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Is your memoir honest? I’m not referring to factual truths. In the post- Million Little Pieces world, it has become crystal clear to those writing about their lives that they’d better be straight on where they were when, who they were with, and what acts they performed.

I’m speaking of emotional honesty– something a good reader will sniff out easily and fully appreciate. It’s the element in memoir that wins a reader’s trust, that tells a story’s truth better than any particular biographical details.

I recently read, and fully appreciated, Mary Karr’s memoir, LIT, her account of becoming a writer through the haze of addiction, her hard- fought and at times hilarious road to sobriety, and her discovery of redemption in an unlikely place. Her writing demonstrates that honesty is not something found in a journey to the gutter or to the south of Italy but in the heart and soul.

Paul Harding, author of the lovely, nicely regarded but not bestselling novel, Tinkers, published by the small Bellevue Literary Press woke up one morning last week and turned on his computer, to see, just out of curiosity, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  After what I imagine was several minutes of unconsciousness on his study floor, the fact registered. Yes, he was the winner.   An eccentric author who perhaps doesn’t answer his phone,  even when the Pulitzer people are calling?  Perhaps, but also a humble and well deserving one.

Think you have spent far too long writing your novel?   Discouraged because publishers and/or agents aren’t giving it a chance?   Consider, please, the story behind #7 on this week’s New York Times bestseller list, Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes.    A few highlights:  he worked on the book for 30 years,  it is 600 pages long, it is a Vietnam novel that agents wanted him to set in the Gulf War to make it more “timely”. he published first with a nonprofit small press, it has been universally proclaimed a masterpiece.

The reality of publishing, as I’ve mentioned before, is that the author, not the publisher will be required to arrange and carry out the bulk of any publicity and promotion duties and these duties start EARLY!  If you have written a book of nonfiction or even completed a proposal for a book of nonfiction,  it is a good idea to have a website and even an active blog on the subject matter of your book in place before querying a publisher or agent.

I didn’t meet a published author until I was in college.  What a thrill!    Meeting someone who actually had his name and picture on a book that I could find at any bookstore was akin to meeting a film star.  I’ll admit that I never bothered to read the book– some pretty dense poetry, as I recall, but the fact that a publisher deemed the writer’s words worthy of the printed page convinced me he was a superstar.     Needless to say, since then, I have met many, many published authors and have found them largely quite human.   I’ve also read many published books that are far from awe-inspiring.   Is this something to aspire to though, to write well enough and work hard enough to “earn” the right to inspire a book lover’s awe?

I’ve been spending a lot of time reading in ‘10, not just the terrific work of my writing clients but also these gems:

The Privileges by Jonathan Dee:   An expertly written novel of the wealthy whose characters entrance, amuse and flabbergast all at the same time. Get a friend or your book group to read it with you.  You  will have a lot to discuss, and inevitably, argue about.  You might also want to check out the reviews on this one, all stellar, but all with surprisingly different takes on the author’s intentions.

Columbine by Dave Cullen:   Just invoking the title will elicit a wince.  Tough stuff.   But if you shy away from such devastating subject matter you will miss out on a brilliantly crafted, mesmerizing and eye-opening story that you will not be able to put down or forget.   And, it will force you to rethink everything you think you know about this tragedy, and indeed, about the often false media reports on any tragic event.   The shootings were inspired by bullying?   Not at all.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: This was published as a YA novel a few years ago but it could easily be shelved with adult fiction.    There is nothing naive or simplistic in its portrayal of a young German girl surviving in a German village during WW II.    The author’s fun and fancy writing tricks  (lots of lists, a book within a book, line drawings, tables of contents for each chapter) give this poignant story great heart.  And what more reliable narrator is there than… death?

In The Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White: Every aspiring memoir writer should read this carefully constructed take on the familiar “stranger in a strange land” plot.   The author, a successful magazine publisher on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi floats his business by kiting checks, leading to a sentence in a minimum security prison.  The prison, much to his surprise, turns out to also house the country’s last standing leprosarium.    The book has an unforgettable “cast of characters” from fellow prisoner Jimmy Hoffa’s lawyer to the wise elderly leprosy patient to the author himself.   It is a fascinating story of redemption and believe it or not, it is also very funny.

Our local Borders has closed, threatening to bring down the neighborhood with it.  Publishers are reporting lower sales.  Amazon is arguing with Macmillan, everyone is arguing with Google and books that you can read on printed pages between two covers– what are those?   A lot seems to be amiss in the world of book publishing  and selling since I last posted.    I will let other reliable sources sort out the trends and realities for you (www.publishersweekly.com).   The sky is not falling but the future of the industry is indeed up in the air.    Much like the music industry, a new model will emerge to, hopefully, keep readers reading and continue to generate income for published writers.     So, stand by, keep writing well, and again, don’t forget to buy books, in whichever form you wish.

I’m delighted to let you know about two titles, hot off the press.  Both writers came to me with terrific ideas which they fine-tuned into proposals that grabbed a publisher’s interest.  The subjects are very different, but the books are similar in their  unique vision, clarity, engaging writing style and purposefulness.

Raising a Left-Brain Child in a Right-Brain World:  Strategies for Helping Bright, Quirky, Socially Awkward Children to Thrive at Home and In School by Katharine Beals. (Shambhala Publications)

Wrench in the System: What’s Sabotaging Your Business Software and How You Can Release the Power to Innovate by Harold Hambrose (Wiley)

A friend calls you.  He says he wants to tell you about how he met the woman of his dreams at the train station.  You can’t wait to hear. You meet for coffee.  You sit down.  “Well?”.  He tells you how he took a long shower that morning, how he combed his hair, how he ate a bagel with jelly and butter, (or, no, it was cream cheese), how he grabbed his keys, got in his car, drove to the station…  “Well???”

If the follow-up is not absolutely necessary to the actual story, then skip it.  Don’t write about the process of your character getting to the train station.  Just be there.

It is a good feeling to write a line with confidence, so much confidence that you want to write it twice.   The problem is, in most cases, a reader gets your point right away.  Twice is not nice and more is just more.   

Here is an example.  “When she saw the shadow on the wall, her breathing stopped and she began to shiver.  She was terrified. “    Here is the same line, written two different ways and written better the first time.    The second line is an attempt to drive the first one home.  It is already there.