The Music of Sleep Before Evening

My first novel, Sleep Before Evening, is full of music. My intention for the book was a kind of "Portrait of the Composer as a Young Girl", modelled very loosely (indeed) on James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but contemporary, NY based, and very female in perspective. Contemporary in this instance was actually the early 1980s, and so much of the contemporary rock music that's used in the book are the sounds that were popular in that era and loved by protagonist Marianne's mother Lily, a talented artist.  Just for fun, I also picked songs that had some resonance with me in that period of my life. This includes music from icons like The Beatles, Robbie Robertson, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull. 

Keyboard Girl by Aaron Jasinski

Because Marianne is a budding composer, there is also a lot of wonderful classical music in the novel.  One of the pieces that haunts Marianne is Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 1, a tremendously difficult piece that she struggles to perfect. Dvorak's "Largo" Symphony No 9 "From the New World" also provides some difficulty for her, and also becomes a motif for the book as she struggles to define herself and find a kind of 'home' that makes sense.  Finally, there is the harmonica based Blues that draws her to antagonist musician Miles.  There is Miles' own music, and also classics like Sonny Boy Williamsons' "Hello Little Schoolgirl", which Miles sings to Marianne as he collects her from the train station. Finding synthesis in these different kinds of music as the different aspects of Marianne's personality, and coming to know who she really is and where her talents and desires lie, is all key to the journey that Marianne takes. 

If you'd like to share a little of the music of Sleep Before Evening, just drop by my Pintarest board where I've pick up most of the major musical threads in YouTube clips and their corresponding quotes from the novel.

Persephone's Juicy Jewels is looking for a few chefs

Are you a chef? Better still, a pastry chef? My poetry partner (and super marketing maven) Carolyn Howard-Johnson and I are pulling together a poetry dessert cookbook, and we need your recipes! The final book will be shopped by our agent Terrie Wolf and we're hoping for a beautifully giftable coffee table book that combines exceptional poetry with your wonderful signature desserts. If you're a chef, please drop by our new Facebook fanpage and click on the pomegranate tab that says "Be part of persephone..." and full submission details will be provided. If you're not a chef, please drop by for a few sample poems and "like" and maybe tweet or recommend it your chef friends. Thank you!

Out Loud: National Year of Reading event

Next week I'll be doing a 2 hour long (taking a few breaths in between) reading event at the Newcastle Regional Library (Laman St). I'll be reading passages from three of my books: Black Cow (of course), Repulsion Thrust, and Sleep Before Evening.  This is all part of the National Year of Reading and one of many such author events taking place around the country. Out Loud is a week-long celebration of reading with random reads of poetry, stories, newspapers, recipes, plays at local libraries and sites around our cities held through from the 21-27 May. If you happen to be in Newcastle NSW on May the 22nd between 11 and 1, please drop by, listen in and say hello (if you can get a word in edgewise - I might even let you take the podium from me).

Poetry Monday: Interview with Fabric's Jessica Bell

Jessica Bell is one of those multi-talented Renaissance gals who seems to be able to turn her hand to anything. Musician, singer, poet, novelist, teacher, editor...Jessica visits us today to talk about her new poetry book Fabric, which I reviewed at The Compulsive Reader.
 
How did the collection originate?
Well, if you want me to start from the very beginning, it started when I printed up all the poems I’d written from the last year and tried to find a concurrent theme in order to put together a new collection. I realized that I had a substantial amount of poems that included a fabric of some kind … “ooh,” I thought, “that’s a pretty cool title.” Of course, a piece of fabric appearing in every poem was not meaty enough to base a collection on, so I brainstormed some symbolic links. That’s when I came up with “the fabric of society”. From then on the collection began to bloom. I wrote new pieces, tweaked old ones, and rewrote some entirely to fit the theme.

