Vine Tata (Daddy’s Coming) - A Wise, Funny, and Poignant Play

Recently I had the chance to visit New York for the second time. It was not only a vacation, but a chance to finally meet my agent and editors in person. Up until now I’d only communicated with them via phone or email so it was a special treat to finally meet them face to face. The other special treat was to spend time with my friend Irina Eremia Bragin, and see a rehearsal of her play, Vine Tata (Daddy’s Coming), which runs from October 3 through October 19 at the Queens Theatre in the Park.

Irina and I have been friends since junior high school and spent many a rainy San Francisco afternoon holed up in her bedroom, taking multiple parts and reading aloud from plays, from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf to The Tempest. I was the frustrated performer, she the frustrated writer. Irina went on to get her PhD in English from UCLA and has won awards for her plays. She also penned a memoir, Subterranean Towers, parts of which have been published in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post Sunday Magazine, and Reader’s Digest. And I found my way to becoming a novelist and finally getting my MFA in Writing after years of futzing around with music.

My experience as a writer is only in the realm of book publishing: I know very little about the playwriting world. So it was fascinating to observe the process of a rehearsal of Vine Tata (Daddy’s Coming), where the playwright can see her characters come to life on the stage, and is able to give input to the director and even make changes to the script, all as part of the collaborative development process. I’ve heard stories about the film industry where the author of a book being adapted for a movie may be lucky enough to visit the film set once and, of course, the screenwriter (or more often screenwriters plus various screenplay doctors) are rarely welcome on set and seem to “disappear” once the movie is being made.

Vine Tata (Daddy’s Coming) is about a father, a former political prisoner in Communist Romania, who comes to visit the daughter he hasn’t seen in 25 years. He was forced to choose between his family and his principles and now she faces a surprisingly similar dilemma. Bringing together two separate worlds: a dungeon in Romania and a family kitchen in modern Los Angeles, this award-winning drama is about family and the strength to stand up for what you believe.

If you’re in New York in October I hope you won’t miss this moving and entertaining play!

Win a Signed Copy of MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT at Free Book Friday

You may win a free copy of MIDORI BY MOONLIGHT at an exciting new Web site called FREE BOOK FRIDAY. Created by best-selling author Jessica Brody (THE FIDELITY FILES - St. Martin's) the site features a new author each week, with info about their book, a chance to win a free signed copy, and an exclusive interview podcast. Each Friday winners are selected at random and announced on the site.

If you're a published author (all genres are welcome) contact Jessica on the Contact area of the site if you're interested. Or just stop by and sign up to win some free books!

Featured authors need only provide a minimum of two signed books and about 15-20 minutes of their time for a phone interview for the podcast.

All featured authors will receive:

• Prominent front page exposure for the entire week with information about their books, links to their websites, and any book trailers you want to feature

• A dedicated email marketing blast to all our subscribers promoting you and your book on FreeBookFriday.com

• An audio interview available to listen to on the site and added to our podcast on iTunes.

Hope to see you soon at Free Book Friday!

ASKING FOR MURDER - by Roberta Isleib

My guest today on the Girlfriend's Cyber Circuit Lit Blog Tour is Roberta Isleib, a writer who worked as a clinical psychologist for many years, and has a new book out called, Asking for Murder.

Psychologist/advice columnist/sleuth Dr. Rebecca Butterman plunges into her third mystery in ASKING FOR MURDER by Dr. Roberta Isleib (Berkley Prime Crime, September 2008.) When Rebecca’s close friend and fellow therapist Annabelle Hart is found beaten and left for dead, Rebecca is determined to help search for answers. But this time, no one wants her help. Not Detective Meigs, who thinks the crime was either a botched robbery or the result of a relationship gone sour. And not Annabelle’s sister, who makes it clear that Rebecca isn’t welcome in family affairs.

The only place where her opinion matters is the therapist’s couch. Rebecca's agreed to see Annabelle’s patients while her friend is hospitalized, but it won’t be easy. Annabelle’s area of expertise is sandplay therapy, which Rebecca knows little about. While she studies the images in the patients’ sand trays and puzzles through Annabelle’s family secrets, another victim is murdered. With a killer on the loose, she can only hope the clues in the sand are buried within easy reach.

Isleib's advice column series debuted in 2007 with DEADLY ADVICE and PREACHING TO THE CORPSE. A clinical psychologist, Isleib says the work of the detective in a mystery has quite a bit in common with long-term psychotherapy: Start with a problem, follow the threads looking for clues, and gradually fill in the big picture.

