Ann Patchett Speaks About Snakes, Good Books, and Opening a Nashville Bookstore

I have long known that Ann Patchett is a fabulous writer. One of my favorite books (and subsequently, one of my favorite made-for-television movies) is her first novel The Patron Saint of Liars. She went on to win the Orange Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for her novel Bel Canto. What I didn't know -- until last night -- was what an exceptional speaker she is and how funny she can be.

Patchett appeared at the end of a month-long book tour for her new novel State of Wonder at the Humanities Tennessee author series Salon@615 at the Nashville Public Library last night. (As an aside, Humanities Tennessee is also the organizer of the incredible Southern Festival of Books, which I write about in the weeks leading up to the Festival each October.) Although the Salon@615 series has been ongoing for much of the spring and summer (they hosted bestselling author Erik Larson in May), I'm not sure they were fully prepared for the volume of people who attended last night's reception and reading.

We were, admittedly, a few minutes late (we had just had dessert at the original Provence in Hillsboro Village, so we weren't anxious to get to the library for the reception portion of the evening). But we had no idea that we would be sitting in overflow! Patchett is very popular across the country (I wrote just last week about the rave reviews she has been getting for State of Wonder), but especially in her native city of Nashville.

Patchett on the Big Screen in Overflow

Patchett shared so many wonderful tidbits throughout the night (and funny ones), including the fact that a Wall Street Journal interviewer asked her about "her raccoons" but never posted a correction that Patchett does not, in fact, have a house full of the animals. She also recounted a hilarious exchange between herself and a Canadian customs officer, which ended with the officer telling her that he wouldn't be reading State of Wonder because it's set in the Amazon and "has snakes." As a result, Patchett chose to read a pontoon boat section from the book which includes a fifteen-foot anaconda encounter.

Patchett stated that she had traveled to the Amazon both as research for State of Wonder and as part of an assignment for Gourmet magazine. When the piece never ran, she questioned why and was told that the same boat they traveled on had  been taken over by pirates on its next voyage. Thus, the magazine (thankfully) could not in good conscience hype it as a good travel destination for its readers. While there, Patchett met naturalist Greg Greer, who actually wrestled with an anaconda -- much as he does in this YouTube clip:




According to Patchett, Greer will be interviewed on Minneapolis NPR on Friday, and he may have an upcoming television series based on his adventures.

Patchett also discussed her plans for opening independent bookstore Parnassus Books, a partnership between the author and Random House publisher Karen Hayes. The store already has a Facebook page and had an email sign-up sheet last night for those interested in updates. The store will also sell e-books; Patchett told her audience that the publishing world is finally beginning to catch up to the technology its readers crave. She also stated that sales for State of Wonder in paper and e-book have been "neck to neck." According to Patchett, the "Kindle is the Betamax," with many more changes in book-reading technology to come in the future.

Patchett answered audience questions at the end, speaking about various topics:

• On Oprah: "I bow at the altar of Oprah because she got people to read -- Dickens!"
• On authorial thinking: "Anything you think about this book is as right or wrong as whatever I think."
• On young, aspiring authors: "Read. Write because you love it and want to do it -- like the cello. [And] you have to get the junk out -- it's all about volume."
• On her novels: "I can't read my own books [after they are printed]."

She also recommended two books to her audience, because as she said, "we want somebody to recommend a good book to us." Those books were The All of It by Jeannette Haien and Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy, obviously books that will now be added to my own want-to-read list.

Patchett signed copies of State of Wonder after she spoke. She did something smart: she had two lines. An "express" line for those who mainly wanted her signature, and a separate line for people who went to high school with her and "would make [her] cry." I hopped in the express line -- not that I wouldn't have enjoyed a lengthy conversation with Patchett. However, I don't know her, so I don't expect her to spend a lot of time with me! I was happy with hearing her read and listening to her funny stories, then having her sign my copy of State of Wonder.

Happy Standing in the (Very Fast) Express Line

Meeting Ann Patchett

The thing about the "express line" was that I still wanted a photo. My friend Caroline was conveniently with me and didn't mind snapping a quick picture. Because we were in the express line, I was nervous about doing it. The library employee beside Patchett told me it would be fine, but that I "couldn't go behind the table." I'm not sure what she was afraid I might do, but I was fine with leaning in as Patchett signed for me. What's truly funny is that because we were in the express line, I was talking through my teeth as this picture was taken. Something along the lines of: "I'm a book blogger, and I love this book so far(!), and I'm so excited that you're opening a bookstore in Nashville! Thanks!" I know, I know. I'm a dork!

