Reading Joan Didion: Being Awake in the 1980's

I'd been reading lots of nonfiction, particulary about writers writing about their own lives or providing their own spin on things (pop culture, politics, etc.)  In the past six months, I've read Jeanette Winterson, David Sedaris, Augustin Burroughs, William Styron and Anne Lamotte.  It's great reading about how writers have lead their lives, leading them to the books they write today.

I'm finishing up Joan Didion's After Henry, a book of essays that was published in the early 1990's.  Most of what she writes about is Los Angeles in the 1980's.  I consider the 1980's an important time in my life.  I went through junior high, high school and college in that decade, all of that time in Los Angeles.  Our view of our city at that time is drastically different.

Joan Didion was (is) a mature, astute artist, writing about environment, politics, history.  I was, well, an adolescent growing into young adulthood--my head was in a totally different space.   Reading After Henry, gave me an alternate reality of someone else living in the same city at the same time.  It was truly illuminating, and I loved it.

What is also did was reinforce my own Voice as a writer, because I'm contributing something else.  In these pages, Joan Didion doesn't write about AIDS, that horrible disease that came to light in the 1980's that was an iconic marker in gay history.  Nor does she write about the fall of the Marcos regime, one that influenced the lives of Filipinos all over the world.  Both of these events had influenced me, shaping my world view.

I read that Toni Morrison wanted to write stories that wouldn't have been written if it weren't for her.  Me, too!  It was great reading about Joan Didion's Los Angeles.  Now, I'm going to write about my Los Angeles.  What will you write that no one else is saying?

Time Travel With Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry, came by Skylight and I just had to interview her!

James and Me

I had the pleasure of hosting James Ellroy when he came to Skylight Books. The first time I met him, I was scared of him. He has an overwhelming personality and he's VERY conservative politically. He's also an amazing writer. (And he was kind enough to blurb my second novel.)

I've had the pleasure of introducing him several times now and he never fails to entertain. He's boisterous and rude and you can't pull your eyes and ears away from him!

He has some interesting writing tips that I might try.

1. He outlines the sh*t out of a book before he writes a word! Hundreds of pages of notes before he writes a novel. He figures it out waaaaaay before hand.

2. He said imagination trumps research. I research the heck out of a project. I interview people, read tons of books to get a feel of a period. He said research does not necessarily make a good book. Imagination makes a good book.

3. He cuts himself away from the world. He doesn't watch TV, see movies, read papers. All of his writing is prior to 1972. He doesn't want to be in the current state of the world today. (I'm partially there. I don't have a TV.)

4. Writers grow. This may sound obvious, but I'm a writer with two books under his belt. James has seventeen! He may be famous for The Black Dahlia, but he said he's done with writing about murdered women. I wonder about writing about other things, other communities. I'm curious what my future books will be, then again, I'm curious about the future person I will become who will write those future books.

This quote is currently taped to my bathroom mirror:

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us." Joseph Campbell

To see me nervously interview James Ellroy, click here.