The Printed Page

Recently I had the pleasure of reading and sharing my thoughts about Kristin Hannah’s newest, True Colors. She is one of my favorite women’s fiction authors so naturally I was delighted when she offered to write a guest post for my blog. I’d like to thank Ms. Hannah for taking time from her busy writing and touring schedule to stop by The Printed Page.

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I’m often asked about the inspiration for my books. Readers wonder how I came up with a given idea. Does a light bulb just turn on one day? Do you dream your stories? Is this about someone you know?

These are the questions that arise fairly regularly. The answer is yes…no…maybe…sometimes. In other words, ideas come from all directions, at all times, and in mysterious ways. Sometimes I go in search of them–desperately looking for an issue or a character or an event that makes me stop in my tracks and mutter: what if? And sometimes they come out of the blue, hitting me in the side of the head while I’m making dinner or taking a shower or driving carpool. Honestly, there’s more than a little magic in it. And what separates a good idea from a great idea? Truthfully, you often don’t know. Sometimes you latch onto a great idea and find that it doesn’t hold up, and sometimes an okay idea turns into a butt-kicker of a story in the telling. Like I said: magic.

With Firefly Lane, I can remember exactly how I chose the core of this story. For years, I had been waiting for someone to write the big “girlfriend” book for my generation. I waited and waited and waited, buying one imposter after another; finally I realized that no one was out there, just waiting to write the story I longed for. I wanted a big, juicy emotional story about how women stay friends for decades, and how those friendships mold and define who we become. As I got older, I learned to value my girlfriends even more. No one can help you put your life in perspective like your best friend. Once I made the choice to write the book I wanted to read, I knew I had to “write what I know.” In other words, I had to bring in the music and history of my own life. All of that combined to make Firefly Lane a deeply personal book for me.

True Colors was a little different. This is a book that addresses an issue that is very important to me. As a former lawyer, I am very connected to the legal system, and more importantly, to the concept of justice. Most lawyers who have turned to writing tend to craft novels that are about solving crimes or trying individuals. But I’m a chronicler of family life; I care about emotions. So, naturally, even when writing about an explosive crime in a small town, I look to how it impacts people. True Colors is the story of three sisters, once close, who find their lives turned upside down by a stranger. Even more than that, it explores how the search for justice can tear a family apart…and how love and forgiveness can put you back on the right path. In this novel, the characters are all both loveable and deeply flawed, and each sister will make decisions that surprise the reader.

So that’s a little peek into the process that creates books. It all starts with the germ of an idea–a question, really; what if? –and goes from there, through draft after draft. My characters begin a little hollow, a little sketchy, and hopefully over time, will begin slowly to breathe on their own. I really learn who my characters are by their dialogue as much as anything. I never quite know what they’ll say when they open their mouths. It’s the not knowing that makes this job so fun…and so frustrating.

Thanks so much for letting me join your printedpage party! I hope your readers enjoy both of these books. And please let them know that I’d love to hear from them on my own blog at Kristin Hannah.

My best, Kristin Hannah

Today’s pondering:

February is off to a great start. I’ve read two really great books. The Good Good Pig which I wrote about in Pondering the pages ~ Day 9. Last night I turned the final page on Kristin Hannah’s newest, True Colors. She is one of my favorite women’s fiction authors so naturally I was expecting good things going in to this one and I wasn’t disappointed. She has written another winner.

True Colors is all about family. The good, the bad and the ugly. There are times when family can be plain just not nice, downright mean and nasty. Other times you want nothing more than to surround yourself with these people, your family. You lock the doors, shutter the windows and settle in for the siege.

The Grey family is a bit broken and battered. The sisters rely on each other to get them through whatever comes their way. They haven’t always had the easiest of times with their father. It showcases the vast differences in the way each one views their father. He’s one man yet different to each of them. Win struggles for acceptance, Aurora sees him for what he is, and, isn’t. Vivi Ann wants to believe in the inherent goodness of human nature.

An undeclared love, a marriage, and a murder test their love for each other. This reliance is torn apart and mended with faulty promises and hidden agendas. It stretches the boundaries of sisterhood. It colors their best intentions. Their individual beliefs of what is best for family, each other and, most of all, themselves. They must face the hardest test of the all – the truth. What tore them apart will ultimately bring them back together.

While my family doesn’t have much of anything in common with the Grey’s it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of this family saga. Ms. Hannah has a way of writing that draws in a reader. You start to care about these characters before you’re much beyond the first chapter or two. There were traits in each sister I admired and deplored. Most of all I could envision this story playing out this way. It could be your family, the next door neighbors or strangers on the other side of the world.