If you haven't yet picked up a copy of Patchett's latest novel State of Wonder, you really want to do so. I am about fifty pages in, and it is fabulous so far. If you missed her last night, she will be at her last stop on the book tour, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi, on Friday night at 5pm.

Learning to Swim Author Sara J. Henry On Moving North, Swimming Lake Champlain, and Raiding Her Father's Library

On Tuesday, Sara J. Henry's debut novel Learning to Swim hit store shelves. I read it, loved it, and reviewed it. Today, she's here for an interview to tell us more about Learning to Swim and my new favorite character, Troy Chance. The novel has gained recognition from authors such as Daniel Woodrell (Winter's Bone, subsequently made into the award-winning film), Meg Waite Clayton (The Wednesday Sisters), and Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet). Without further ado, the author herself:

So, it was killing me as I read – how much of the protagonist Troy Chance is you, or should I say how much of you is in her? 

SJH: I think it’s common for first-time novelists to use a great deal of themselves in their first-person main character. Mine lives in the house where I used to live in Lake Placid and worked at the newspaper where I used to work, and many of her experiences and feelings are mine. We both like bicycles and computers and dogs and kids. And when I write her, I am her.

Are you a swimmer? Have you ever dived into Lake Champlain?

SJH: I love being in the water, but can’t say I’m much of a swimmer. I essentially learned to swim when I was living in Lake Placid – all my friends did the weekly mini-triathlons, and I was determined to. All I could do was the side stroke, but it got me there. While on a magazine assignment to a swim camp I was filmed underwater while attempting to do the crawl, which showed all the things I was doing wrong.

A diver I’m not – I think I only dived in anywhere twice, and that was to pass a water safety class I took in Ottawa. I’ve crossed Lake Champlain on a ferry, but don’t know that I’ve actually been in the lake.

What is the actual swim blog that's quoted throughout the novel? Is there an actual blog, or is it a compilation (or is it simply fictional)?

SJH: It’s an actual swim blog suggested to me as a possible source for my section titles. I pulled those quotes almost at random and stuck them in, but they seemed to fit those sections.

I know you have ties to the south (Nashville, I think). Why New York and Vermont? Isn't it cold there? It seems like such a foreign place to a southerner like myself...

SJH: I was born and grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and lived for years in Nashville. My first full-time job was in Adirondacks in upstate New York, the sports editor on the  daily newspaper there, and I nearly froze my tail off, before I learned how to dress for the weather (layers, lots of layers, and Sorel boots with thick wool liners). Later, at a crossroads in life, a friend who lived in Vermont said, “Why don’t you come up here and work at the bike shop?” – I’m glad no one suggested going to work on a freighter or moving to Antarctica. But in many ways Vermont suits me – I run to the grocery store or post office in my ripped painting overalls. In Nashville (at least in Green Hills or Brentwood) I think you might be arrested for that.

Have you read Kathy Reichs' Tempe Brennan series (I won't say Bones series, because I think the books are very different)? I thought about the deep south/ Montreal connection from her books as I read your book.

SJH: I’ve read one and I remember that the southern scenes resonated with me. I like the idea of using place as essentially a character in the book, and in the sequel I’m finishing up now that comes into play even more. 

I love your references – AND, I got them. Maura Tierney, Groundhog Day, Highlights magazine, Perry March and Susan Smith (those two you explain in the book). Do you think most readers would have connected so thoroughly to them? References I "get" make a book so much richer to me, yet authors sometimes leave them out.

SJH: It’s a tricky line to walk.  I originally had more references but because I didn’t want to date the book or confuse or frustrate the reader I took some out (and the copyeditor, I seem to remember, wanted me to take them all out). But readers are a lot smarter than people give them credit for, and these and other references seemed integral to the book. And in these days of Google, if you don’t get something you can look it up in a heartbeat.

I took out most restaurant names, because restaurants change hands so often. But when I talk about getting an ice cream cone at Stewart’s or a certain type of bagel at Great Canadian Bagel – you can walk into those places and buy those foods there. And I counted the number of steps from that house in Lake Placid up to Stewart’s, a walk I took often when I lived there. I do love my ice cream. 

