the appeal of Bridget Jones. She's a bit goofy and clueless, but she has a good heart and it's easy to root for her. I liked that she was a little star-struck with being chosen to participate in a reality show and then even a little more in awe when the celebrity turns out to be a Lindsay Lohan type of train wreck. The story went directions that I wasn't quite anticipating and had good resolutions. I was entertained. I can easily see this story being turned into a Hallmark Channel movie. It's sweet and endearing.

There were a few things that didn't work for me. Occasionally, Ellie was very cutting in her dialogue and it felt out of character. I get that she isn't perfect, but she had moments where she was mean and I didn't like it. I didn't quite get the character of Keith, her boyfriend, until the very last chapter. I didn't understand why she liked him so much, I didn't see it in the story. There was one style choice that Oakes used that could have worked, but fell flat. All of the characters had names, except for a teenage assistant in the flower shop, who was referred to as "Snarky Teenager." This character and her relationship to Elly undergo a major transformation and I felt that by the end of the story, we deserved to have her real name. She was a rounded character and she needed a name. The device of "Snarky Teenager" may have worked at the start of the story, but it overstayed its welcome.

Would I read the other Elly novels?

Maybe.

Oakes is a solid writer and I really liked that character of Elly. I might buy the other stories for a vacation read or a chick-lit pick-me-up. I enjoyed this book, but not enough to immediately rush out and read more Elly stories. I would recommend it for someone in search of a sentimental, romantic comedy. 

Book Review- Alice LaPlante's Method and Madness; The Making of a Story

I just finished with my Spring Quarter writing classes and Alice LaPlante's Method and Madness, was the primary text for one of my classes. I don't normally review text books, but as I thought this was so phenomenal, I wanted to share my thoughts.

Although LaPlante's Method and Madness, covers all of the basics of creating a story, it's not necessarily a beginners manual. I've been taking writing classes for years and I still found plenty in LaPlante's book that stimulated my creativity and made me grow as a writer. In fact, the last few months have been the most productive that I've ever had and between my writing workshops and using LaPlante's book, I've taken my writing to the next level. I'm ready to send stories out to publishers. It's exciting.

What makes LaPlante's book such a great resource? Primary, I think it's the clarity in which she explains the mechanics of story writing, coupled with her choices of examples. Her input made me reassess and fine-tune my writing. I started to write from the idea of creating a synergy between writer/characters/reader, rather than having my stories exist in a vacuum. I realize as I'm writing this review, I sound like some sort of writing snob. I'm not and maybe my Fiction won't get published, however I know that there was personal improvement with use of LaPlante's book and I want to pass that on!

LaPlante divides her chapters into three sections. The first is the lecture component, which is filled with small examples. She follows with writing exercises, some of which I tried during the last few months, but many I didn't have time to do while taking classes. LaPlante's exercises are going to be a resource that I can pull on as needed. Each chapter finished with a  couple of published short-stories to support the lecture. 

I'd like to make a suggestion with the short stories, read them aloud. With the shorts in LaPlante, plus others that came with my classes, I've probably read about fifty short stories in the last quarter. Reading them aloud can be a pain, but it allowed me to get the cadence and pacing of the story. Also, I'm a very fast reader and I tend to skim, reading aloud forced me to slow down and really absorb every word and more deeply understand the mechanics. Some of the stories in LaPlante are tried and true classics, like Hemmingway's Hills Like White Elephants, but LaPlante also picked more modern pieces, many of whom I had not encountered previously. It's a great mix. I feel like reading such a variety of shorts may be the biggest contributing factor to my personal growth as a writer. 

One of the most useful examples that LaPlante uses is in her chapter Learning to Fail Better. In this chapter, she uses two different published versions of the same Raymond Carver story to show growth in revisions. If you read nothing else in this book, make sure to read this chapter. The Carver stories are such a keen example of how a story can grown between drafts and also illustrates my favorite aspect of writing, discovering possibilities in your story. The two stories are the same, but with a few shifts and added scenes, the entire meaning is changed. I was blown away. READ IT!

Method and Madness is a comprehensive manual for both the beginning and experienced fiction writer. I'm positive that it will be an invaluable resource for me for many years to come.