Roberta took some time out to answer a few questions. She is the president of National Sisters in Crime and the past president of the New England chapter. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. Now an accomplished writer, it took a while for her to get a book deal, but she is living proof that perseverance is the name of the game.

What was the inspiration behind the writing of ASKING FOR MURDER?
Dr. Butterman, my therapist character, takes over the practice of her best friend (a sandplay therapist) after she's been attacked. The fun started as I began to think about what kinds of clues a would-be murderer might leave in an arrangement of figurines in a sand tray.

I love this character Dr. Butterman. Because I was a therapist for many years, I really understand her work and the way she thinks about the people she tries to help. I stumbled into the sandplay part of the story, but I found a wonderful therapist in New Hampshire who walked me through the process of how clients use the sand trays and the figurines and what it all means.

I love what I’m writing now. I can highlight my background in psychology and write about folks in that field who are competent and caring, rather than the idiotic and downright hurtful professionals you often see in movies and on TV. I’m very proud of the time I spent working as a clinical psychologist, but happy to be writing now.

How do you approach writing your novel? Do you outline the plot? Start with a character or...?
I'm getting better at outlining because I find it makes the story much easier to write. Not so many black moments when I have no idea what's going to happen next... As I begin a book, I look ahead to the due date and figure out how many pages I will need to write each week in order to hand it in on time. I build in time for trips and family and time for my writers group to read and critique, and then time for me to rewrite. Then I have a page goal for each week. I write until I’ve hit the goal, sometimes even getting a little ahead. For practical purposes, I do write most days. And mostly in the morning, saving the promotion and other “easier” work for when I’m less alert!

What is the elevator pitch for ASKING FOR MURDER?
When Dr. Rebecca Butterman's dear friend, a sandplay therapist, is found beaten and left for dead, Rebecca's determined to help search for answers. With a would-be killer on the loose, she can only hope the clues are buried within easy reach. Think: best friends, crazy families, and the mysteries of sandplay therapy.

Describe how you got your first book deal.
I studied Elizabeth Lyon's The Sell Your Novel Toolkit and Jeff Herman's Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents. I contacted agents who had interests like mine (mystery, sports, psychology), or who had some feature in their personal background that made me think we might connect. I hired an independent editor to give me fairly inexpensive but useful feedback on my manuscript-she directed me to several agents. I attended mystery conventions and talked with people there about the process. I attended the International Women's Writers Guild "Meet the Agents" forum in New York City. I groveled in front of everyone I even remotely knew connected with the publishing business. And I suffered through multiple rejections and shouldered gamely forward, my skin toughening by the hour. Finally an agent I'd met at IWWG called: Another agent had visited her office, seen my manuscript, and fallen in love with it. We're still working together!


What and where is your favorite restaurant and why is it your favorite?
There's a little Italian place in Old Saybrook, CT called Sal's where the ambiance is totally casual, but the food is old-fashioned to die for! Love their pasta fagiole, olive bread, bacon and onion pizza, insalata mista mmmmm, I'm getting hungry! My other favorite is the Hidden Kitchen in Guilford, CT. ditto for casual and totally delicious, only breakfast and lunch.

THE PROFESSORS’ WIVES’ CLUB - by Joanne Rendell

Joanne Rendell is my guest today on the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit Lit Blog Tour. Behind four professors, there are four great women…the only thing is, Manhattan University doesn’t know it yet. But it’s about to find out.

In her new novel THE PROFESSORS’ WIVES’ CLUB (NAL/Penguin; 2nd September 2008), NYU faculty wife Joanne Rendell tells of four professors’ wives who risk everything to save a beloved faculty garden.

With its iron gate and high fence laced with honeysuckle, Manhattan University’s garden offers faculty wives Mary, Sofia, Ashleigh, and Hannah a much needed refuge. Each of them carries a scandalous secret that could upset their lives, destroy their families, and rock the prestigious university to its very core.

When a ruthless Dean tries to demolish the garden, the four women are thrown together in a fight which enrages and unites them. The wives are an indomitable force. While doing battle with the ambitious dean, they expose the dark underbelly of academia – and find the courage to stand up for their own dreams, passions, and lives.

