Shaken & Stirred: One Shot World Tour Post: Margo Lanagan

August 15, 2007

One Shot World Tour Post: Margo Lanagan

This isn't going to be a long one. Newsflash: Margo Lanagan rocks.

I haven't gotten to read any of her surely delicious novels yet, but I'm hoping to remedy that soonest (they aren't available U.S.-side yet). Her short stories though, are a continual delight. New ones as anticipated as much in our house as someone discovering a previously unknown, even-more-delicious form of chocolate. (This would be known not as milk, dark, white, etcetera, but as GOD.) I believe that, predictably enough, "Singing My Sister Down," the first story in Black Juice, was my initial discovery of her work. Chocolate. God. Etcetera. (Although I actually recommend you read the story last, after all the other stories in Black Juice, just to save it for yourself like a secret.)

But if you haven't read her yet, don't listen to me. Listen to Jules and Eisha. They had a stellar co-review of Red Spikes, the new collection, yesterday (I meant to read and review it for today as well, but didn't get my copy in time -- boo), and today they have a fabulous interview with her. And, yes, it includes the Pivot at the end. (Yay!) And there's even a process porn question:

7-Imp: Since we’re sort of sharing you with Gwenda of Shaken & Stirred for this One Shot World Tour event, we’ll ask a Gwenda-like question: Tell us about your writing process (starting wherever you like: getting the idea, starting to write, under deadline, etc.).

Margo: Have you got a spare hour or two? I can talk process-porn until the cows come home — and I loved reading about everyone’s work habits in the Summer Blog Blast Tour, so keep asking, Gwenda!

I keep notebooks, where I collect bits of stuff that might be useful, also encouraging quotations. I write first drafts longhand, to avoid aggravating my RSI and becoming keyboard-dependent. This last novel I’ve been writing, I tried to fool myself (because I would otherwise have been too intimidated) that it was just a whole bunch of linked short stories, so I worked on this ‘collection’ awhile before sitting down, admitting it was a novel, and working out which other ‘short stories’ (i.e. chapters) I needed to turn it into a complete novel. Now I’m finishing those off, combing and combing through the word-processorscript, filling up all the white space and adding pages. I can neither compose nor edit on-screen - I need to see the full page I’m working on, and the size of the pile of pages either side of it.

So get yourselves over there and read the rest. And then on to the other stops. (Image from Locus)

Posted at 12:59 PM in Books, kidlitfabulosity | Permalink

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Woo hoo! It was fun sharing an interviewee with you . . .

Posted by:Jules | August 15, 2007 at 01:41 PM

Oh. Oh, oh, ohhhh. Singing My Sister Down I read first -- as it is in the beginning of the book... My first story in my first ever Margo Lanagan novel. I loved it and I hated it and I cried and read some more.

Much like new chocolate. Too true!

Posted by:TadMack | August 15, 2007 at 03:00 PM

Yesyesyes! "Singing My Sister Down" is practically a religious experience, isn't it? The sort of thing you date your life from: before SMSD, and after SMSD.

Posted by:eisha | August 15, 2007 at 05:31 PM

Read Read

E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.

Picture This