Talk to me about the process of pulling it together.
I probably write one poem a week, sometimes more, and store them in a folder under the month and year. Initially, I don’t write with a specific theme in mind, I just write whatever I’m inspired by in that particular moment. I let myself at it for about a year, so that at the end of that year I have a decent amount of pieces to consider. Only 20 out of the 60 poems I wrote in 2011 made it into Fabric. The remaining eight I wrote for the collection specifically.

Anyway, once I had the 20 poems I wanted to include, I tweaked them all to fit the theme of ethical and moral philosophy, i.e. the fabric of societyu. There are a lot of references to different fabrics in the collection, and I love that the textures and weights of these fabrics, their durability and/or fragility, also symbolize the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals that are represented.
I absolutely adore the vignette. And that’s what these poems are: slices of life. They explore specific moments in different people’s lives that are significant to whom they have become, the choices they’ve made, how they perceive the world around them, and how each and every one of their thoughts and actions contributes to the fabric of society.

What were the most challenging poems to write?
 I’m not a big utilizer of form, but I certainly enjoy trying to write to specific rules now and again. I find the restriction forces my imagination into a totally different place than what I’m used to. So the formalistic poems were definitely the most challenging and, of course. they were the poems I spent the most time perfecting.

Examples are:
Once, which is a mirror poem. The second group of stanzas must mirror the first group of stanzas on the page, and still make sense!

We Need Women, which is an Alphabet poem. Each word must begin with each letter of the alphabet and in succession. What’s the most challenging about this is not finding the right words, but making sure the tone doesn’t sound like a kindergarten teacher!

What You Found, which is a list poem. You’d think these are easy, but try evoking an emotional response from a list and incorporating a subtext through imagery. It’s harder than you think.

Postpartum, which is a ballad. Rhyming and maintaining the correct iambic pentameter in each line is difficult. This poem was even more of a challenge because rhyming poetry has such a fun and bouncy feel to it, and I had to make sure the juxtaposition of this with the dark subject matter worked to its benefit.

Talk to me a bit about the numerology behind the book.
I’ve always been fascinated with symbolism. And I think when it is utilized in poetry it makes it all the more richer. The numerology in Fabric is not something the average reader is going to pick up, either, so that’s why I’ve talked about it in the Note From The Author in the back of the book. It’s a bit hard for me to talk about this without repeating what’s in the book, and it’s also something that readers should really only be aware of after they’ve read the poems, as I think it will offer them a whole new perspective on the work and inspire them to read it again with a fresh mind.

You use Greek words throughout the book, but this is primarily an English poetry book. Are there particular difficulties in promoting an English book in Greece, or from Greece?
To be honest, I don’t really promote my work in Greece. The only thing I promote here, is my music, as that is a universal language. I’ve also established myself fairly well with a US, UK and Australian audience through my blog, so my location doesn’t seem to make much difference to me. Thank goodness for the Internet!

What’s next? What’s the biggest, most exciting project you’re working on?

My third novel, Muted.

Muted will explore a variety of themes such as overcoming loss, coping with mental illness and disability, dealing with discrimination, loss of freedom, inhibited self-expression, motivation to succeed, escaping oppression, expression through art and music, self-sacrifice, channelling the thoughts of the deceased, and challenging moral views and values. I also plan to write a soundtrack for this one too, just like I did for String Bridge.

Here’s a rough blurb:

In Arles, France, it’s illegal to wear clothes. In some streets, it’s also illegal to sing without accompanying instruments. Concetta, a famous a cappella singer from before “the change,” breaks these laws. As punishment, her vocal chords are brutally slashed and her eardrums surgically perforated. Unable to cope living a life without song, she resolves to drown herself in the river clothed in a dress stained with performance memories. But Concetta’s suicide attempt is cut short as someone grabs her by the throat and pulls her to the surface. Is it the busking harpist, who encouraged her to feel music through vibration, acting as savior? Or a street warden on the prowl for another offender to detain?

Following is the book trailer for Fabric:
   

About Jessica

If Jessica Bell could choose only one creative mentor, she’d give the role to Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and lyrics. And not because she currently lives in Greece, either. The Australian-native author, poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist has her roots firmly planted in music, and admits inspiration often stems from lyrics she’s written.

