I am over the moon excited about today...... why you ask. Well, I have Marilyn Brant as my Guest Author. She asked me to read her ARC According to Jane, which I did gladly and was thoroughly impressed and captivated.... resulting in me now being a die-hard Marilyn Brant fan for life. As I am sure that you will be too! You can read my review HERE of According to Jane.
I would like to Welcome Marilyn Brant to Book Junkie today as my Guest Author celebrating her debut novel According to Jane that releases from Kensington on October 01, 2009.
And, Brande, I’d like to thank you for inviting me! It’s an honor to be here with you and your readers today.
1. I am a fly on your wall today, what would I see in the day of Marilyn?
If you’re a fly, you’d definitely see how very messy my office is! There are many piles of papers, stacks of teetering books, coffee packets, gum, a number of water bottles… And you’d see me in that messy office for hours and hours of the day. I start by checking email right after my son leaves to school in the morning. I then work on any publicity or website projects that need to get done, visit blogs of writing friends and/or make phone calls, drive to the post office, etc. All of those writing-related things. Then, I check email again and have a snack while procrastinating... Finally, usually by 10am, I get down to real writing. I’m a very slow writer, and I work chronologically through the book, so I don’t move onto the next page until the one I’m on seems to flow moderately well. I break for lunch or for anything important--calls from family members, close friends or writing colleagues--but, mostly, I stay focused on the book until my son returns home from school. After that, it’s homework for him and after school sports or playdates, etc. Plus, fixing dinner and the occasional household chore. (I really avoid those!) A few times per week I manage to slip in a visit to the gym for a workout, but I’m not nearly as consistent as I should be. When my husband returns from work, we all have dinner together and talk, some nights we watch a TV shows (I personally like “Castle,” “Glee” and “Supernatural”--our son doesn’t watch those with us, but he’ll join us for “American Idol”). After they both go to bed, I work on writing-related stuff or manuscript pages again. Usually until about 1am. The “glamorous” life of a writer, huh?! And one of these days, I’m going to clean my office. Really.
2. If someone were writing a story about Marilyn, what type of word would describe you? Inquisitive. I’ve been told by a few people that I’m “more curious about things than anyone” they’ve ever met. I like that!
3. How do you get started with writing a story (as in, how do you start developing the story, how do you get inspired for it)? Do you start with an outline, synopsis, characters; what is your writing process like?
I’m primarily a character-driven writer. However, I do a basic plot outline and a character study simultaneously because the kinds of main characters you have influence the kinds of storylines you need to write in order to challenge them. And, conversely, the plot points that get thrown at a character are handled in wildly different ways by the varying personality types. So, I need to know the basic traits, histories and attitudes of my heroine(s), then I’m able to plot out what mess she’d find herself in, then the kinds of secondary characters who would most help or thwart her growth and, finally, her actual speaking voice and manner of being in the world. Once I know her story and I know how she talks and relates to others, then I just let her narrate her tale--one page at a time with, maybe, two pages written in an hour--from the beginning of the book until the end.
4. Can you tell us a little about your newest release According to Jane?
Of course. According to Jane is the story of a modern woman named Ellie who gets dating advice from the ghost of Jane Austen. It begins one day in her high-school English class, just as Ellie’s teacher is assigning Pride & Prejudice. From nowhere, she hears a quiet “tsk” of disapproval aimed at the antics of the cute bad boy who has been teasing her. The author’s ghost takes it upon herself to stay in Ellie’s mind, offering up her own brand of Regency-era wisdom in regards to romance. Years and boyfriends come and go, but Ellie has a lot to learn about love. And, possibly, even Jane may benefit from a new insight or two.
5. What was your inspiration and WHY Jane Austen?
I remember the moment I first thought of the story idea: I was sitting in an RWA National Conference workshop (Dallas 2004) presented by Eloisa James. She was discussing the borrowing of classic plots from famous authors, as she’d done with Shakespeare. She asked us to think about which classical lit books we’d read and the authors whose characters and storylines we’d gravitate toward. I immediately thought of Jane Austen, of course, my all-time favorite author. Then I began asking myself questions--what would happen if a modern woman had a Pride & Prejudice-like experience? And what if Jane herself were involved in the plot somehow? Then: Oh! What if Jane could give dating advice? I thought of how much I would’ve loved for her to have shared some words of wisdom with me back when I was single… But then I pondered the idea that perhaps, Jane could be biased against someone in the same way her most famous heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, had been prejudiced against Darcy… And this premise took hold of my mind and continued developing from there.