Not to dwell on other series, but there seems to be something intrinsically Kinsey Milhone-like about your main character, Troy Chance. I also mentioned that I see  similarities between her & V.I. Warshawski. Do you have influences from authors like Grafton or Paretsky? I suppose I also see Harry Bosch in Troy, since we met at a Michael Connelly event.

SJH: I read Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky, years ago, as well as Karen Kijewski Stabenow, and loved that there were series based around a strong female character. But I’d say the authors who influenced the most were the ones I read when I was very young: Mary Stewart and her romantic suspense novels (if you haven’t read Nine Coaches Waiting, do so! I think I even named one character after a character in that book) and John D. MacDonald and his Travis McGee series (it’s no coincidence that this book’s integral scenes take place on or near the water). My novel references authors Ngaio Marsh and Leslie Charteris, you know those had an impact as well. While growing up our house was filled with books, some really old ones that my dad brought home from a second-hand store, so I read a lot of stuff other people these days may not have stumbled across (okay, I think I could have lived without the Elsie Dinsmore series, but there they were, so I read them). 

I know there is a second book... And it is a Troy Chance novel, correct? So – series, or sequel only?

SJH: Series, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve got books 3 and 4 mentally roughed out, and can’t wait to write them.

Sara J. Henry and Dogs, Photo from SaraJHenry.com

Sara J. Henry is currently on book tour. To find out if she's coming to a city near you, check her schedule. I'm hoping to be there in March when she visits Nashville!

• Learning to Swim on Amazon.com
• Learning to Swim on Barnes&Noble.com
• Learning to Swim at Indiebound.org

Michael Connelly Speaks About Inspiration, And I Reveal My Obsessive Nature

It was wonderful to meet Michael Connelly on Saturday at Currey Ingram Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee. He spoke as part of their Fine Arts fundraising weekend. My friend Caroline accompanied me; we made a day of it, following the book signing with a day in the Nashville/ Murfreesboro area (World Market, Target, Ann Taylor LOFT -- you know, the important things we don't have in our smaller town).

We learned that he has at least a niece and nephew who attend CIA (possibly more, but I know that those two are both seniors at the school), which meant that the school had connections which brought Connelly to Nashville. I'm very grateful that they did! It was an honor to hear him speak. He began with a short speech about inspiration, both in general and in his own life. He showed the audience a painting his father created, and spoke about his parents' giving up their dreams (his father was admitted to a prestigious art school, but ultimately made his living as a builder) to raise a family. He also communicated their pride in him and his siblings, and their constant inspiration to him as they encouraged him to follow his dream to be a writer.

Connelly began his writing career as a crime beat reporter, which he referred to as "slumming it as a reporter" until he could launch his real career -- that of a novelist. He stated that he knew writing novels was what he ultimately wanted to do, but he also knew that as a crime journalist he would gain daily writing practice and important knowledge about crime that would lead to reality-based detective novels. Connelly then took questions from the audience, which led to discussions of his characters and their real-life human inspirations, Connelly's longtime protagonist Harry Bosch, and the writing process (among many other topics).

At long last (well, actually we kind of "merged" ourselves into the signing line, so it wasn't that long...) we actually met Connelly, or the creator of Harry Bosch (as I often think of him). He was very cordial, and agreed to take the picture you see in this post of the three of us. It has to be difficult to smile and sign for so long, even though it must also be a rush to meet your fans/ readers face-to-face.

He also officially thinks I'm a crazy person -- I told him that I had read all of his books in chronological order so that I didn't miss anything or a reference to anyone who had appeared in a previous book.
"Would that be so bad?" he asked.
"Well, it would be for me..." I replied, a bit flustered.
"My publisher is always telling me I need to get new readers, but it's hard to say 'Hey, you should read the fifteenth novel in a series,' to people," he looked at me as though I were definitely part of the problem.
"Oh,well, I've read all of your books in the past 6 or 8 months, so I was ready for the newest one when it came out," I tried to better explain.
"Wow," was his only response. At this point I posed for the picture, thanked him, and walked away, realizing that I sounded slightly stalker-ish. And that the great Michael Connelly now thought I was some sort of mad woman.

All in all, a good day.