She is the Co-Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and co-hosts the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek Isle of Ithaca, with Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest.

For more information about Jessica Bell, please visit:

Website: www.jessicacbell.com

String Bridge (a novel): www.stringbridge.com

Retreat & workshop site: www.hwrw.blogspot.com

Blog: www.thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com

Vine Leaves: www.vineleavesliteraryjournal.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell

Twitter: www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell

6 days till the Goodreads giveaway is drawn

Just 6 days to go for the 2nd Goodreads Black Cow giveaway (this is for a lovely paperback). It's one simple click entry, so if you're not in it, go, click, get your name into the draw.  I'd love the winner to be you :-). 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Black Cow

by Magdalena Ball

Giveaway ends May 18, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Poetry Monday: Leo Ferre and Verlaine - where poetry meets music

I've been listening to a lot of poetic music lately. That's not just well written song lyrics, but proper poetry -- the sort designed to be read on its own -- set to music. The results are often exquisite, especially when the performers are able to infuse tremendous understanding and power to the work in their delivery.  Although this isn't new by any means, Leo Ferre's rendition of Verlaine's "Green" is one of those pieces.  Here is a version from YouTube (the visuals don't add anything, but just close your eyes for a moment and let Leo's voice work its magic).  I've also appended the full text of the poem in English translation (unabashedly sentimental, yet beautiful too - with a kind of underlying melancholy) and in the original French below.  

Green
 
See, blossoms, branches, fruit, leaves I have brought,
And then my heart that for you only sighs;
With those white hands of yours, oh, tear it not,
But let the poor gift prosper in your eyes.

The dew upon my hair is still undried,-
The morning wind strikes chilly where it fell.
Suffer my weariness here at your side
To dream the hour that shall it quite dispel.

Allow my head, that rings and echoes still
With your last kiss, to lie upon your breast,
Till it recover from the stormy thrill,-
And let me sleep a little, since you rest.  
(Translated by Gertrude Hall)

****
Voici des fruits, des fleurs, des feuilles et des branches
Et puis voici mon coeur qui ne bat que pour vous.
Ne le déchirez pas avec vos deux mains blanches
Et qu'à vos yeux si beaux l'humble présent soit doux.

J'arrive tout couvert encore de rosée
Que le vent du matin vient glacer à mon front.
Souffrez que ma fatigue à vos pieds reposée
Rêve des chers instants qui la délasseront.

Sur votre jeune sein laissez rouler ma tête
Toute sonore encor de vos derniers baisers;
Laissez-la s'apaiser de la bonne tempête,
Et que je dorme un peu puisque vous reposez.

Join in the eFestival of Words

I've been invited to participate in a panel on Dealing with Social Issues in Fiction at the eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair. Since both of my novels, Sleep Before Evening and Black Cow are heavily rooted in social issues and the power of creativity to heal and transform these situations, this is a topic close to my heart and of course I said yes immediately. The panel is being held on Sunday August 19th at 5pm US EST and I'd love for you to join in.  There will also be a Q&A with me straight afterwards at 6pm in the chatroom.

The eFestival of Words is a free, virtual book fair designed to connect readers with authors and publishers of digital books. For fans of ebooks, this is an opportunity to scout out hidden treasures and interact with authors (loads of freebies, prizes and fun). For those readers new to digital books, this is a chance to learn more about the format and what it can offer.  There are lots of different panels, workshops, open author chats

According to Event Coordinator Julie Ann Dawson, “The goal of the eFestival of Words Awards is to highlight those independent authors and publishers that have worked to raise the bar in terms of the literary quality and production value and of digital books. Many people still think of ebooks as nothing more than scanned pages of print books. We hope that both the fair and the awards will help readers discover the amazing wealth of original content being produced in digital formats.”

Registration is easy. Just sign up at the efestivalofwords.com forum and you are all set! You must register for the site before August 17th in order to attend the fair.  Don't miss this one - I think it's going to be pretty special.