Advance Praise for THE PROFESSORS’ WIVES’ CLUB:

"As an NYU alum, I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes escapades at the fictional Manhattan U. in THE PROFESSORS’ WIVES’ CLUB. Joanne Rendell has created a quick, fun read about a wonderful group of friends."
Kate Jacobs, NYT’s bestselling author of THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB

"The four women in THE PROFESSORS’ WIVES' CLUB who risk it all in pursuit of life, love, and green space in New York City are smart, funny and real -- friends you'd want for life. Rendell doesn't shy away from tough issues, but her light touch and readable prose make this charming first novel a delight."
Christina Baker Kline, author of THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE

Joanne Rendell was born and raised in the UK. After completing her PhD in English Literature, she moved to the States to be with her husband, a professor at NYU. She now lives in a student dorm in New York City with her family. The Professors’ Wives’ Club is her first novel. Joanne’s second novel will be released by NAL/Penguin next summer (’09).

Joanne took the time to answer some questions. I was just in New York and sure wish I knew about Benny's Burritos before I left!

What was the inspiration behind the writing of The Professors’ Wives' Club?

I found my inspiration for my book at the bottom of a large glass of wine! I was out with one of my girlfriends who, like me, is a professor’s wife, and after our usual catch-up, the cabernet began to flow and we found ourselves gossiping about other faculty wives. We talked about a wife planning a boob job; another pregnant with her fifth child. The best piece of gossip came last, however: a professor’s wife who’d just run off with one of her husband’s grad students. The very next morning I started to hammer out my first ideas for the novel. As I typed, the more I realized what intriguing characters professors’ wives would make. Even if they aren’t professors themselves (which many are), most professors’ wives are deeply connected and invested in the university where their husband or partner works. Like my friend and me, they live in faculty housing, they go to the campus gym, often their kids go to the same daycare. Yet these women often have little power when it comes to university decisions.

I liked the idea of pitting these seemingly powerless women against a dean who in his little kingdom of the university has so much power.

What is one thing you’ve learned about the publishing industry since getting your first book deal?

I never knew that those tables at the big bookstores like Barnes and Noble were so darn important! Apparently those tables are officially called “coop space” and the bookstores charge publishing houses a lot of money to stack books there. If your book gets to sit on one of those tables, it is like it’s been awarded a three bed apartment on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park. It’s prime real estate.

What is your advice for those who looking to get their novel published?

Join a writer’s group – either on or offline. Other writer’s can be fonts of infinite wisdom, not only about the craft of writing, but also about the publishing industry. Plus, writing can be pretty isolating sometimes and finding a community of like-minded souls can really help. I have a small group of writer friends who live in New York, like I do, and we exchange drafts and emails regularly. I’m also a member of Backspace (a wonderful online forum for writers), as well as various writer’s listservs.

Also, keep reading. Whichever genre you intend to write in – whether its mystery or literary fiction – make sure you know it inside out.

And keep writing. I really treat writing as a job. I sit down at my desk and tell myself I must write 500 words a day. I then get going. Often I trash a lot of what I write the next day, but at least I have words on a page to work with.

Keep learning about the craft. Even now, with one book published and another on the way, I continually go back to my books about writing. It is always good to remind myself what makes good dialogue, or how to transition well into a flashback seen, or how to pepper exposition into a chapter.


What and where is your favorite restaurant and why is it your favorite?

Benny’s Burritos in the East Village, NYC. My husband and I love the place so much we named our son after it. No kidding!

Children, Childish Husbands -- No Thanks

A recent article in the Washington Post describes the current thinking of many Japanese working women—why should I complicate my life by getting married and having children when my husband won’t help me raise them? Japanese women have been complaining about the poor quality of family life for years and years, and have dealt with it in a number of ways, including resignation (the stand-by Japanese phrase, shikata ga nai, which means there’s nothing one can do about it).

Karen Kelsky, in her book, Women on the Verge: Japanese Women, Western Dreams, wrote in 2001 of young Japanese women escaping Japan, and moving to foreign countries, often marrying Western men as their ticket out of a straitjacket society. This book and other observations were in part the inspiration for my novel, Midori by Moonlight about a Japanese woman who impulsively becomes engaged to an American English teacher and moves to San Francisco with him, only to find herself dumped a few weeks later. Other Japanese women who choose to stay in their native country are delaying marriage and postponing childbirth. The reason this is news now is because of the plunging birthrate in Japan and the graying of society. According to the article, Japan, with the world’s second-largest economy has the lowest proportion of young people under 15 and the highest proportion of people 65 or older.

Unlike some women in the United States, very few Japanese women want a baby at all costs and will simply not have one if they can’t find the right guy to marry. Out of wedlock births and adoption (whether by a single parent or husband and wife) are quite rare in Japan. Women basically have two choices: having a career and being financially independent, but remaining single and without kids, or getting married and becoming a full-time mother (to both children and husband). Throw in the classic overworked Japanese male and you have a recipe for disaster when it comes to keeping the population humming.