Check out Ms. Hannah’s guest post.

Title: True Colors Author: Kristin Hannah Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Publication date: February ’09 Pages: 400 Genre: Women’s fiction Challenges: ARC/’09 Pub

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Today was blog maintenance day. I’m trying to kill some available reading time before picking up my next book, Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Sarah’s Key is the featured book of By the Chapter hosted by Dar and myself starting Monday. I don’t have enough time between now and Sunday to finish a book with work getting in the way and I don’t read more than one at a time so I’m stuck. Consequently I took care of some blog chores. 

I started some new pages. The main one is titled The Reading Room.

Here you can find selected book reviews, check out how I’m doing on my series reading, follow my reading challenge progress, Ponder the pages, find out what I’ve been reading past years, favorite books and just about anything else related to my reading.

Some pages are still in the working stages.

*** A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend. ~ Author Unknown   ***

Mid-January J. Kaye and I hosted a Noontime Book Chat featuring The Ride by Jane Kennedy Sutton. It sparked a lively discussion not only between myself and J. Kaye but between J. Kaye and her husband Steve. J. Kaye thought that Ms. Sutton might be following the chat and sure enough she was. I contacted her and asked if she write a guest post. I hope you enjoy reading her thoughts about our chat as much I did. 

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Last October a photo of The Ride was shown sandwiched between Off Seasons by Anne River Siddons and The Requiem by Molly Dwyer on J. Kaye’s Book Blog post, What’s on Your Nightstand. I looked at the photo, shivered with delight, and thought, “Oh my God, I really am an author!”

My excitement increased when I learned that The Ride was to be the subject of a January Noontime Chat between J. Kaye and Marcia of The Printed Page. However, as the date neared my excitement lessened and my apprehension grew. I had no idea of how they would respond to the book. Although I tried to ban negative thoughts from my mind, I wasn’t always successful. On several occasions, I found myself wondering how it would feel to have one or both of the participants not like the book. I could only shudder in response.

The week of the chat was a super busy one for me. At least that is what I told myself. Honestly, I think I was too nervous to visit the blogs. It was late in day 3 when I finally told myself, “Just do it!”

My eyes immediately caught the words, “…the book infuriates me. I don’t like any of the characters…” I closed my computer without going further. It was late, I was tired and I didn’t need to end the day with rejection. I went to bed.

The following morning, with a steaming cup of coffee in hand, I approached my computer as though it had been inflicted with the bubonic plague. “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” I said aloud finding the site. I made myself start at day one. My spirits soon soared when I read, “I felt an emotional charge from reading the first 51 pages and I was ready to keep going.” I can’t imagine a better phrase for an author to hear.

On day two with Marcia I couldn’t tell where she stood but again there was that phrase, “…another part of me that keeps compulsively turning pages…” that gave me hope.

On day three back with J. Kaye, I fell in love with her husband, Steve, when he said, “…if you can’t stop reading, then it’s a good book.” Thank you, Steve.

Wrap up day from both, plus and J. Kaye’s review couldn’t have been better reading for me—the book brought out emotions, had them turning pages and wanting to know about my next book. What more could I ask for?

I couldn’t get the phrase, “Don’t like the characters.” off my mind. The main characters Barbie, Ken and Michael are not based on anyone I know. They’re completely fictional. However, they are a conglomeration of traits and nuances that I gleaned from various people I’ve either known, seen, read about, etc. during my lifetime. I had grown quite attached to all three.

Okay, I can understand not liking Ken, the self-absorbed husband who could do no wrong in his own eyes and Michael, the con man. But, Barbie? What’s not to like?

Then it came to me. Over the course of writing the book, my characters became like my children. And, as with kids, everyone can see their faults and imperfections except for their mother. So I tried looking at Barbie more objectively.

It is difficult trying to befriend a depressed person with low self-esteem. You don’t want to be dragged down in the dumps with them. But when you least expect it, you get glimpses of the person they can be—their warm, funny, open, I only want to be loved side—so you continue to work on the friendship. My hope is by the end of the book, readers will have enjoyed the ride Barbie took them on and they’ll decide she was worth the effort of becoming friends.

I would like to thank you J. Kaye and Marcia for your time and your honest opinions and thoughts about The Ride. Also, I appreciate the review J. Kaye. The Noontime Chat has been a positive and educational experience for me. Now I must go work on book number two, Reigning Cats and Dogs, about two of society’s misfits (Uh-oh, not more unlikeable characters, I hope!). Though opposite in personalities, two women form a strong bond after literally running into one another, but find their unusual friendship leads them into life-threatening situations.

