{"id":2057,"date":"2014-05-08T13:35:10","date_gmt":"2014-05-08T20:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lindacollison.com\/?p=2057"},"modified":"2014-05-08T13:40:25","modified_gmt":"2014-05-08T20:40:25","slug":"soul-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/soul-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Soul on the page"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader’s confession<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

When it comes to novels, I really don’t care for “page-turners” so much. I’m more of a lingerer, a stop after every page and think about it reader. I want to make a book last, I want to smell its essence, suck the marrow out of the words, chew on the fat of intent, feel the spicy sting of satire or taste the sweet-sour of regret in the tone.\u00a0 The writer has poured his soul into the soup and I want it to fill my mouth and savor it before I swallow.<\/p>\n

Page-turners?\u00a0 meh. What’s a page-turner but a cleverly contrived plot?\u00a0 Bad guys chasing good guys or good guys chasing bad?\u00a0 The good guy wins or the bad guy wins, I don’t really care.\u00a0 In the end we all die, but how do we live, that’s what I want to know?\u00a0 Sometimes I start a “page-turner,” and sure enough, I’m hooked.\u00a0 But one of two things usually happens:\u00a0 I speedread just to find out whodunit.\u00a0 Or I lose interest about halfway through because the whole thing feels contrived.\u00a0 This happened to me recently with Gone Girl<\/em>.\u00a0 I was initially seduced, and drawn into the story because of the characters — whom I soon quit believing in or caring about.<\/p>\n

For me, page-turning thrillers are like quickie encounters; most of them these days are heavy on the gratuitous sex scenes.\u00a0 Laughable soft porn, at best.\u00a0 If you’re looking for auto arousal may I suggest literary erotica —\u00a0 which is at least honest about its intent.\u00a0 What keeps me turning the pages isn’t so much action as character<\/em><\/strong>, voice<\/em><\/strong>, and theme<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Ultimately, the feeling of discovery, the connecting with another human being, real or fictional.\u00a0 And I’m not sure there’s a difference between the two.<\/p>\n

My favorite genres to read are nonfiction, literary fiction, short stories, humor, satire and poetry.\u00a0 I admire the writing of George Saunders, Dave Eggers, Michael Cunningham, Catherine Anne Porter, Anne Proulx, Garrison Keillor, T.C.Boyle, Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain — oh, stop me, no one wants to read a list!<\/p>\n

I’m currently reading Cunningham’s latest novel, The Snow Queen.<\/em>\u00a0 So much humanity packed into each paragraph!\u00a0 Did I tell you I once took a week-long writers workshop led by Michael Cunningham, at the Napa Writers Conference, back in 1997, before he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in ’98 for The Hours<\/em>.\u00a0 Ah, but that story deserves its own blog post…<\/p>\n

A writer’s confessions<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

I’m an old-fashioned writer, trying to get better at my craft.\u00a0 (I’m also an old<\/em> writer.\u00a0 But that’s the fine thing about writing, you’re never too old<\/em>.\u00a0 Consider Larry McMurtry and Doris Lessing.\u00a0 OK, Doris is no longer with us, but she had a long career and finally won her Nobel prize.\u00a0 In comparison, I’m in my salad days.)<\/p>\n

I’m an old <\/em>jack-of-all-trades and master of none.\u00a0 Just as my mother warned I’d become.<\/p>\n

I refuse to write for a “market.”<\/p>\n

I don’t produce a product.<\/p>\n

I write what compels me.<\/p>\n

I write to discover.<\/p>\n

I write to share the life I’m living and the lives I imagine.<\/p>\n

I strive for soul on the page.<\/p>\n

I’m looking forward to practicing my craft at the Chesapeake Writer’s Conference <\/a>at St. Mary’s College of Maryland this summer, featuring acclaimed authors Jerry Gabriel<\/a>, (conference director), Patricia Henley, Matt Burgess, Ana Maria Spagna, and Elizabeth Arnold.<\/p>\n

The older I get the more I have to learn!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reader’s confession: When it comes to novels, I really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[274,271,239,275],"class_list":["post-2057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-and-publishing","tag-chesapeak-writers-conference","tag-fireship-press-writing-process","tag-literary-fiction","tag-michael-cunningham"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2057"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2065,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057\/revisions\/2065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madhatdesign.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}