Prime Minister Fukuda (who just resigned the other day, but that’s another story) put together a task force last December on “work-life balance” that hopes to pressure companies to send their employees home at a reasonable hour to improve the quality of family life, finally addressing Japan’s addiction to overwork.

It’s a noble effort, but knowing how slowly things move in Japan, I don’t hold out much hope that anything will change this depressing situation anytime soon.

THE SMART ONE - by Ellen Meister

Today's guest on the Girlfriend's Cybercircuit Lit Blog Tour is Ellen Meister, author of the hilarious The Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA returns with THE SMART ONE (Avon A, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; On-Sale Date: August 5, 2008; $13.95; ISBN: 0061129623), a funny and sexy tale of love, family, and transcending the childhood identities that mark us all.

Beverly Bloomrosen has always been the smart one, the middle sister sandwiched between Clare, the beautiful and popular older one, and Joey, the rebellious rock-star younger one. But she’s hit a bit of a slump lately. Now 35, she’s embarking on a new career as an elementary school teacher and not exactly living up to her family’s expectations (“Maybe she can work her way up and eventually teach high school. That wouldn’t be so bad,” her mother helpfully comments). Bev has moved back into her parents' home on Long Island while waiting to see if a job opportunity in Las Vegas materializes, seeing it as her chance to start afresh…but before she knows it, life back at home starts to get very interesting.

Kenny Waxman, Bev’s childhood neighbor—and the boy who almost became her high school boyfriend until she found him in bed with Joey—returns. Now a successful comedy writer in Los Angeles, he can still make her heart pound…and the attraction is still mutual.

Things take a turn for the sinister when a pregnant woman’s body is found in an industrial drum buried in the Waxmans’ backyard. As Bev and her sisters begin to unravel some mysteries of the past, some secrets of the present are revealed: Bev learns that the perfect Clare may not be as perfect as her glamorous, well-coiffed suburban life may suggest, while rebellious Joey is still attempting to exorcise some of the demons that have haunted her for years. In the end, the curse of being the smart one may just turn out to be a blessing.

Writer Ellen Meister grew up in the heartland of suburban Long Island. She spent her early career in advertising and marketing, and later worked as editor for a literary magazine and published numerous short stories. Her first novel was Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA (Morrow/Avon, 2006). Meister lives in New York with her husband and three children. To find out more, visit her website at ellenmeister.com.

Praise for THE SMART ONE:

"Wonderfully funny, irreverent and entirely unexpected. I loved it!"
- Jane Green, bestselling author of The Beach House

"A perfect beach read!"
- Booklist

"Character-driven ... fast-paced and features great dialog."
- Library Journal

Ellen took the time to answer a few questions...

What was the inspiration behind the writing of THE SMART ONE?

The inspiration for THE SMART ONE hit me from several different directions. I always wanted to write a sister story because that relationship intrigues me. This thought was floating around in my head when I got an offer on my first book, SECRET CONFESSIONS OF THE APPLEWOOD PTA. I was thrilled about the offer, but also in a minor panic about what it would mean to become a world-famous author. (I'll wait a few moments while you finish laughing.) Yes, I was terribly naive, and didn't realize I wouldn't even become a celebrity in my own house. Still, the thought passed though my head, and it made me wonder what it was about some people that made them actually covet fame. Was it something from their childhood? Something about the family dynamic? I knew, then, that one of the sisters in my next novel would have to be a character who sought--and achieved--fame. It's not a major focus of the book, but it was a spark that started to make the story gel.

The other big inspiration was a news story that happened right in my home town. A man moving out of his home opened a sealed 55-gallon industrial drum that had been in a crawl space since he moved in ... only to discover a mummified body inside. It was a young woman, nine months pregnant, who had been killed thirty years before. After she was identified as a factory employee of the home's original owner, who had since retired, the detectives went to Florida to question him. They wanted to get a sample of his DNA to test against the fetus's, but before they could serve a warrant for it, the man shot and killed himself.

This happened so close to home that it captured my imagination and wouldn't let go. How could something like this happen in an ordinary suburban home in an ordinary suburban town? How did the killer keep his secret for so long? And how did it affect the people around him?
Of course, I had no intention of writing a true crime story, so I simply used this macabre event as the inspiration for a discovery made by my three adult sister characters ... and it became the catalyst that drives the arc of their relationship.

How do you approach writing your novel? Do you outline the plot? Start with a character or...?

It's about 50-50 for me. I usually have some idea I want to explore about a character or a relationship. But at the same time there are always a few plot ideas rattling around in my skull. The concept for a novel takes shape when a character idea and a plot idea meet and fall in love.