Jane Kennedy Sutton Jane Sutton Jane Kennedy Sutton J. Kaye ‘What’s on Your Nightstand October

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Just in case you missed the chat January 19th to 22nd:

Monday: J. Kaye’s book blog Tuesday: The Printed Page/Marcia Wednesday: J. Kaye’s book blog Thursday: J. Kaye’s book blog & here at The Printed Page

Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. My f2f bc read Moloka’i when I snagged it out of a bargin bin at the local bookstore late in ’07 or early ’08. The funny thing was I hadn’t even heard of Moloka’i before snagging it and then all the sudden I was seeing it everywhere and it quickly became a book club darling. So this week’s pre-publication ‘can’t-wait-to-read’ selection is Mr. Brennert’s second book:

Title: Honolulu Author: Alan Brennert Publication date: March ’09 General fiction

From Mr. Brennert’s web site: Honolulu is the richly imagined story of Jin, a young “picture bride” who leaves her native Korea—where girls are so little valued that she is known as Regret—and journeys to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life. Instead of the prosperous young husband and the chance at an education she has been promised, Jin is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his disappointments out on his new wife, forcing her to make her own way in a strange land.

Struggling to build a business with the help of her fellow picture brides, Jin finds both opportunity and prejudice, but ultimately transforms herself from a naive young girl into a resourceful woman. Prospering along with her adopted city, which is fast growing from a small territorial capital to the great multicultural city it is today, Jin can never forget the people she left behind in Korea, and returns one last time to make her peace with her former life.

With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawaii far off the tourist track, Honolulu is another spellbinding story of the triumphs and sacrifices of the human spirit from the author of the reading group favorite Moloka’i.

Today’s pondering:

Another great book. Last night I finished The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery and, yes, I cried my way through the last two chapters just as I predicted. In the first several pages I laughed, cried, sympathized, emphasized and found a soul mate. This book is filled with love. All sorts of really sloppy, gooey animal love. I don’t often read these kinds of books even though I adore, love and admire animals purely because I become a big sloppy teary mess. I think most people who are animal lovers would enjoy this book but then again maybe the author will be too over the top about animals for some people.Ms. Montgomery’s life since she was a child has revolved around animals. Her profession is centered on understanding and writing about all sorts of creatures.

I didn’t really know anything about pigs, or hogs, before reading this book except I love to visit the petting zoo at the fair and check out the cute piglets and, yes, I enjoy bacon. She mixes pig/hog/boar antidotes and historical facts in with her memoir of Chris’ life. From all appearances Christopher Hogwood, the star of The Good, Good Pig, was extraordinary as pigs go. She chronicles Chris’s life from bringing him home as a very young, sick piglet not expected to live up to his death at a very old age for pigs (early teens). Chris had an endearing way about him and charmed everyone he came in contact with. He touched human lives in ways one might not expect an animal could. He taught valuable lessons about accepting others as they are. Living life to its fullest and enjoying the smallest pleasures. He most certainly had his share of adventure and could often be found visiting friends and neighbors. My only regret – that I didn’t have the privilege of personally meeting Christopher Hogwood.

Title: The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood Author: Sy Montgomery Web site: The Good Good Pig Publisher: Ballantine Books Publication date: April ’07 Pages: 225 Genre: Non-fiction Challenges: New author/ARC

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Up next is Kristin Hannah’s newest, True Colors. She is one of my favorite women’s fiction authors so I’m really looking forward to reading this one. She has written a guest post for my blog which I’ve have the pleasure of reading and will share once I finish True Colors. Over the past several weeks I’ve been posting Waiting on Wednesday hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and this is one of my WoW books.

From Ms. Hannah’s web site: The Grey sisters have always been close. After their mother’s death, the girls banded together, becoming best friends. Their stern, disapproving father cares less about his children than about his reputation. To Henry Grey, appearances are everything, and years later, he still demands that his daughters reflect his standing in the community. Winona, the oldest, needs her father’s approval most of all. An overweight bookworm who never felt at home on the sprawling horse ranch that has been in her family for three generations, she knows that she doesn’t have the qualities her father values. But as the best lawyer in town, she’s determined to someday find a way to prove her worth to him. Aurora, the middle sister, is the family peacemaker. She brokers every dispute and tries to keep them all happy, even as she hides her own secret pain. Vivi Ann is the undisputed star of the family. A stunningly beautiful dreamer with a heart as big as the ocean in front of her house, she is adored by all who know her. Everything comes easily for Vivi Ann, until a stranger comes to town…

In a matter of moments, everything will change. The Grey sisters will be pitted against one another in ways that none could have imagined. Loyalties will be tested and secrets revealed, and a terrible, shocking crime will shatter both their family and their beloved town. True Colors is an unforgettable novel about sisters, rivalry, forgiveness, redemption—and ultimately, what it means to be a family.

