Category: Book Reviews

Remembering Rhonda

Published on by J. Kelland Perry50 Comments

I started following Rhonda Elkins’ blog around this time last year, and was profoundly moved by her tragic story. It had only been months since she, a registered nurse, lost her 23-year-old daughter Kaitlyn to suicide, and writing about it in her blog, My Bright Shining Star, was her way of dealing with the devastation she was experiencing.

As tough as it must have been for her, Rhonda’s heart-wrenching posts turned into a new project: a book about her daughter to help raise awareness of the rampant depression and high number of medical students who take their own lives. Like her blog, it also proved to be a source of comfort for others who were going through the pain and anguish of losing a child to suicide.

With her permission, I reblogged this post back in February to help get her message out there, that even those closest to us often keep their depression hidden.

Earlier this week, I was shocked and saddened to learn Rhonda had followed Kaitlyn last Friday, leaving her husband and older daughter to pick up the shattered pieces of what remained of their family.

Rhonda had blogged recently about the good reviews her book was getting, as well as her decision to return to her nursing profession part-time (she hadn’t worked since Kaitlyn died in April of 2013).

I, like many others, had believed she had gotten through the worst of it, and was ready to go on with her life.

We were so wrong.

Your life had a purpose, Rhonda. You shared your heart and soul with your readers, painfully, yet with great eloquence. I’m so sorry you were suffering and unable to get past your grief and depression. I’m sorry we couldn’t help you more. And I pray you have finally found peace, and are reunited with your beautiful daughter Kaitlyn.

I will never forget either of you.

Links for Rhonda:

http://hosting-9605.tributes.com/obituary/show/Rhonda-Elkins-101642909

https://www.facebook.com/inmemoryofrhondasellerselkins

https://www.facebook.com/events/771748509514127/

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One Thing These Famous Novels Have in Common

Published on by J. Kelland Perry31 Comments

As I await responses from various publishers on my novel queries, I’ve been reading reams of info on the publishing world. Learning what to expect in terms of selling your work can make you wonder if it’s worth it at times, when you think of all the love and effort you put into your project.

If there is one tidbit of advice I keep reading, it’s that you better be in it for the enjoyment and satisfaction of writing, and not for making a ton of money, or even a living. But that’s a topic for a future post.

I wanted to share this book list with you. It may give you more incentive to keep striving for that goal, to get your own work in print.

  • Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
  • Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees
  • Harper Lee’s only novel To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Margaret Mitchell’s only novel Gone with the Wind
  • Boris Pasternak’s only novel Dr. Zhivago
  • Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones
  • Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook
  • Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants
  • Daniel Dafoe’s The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
  • Kim Edwards’ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

All of these ten wonderful works of fiction, are, of course, bestsellers. Some of them even won the Nobel and/or the Pulitzer Prize. 

But what is most interesting and inspirational to me about this list is this: they were all first novels. Yes, that’s right, these were debut novels that were wildly successful, and in fact there are many more ( I shortened the list). The older classics are known to still sell thousands of copies a year.

And many of them were rejected by numerous publishers before ultimately being signed.

As an example, Kim Edwards found great success with her first novel The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, the last one on my list, and the second to most recent I’ve read on the list. Published in 2005, it made it to #1 on USA Today’s list of bestselling books. As a result, in 2006 USA Today chose her novel as the Book of the Year. As they put it:

Book clubs and word of mouth helped send The Memory Keeper’s Daughter to Kite Runner heights, and once you’ve read this heart wrenching story, it’s easy to understand why it has connected with millions of readers.

On a stormy winter’s night in the 1960s, a doctor delivers his own twins. One is a perfect son; the other is a daughter with Down syndrome. He tells his wife the little girl died, and his lie reverberates across the years and affects every character.

Prepare for tear-blotched pages and a redemptive, hopeful ending that makes the tears easier to bear.”

I loved that book and loved finding out it was a first novel. So take heart, burgeoning writers. Perhaps your debut novel will make money. And if the stars align, perhaps it could be added to this list before long. Wouldn’t that be a dream realized? Stories like these are what keep me hopeful in selling and promoting my work.

You miss 100% of the shots you didn’t take. ~ Wayne Gretzky

What keeps you optimistic in your writing life?

What’s Up, Writers?

Published on by J. Kelland Perry24 Comments

Anyone who knows me or has followed my blog for a while knows that my most beloved pursuit is writing. Poetry and fiction writing fills many of my days, and I relish the attempt and challenge of producing professional work.

In the desire to write better, and simply because I love it, I consistently turn to my second favourite pastime, reading great books. As with my craft, I prefer fiction over non-fiction, and never tire of immersing myself and my imagination in a good story.

But because I want to improve my ability, I’ve enjoyed some wonderful non-fiction books about the art and craft of writing. Here are a few I have read recently:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White

I have enjoyed these books, as many have, and highly recommend them as valuable, insightful tools for any writer. The last one in particular deals with the nuts and bolts of good writing: principles of composition, rules of usage, and style.

Which brings me to the point of this blog post. We have always been taught to use proper punctuation in our writing, and I continually strive to do just that. So why have certain authors decided to depart from the rules of punctuation, in particular, omitting quotation marks around dialogue? Well-known writers such as James Joyce and Cormac McCarthy didn’t use quotation marks, and an increasing number of literary authors are following them.