What are you reading now?

I'm reading FATAL, a Michael Palmer medical thriller that was published several years ago. It's brilliant.

What is your writing schedule like?

I'm a morning person, and feel like I can do anything if I get a good jump on the day. So I wake up around 5 am--before the children rise--and get to work. After I send them off to school, I go back to my desk. If I can manage to resist the temptation to surf the 'net, I might actually get some work done.

What is your advice for those who looking to get their novel published?

Keep at it … and remember that almost every successful writer has a long history of rejections.

Thanks for coming by, Ellen, and best of luck with THE SMART ONE!

HOTTER THAN HELL - by Jackie Kessler

Jackie Kessler is my guest today on the Girlfriend's Cybercircuit Lit Blog Tour. I must have led a sheltered life because I have to admit that I was not familiar with the term "incubus." But my trusty Random House Dictionary came to the rescue with this explanation: a demon supposed to descend upon sleeping persons, especially one in male form fabled to have sexual intercourse with women in their sleep. Ah! So that explains who's been visiting me late at night these past years. Ha! Well, enough about me and my incubus...

In HELL’S BELLES and THE ROAD TO HELL, Jackie has brought readers into an unforgettable Underworld populated by alluring demons and sexy devils. Now Daunuan, the most irresistible incubus of all, is facing one Hell of a challenge... So whose soul do you have to damn to get a promotion around here?

Daunuan was never the ambitious type. There's so much to love about his job just the way it is—mind-blowing sexual prowess, the power to seduce any human, excellent dental plan. But now Pan, the King of Lust, has offered to make Daun his right-hand incubus—a position other demons would give their left horn for. All he has to do is entice a soul destined for heaven into a damnable act of lust. Should take, oh, seven minutes, tops.

Then he meets his target, Virginia Reed. She’s cute. Funny. Smart. Unfathomably resistant to his charms. He can’t understand it. But Daun has centuries of seduction to his credit. He’s the best there is. Sooner or later he’ll transform this polar icecap of a female into a pool of molten desire, and every instinct tells him she’ll be worth the effort.

Meanwhile, he has to deal with a plague of rogue demons Hell-bent on taking him down, sent by an unknown enemy with a serious grudge. And one other problem: the dawning realization that he’s falling in love—that unholiest of four-letter words—with the woman he’s about to doom for all eternity...

HOTTER THAN HELL is Book 3 in the Hell on Earth series published byKensington/Zebra Books and debuts on August 5, 2008.

Jackie Kessler is the author of the Hell on Earth series, published by Kensington/Zebra Books. She has two spin-off Hell stories as well: one, “When Hell Comes Calling,” will appear in the LILITH UNBOUND anthology (Popcorn Press, 2008) edited by bestselling author Elaine Cunningham. The other story is an erotic novella, “Hell Is Where the Heart Is,” to appear in the upcoming RED HOT VALENTINE’S DAY anthology (Avon Red, January 2009). Jackie is also the co-author of BLACK & WHITE, a dystopian superhero novel about two superpowered women—once best friends, now on opposite sides of the law—who must join forces to fight the Big Bad Evil (bwahahahahaha). BLACK & WHITE will be published by Bantam Spectra in July 2009.

Jackie was kind enough to answer some questions...

Name three songs that would be perfect for the soundtrack of your book.

“The Diary of Jane,” Breaking Benjamin (acoustic version). This song moved me so much, I nearly named the female lead “Jane” instead of “Virginia.”

“When You’re Evil,” Voltaire. Oh yeah. Hey there, Daun, how’re you doing?

“Waiting for the Night to Fall,” Depeche Mode. The music, the lyrics—a palpable sense of waiting, of building to something bigger than you.

What is one thing you’ve learned about the publishing industry since getting your first book deal?

You can’t measure your success based on any other author’s experience. (Close runner up: you really need a sense of humor.)

What are you reading now?

Rereading THE DRESDEN FILES by Jim Butcher. Currently on book four, SUMMER KNIGHT.

What is your writing schedule like?

Usually, I write first thing in the morning, before my day job, and then at night, when my Precious Little Tax Deductions are sleeping. (Yeah, I get very little sleep.)

What is your advice for those who looking to get their novel published?

To paraphrase author Cindy Procter-King (Head Over Heels), there are three things you need to get published: talent, persistence, and timing. While it’s difficult to write to the market, you absolutely can hone your craft and develop a thick skin. Write. No matter what, write. And never be daunted.

Thanks, Jackie, and good luck with the book!