*** And last for today is my January wrap up which becomes The State of The Bookcase at the end of February. January started out and ended rocky in the reading department. I DNF’d the first and the final books of the month with another one sandwiched in between those. Overall it was a better month than I anticipated and I ended up reading some gems. I finished 10, DNF’d 3 and read 3,507 pages.

General fiction The Lost Five Days by William Petrick The Scent of Oranges by Joan Zawatzky The Ride by Jane Kennedy Sutton

Memoir/Non-fiction Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal by Diana M. Raab

Historical Seduce Me at Sunrise (The Hathaways, Book 2) by Lisa Kelypas Silent on the Moor: A Lady Julia Grey mystery (book 3) by Deanna Raybourn Soul Catcher by Micheal White

Women’s fiction The Life Plan by Sybil Baker

Horror The Ride by Tom Brandner

DNF This One Is Mine by Maria Semple Fifty Is Not A Four Letter Word by Linda Kelsey Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

Challenge status: eBook: 4 (goal is 10) New author: 11 (goal is 65) Review/ARC: 8; I read only one non review/ARC in January and didn’t count the DNFs ’09 Pub: 4 (goal is 9)

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If you’re new to Mailbox Monday welcome! Thank you to everyone who stops by Mailbox Monday. Whether you comment or visit I appreciate your taking the time to drop in.

Here’s what I got last week:

Action/mystery/suspense ~ The Associate by John Grisham. Now that ARC reading month is done I won’t feel guilty when I dive into this one. Kathy @ Bermudaonion -I know you want one more book for your shelves. Just leave me a nudge in your MM comment. *big smile*

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What books came into your house last week? Don’t forget to leave a link to your Mailbox post or a list of books if you don’t have a blog.

Today’s pondering:

Second book in a row I blew through before having time to post a starting or mid-point Pondering. 

I finished reading Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal by Diana M. Raab Friday night. It’s a non-fiction work based on Ms. Raab’s grandmother Regina’s diary found after her death. Around Regina’s diary entries the author weaves bites and pieces of her own life, both as a child and an adult. Regina was a young girl living in Europe during and after the First World War eventually immigrating to the United States with her husband and small daughter. Her diary covers her life starting at age 5 until her arrival in the States. The best way to describe this work is with simple words such as heart-breaking, sobering, affecting, powerful, harrowing and, most of all, real.

Even as a child Regina’s writing is poignant. Never having lived in a country ravaged by war I can only begin, in some very small way, to imagine the suffering inflicted on these people. Nightmarish lives as the fabric that makes a family is ripped apart at the seams. Living becomes a continual struggle of survival. When soldiers march through the city I can envision them as they burn and pillage homes striking fear into hearts of the citizens. Then there is the fear known only by children when parents are missing and something must be horribly wrong. Regina struggles to understand and make sense of the world she now inhabits versus the one she was living in the day, or maybe even mere hours, before.

Regina’s life was never particularly easy. Her childhood leaves deep scars that color her adult world. Her marriage wasn’t exactly harmonious nor was she easy to live with. She battled depression off and on until her death in 1961. Even through all this she loved her granddaughter, Diana, and showered her with affection. In return Diana loved her grandmother without conditions,  as only a child can love, and her world is richer because of this love.

Though this journey is not always smooth nor without its faults it is worth it in the end.

Title: Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal Author: Diana M. Raab Publisher: Beaufort Books Publication date: September ’07 Pages: 166 Genre: Non-fiction Challenges: ARC/New author

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I finished the month with a DNF. Once again this will land me in book blogger purgatory but it can’t be helped. It just wasn’t a book for me. Because I know I’m in the minority on this one here a widget’s so you can take a peek inside for yourself.

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The start of the new month means a new book. So next up is The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery. As with all animal stories they’re never written until after a life has ended so I know I won’t be finishing this one at work. It’s not a healthy work environment for my co-workers to witness the tears as they drip down my face. It’s sure to be a tear jerker. Please take pity on my non reading co-workers having to watch me get all worked up over some book. It’s never good to frighten them as they’re skittish enough without me blubbering all over my desk. 

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