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 I am reading the novel, February, by Lisa Moore, an acclaimed Newfoundland writer, and she too has dispensed with punctuating her dialogue with quote marks. I love the book so far, am greatly impressed with her style, and have no difficulty differentiating the dialogue from the rest, but I have read some readers do have trouble with it. Cormac McCarthy said he doesn’t like seeing all the “weird little marks” on a page, and that a good writer doesn’t need them.

I also read that it is a sign of a “cool writer”, or a literary writer, to omit such punctuation. I have a suspicion, however, that if I submitted a manuscript without quotation marks around my dialogue, the editor, agent, or publisher would send it back in a jiffy, refusing to even read it. Is it only a right of the well-established to bend the rules this way?

What do you think? As a writer or as a reader, where do you stand on this issue? Does it bother you, or are you fine with it? What style do you prefer in your own writing?

Are there any books on writing you would recommend?

*All books above are linked to Amazon for review. Check them out.

 

I Love Book Club!

Published on by J. Kelland Perry5 Comments

I have to say that I am so enjoying the local book club a couple of friends and I started this past January. Just two nights ago, our group gathered for another meeting to review our latest selection. And such a lively, thought-provoking discussion it was.  We were happy as well to welcome a new member to our fold.  Delighted to have you aboard, Kathy!

To become a member of our little group, the only real requirements are a pure love of reading and a willingness to share your opinions. But that is where most of our similarities end. What a diverse group of individuals we are! From a teacher, to a couple of retired nurses; from a minister’s wife, to a self-proclaimed atheist; a homemaker/blogger (yours truly), a designer, and even some artists, we are a varied lot. Some are originally from the area, but most of us aren’t.
Naturally, people being what they are, we often begin with the book in question, but soon veer off on tangents, taking the discussion to unexpected areas where voicing your two cents worth is welcome on any number of topics. When we have come together, we have shared thoughts and positions on racism, the medical profession, capital punishment, mental illness, greed, and crime, just to name a few.

Our provincial library has been a god-send in facilitating our passion:  it has made available a long list of “book club kits” that we borrow from each month. All titles are either award-winning, well-reviewed, or both, and provide much variety of topics and tastes. Seldom does everyone love the book currently being discussed, but that often generates the most dynamic debates!

Here is what we have read and reviewed so far:

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham

Coming up on our foreseeable agenda is:
Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant (a fellow Newfoundlander)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Of course, a happy by-product of Book Club is making new and interesting friends, and in my opinion, friends so interesting that  they are usually reading other books, sometimes more than one at a time, in between our club picks.

Book worms, unite!  Happy reading, everyone!

 

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Cold and Dreary February? Nahh… Part Two (Indoors)

Published on by J. Kelland Perry1 Comment

As my last blog entry noted, I wanted to share with you the joys of my indoor life this past month (see related article below).  There were four activities that have made February a pleasure for me this winter, and they all took place in the coziness of our home.

1.  Cooking and baking Comfort Food.  And, of course, eating it!
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Aahhh…the domestic bliss I feel when I bake a batch of homemade bread on a cold winter day… the delicious aroma, the shiny plump loaves all lined up as they cool.  Without a doubt it is my favourite comfort food.  Using whole wheat flour makes it nutritious as well.

A perennial favourite among many foodies is good old macaroni and cheese.  Nothing says Comfort like my mom’s recipe.  The cheesy, bubbly goodness, with buttered crumb topping, that heavenly smell…are we hungry yet?

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Just last night I made a hearty pot of beef stew, sure to warm you right down to your toes.  The wholesome ingredients, the rich gravy;  and what goes great with a big steaming bowl?  That’s right, more HOMEMADE BREAD.  Forget it, low carb diet, you will have to wait til spring.

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2.  Watching Movies

Paul and I usually take part in what we call a Movie Blitz this time of year.  In a race before Oscar night, we have watched seven of the nine movies nominated for Best Picture.  And what a delightful cross-section this year!  There were plenty of handsome actors to choose from:  George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jean Dujardin, to name a few.  Be still, my romantic heart.

There was even a movie to satisfy my girlhood love of thoroughbreds:  War Horse.  If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s an old-fashioned sweeping epic style of picture, done in a way Spielberg is famous for.

 

3.  Book Club

Reading has been a passion of mine all my life.  I’m talking about having to read every word on a cereal box if nothing else is handy.  Our little book discussion group had a slow start, but we now have more members.  The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill was our first selection (an excellent read), and now we are in the process of selecting the next one.  For those who don’t know, the local library has actual book club kits that include many choices of wonderful books, both old classics and the latest bestsellers.  If there is anyone out there in a book club, I would love it if you could drop me a line and share your experience.

4.  Planning a Tropical Getaway

Anticipating a trip south is one of the best ways I know to cure the winter blahs.  Make it two trips and you’re guaranteed that cure.  The first one will be in three weeks for just the two of us, then another toward the end of April, where we get to spend time with friends and family.  Always fun to have a reason to take out your summer duds in February!

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As for the rest of you living in the northern hemisphere, what has kept you warm this month?

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