6. Let’s talk Sam and Ellie, the main character’s in According to Jane, why stretch their love story 20 years?
This is an excellent question, Brande! I spent a lot of time mulling it over as I was writing the novel, and there are several reasons for my decision. For one, it’s because the book is about one woman’s relationship “odyssey”--and I meant that very much in the Homeric sense. Just as Odysseus had to journey on through two decades of challenges, frustrations and danger, Ellie is traveling through a modern woman’s relationship version of this before she’s able to “return home.” There may not have been the literal sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, but there were bad boyfriends, nasty schoolmates, unkind family members, etc. By narrowly avoiding one bad choice, Ellie sometimes ended up with a different but equally bad problem. She steered off course more than once and fought to survive the emotional warfare of love. There was no way for her to “get where she really wanted to go,” until she was able to do it humbly and honestly. The idea of Jane as a parallel goddess to Athena was also appealing to me J. In a much simpler, pure-storytelling sense, though, the kinds of changes that needed to take place between Ellie and Sam (and also between Ellie and her big sister) would NOT have occurred realistically in a year or two. Both of those relationship arcs needed significantly longer to develop. Even in Austen’s Persuasion, the main characters must be apart for nearly eight years before the heroine is emotionally ready to be with her hero. A woman is not the same person at 19 or 20 that she is when she’s approaching 30 and knows something more of life… In that way, too, the longer timeframe was a requirement. Additionally, there are smaller details (i.e., Sam going away to medical school), that put the romantic story on a longer time track than usual.
7. If you could cast Sam and Ellie for a movie who would play them on screen?
Ack! I never know who to choose for this! Both would have to be actors who can convincingly play a range from teen to early thirty-something. So, I think they’d have to really be in their mid-twenties. I’ve always imagined Sam to be someone like a young John Cusack--the way he was in “The Sure Thing”--smirky, clever and slowly discovering that he wanted something and someone rather different from what he’d expected. As for Ellie, an American Emma Watson-type, perhaps, with the intensity and intelligence of a Hermione, but not the confidence or outspokenness. But, if According to Jane were turned into a movie, I’d happily trust these decisions to the casting director and just enjoy the simply watching the film J.
8. Why do you think it is that Jane Austen “never goes out of style”?
I think it’s because her characterizations are unbelievably universal and timeless. She had a tremendous gift for really seeing people--the way they acted in private vs. in public, the way they revealed themselves through dialogue, the way they handled stress and insecurity. She recognized the range and depth of human behavior and was a genius at showing it to her readers. Plus, since she didn’t spend time dwelling on the specificities of clothing or the political climate, her books have an intimate feel to them. When talking about promising relationships or annoying neighbors, there is not much difference between the conversations of Austen’s time and those we could be having with friends or family today. I think that’s what keeps her work so contemporary--whether it’s read or performed in the 1800s or at any time afterward.
9. Did you draw your characters from the personalities in your life?
Some of my characters have a smattering of qualities and personality traits drawn from people I know, but I do a LOT of blending. It’s incredibly important to me to make my characters unique. To do that, I feel I need to give them a range of quirks and some very distinctive behavior/thought/speaking patterns. The real people in my life are certainly interesting, but none of us (myself included!) are entirely “fiction-worthy.” And I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to be a real-life character. I wouldn’t want to be oddly specific enough for fiction. And I sure wouldn’t want those closest to me to be riddled with the stresses and insecurities prominently featured in the secondary characters I’ve created. So, while I’ll happily pluck a trait or two from someone I know to add to the character mix I’m making, I have to do much more to any character to make him/her novel-ready than merely copy someone from my everyday life.
10. What are you currently working on?
I just finished editorial revisions on my second women’s fiction book (still untitled, but my editor and I are narrowing down ideas). It’s a modern fairytale about three suburban moms who shake up their marriages and their lives when one of them asks her friends a somewhat shocking question… I’ve also just begun drafting my third novel, which is just at the proposal stage now, but I’m excited by the possibility of it. More on that one later!
11. What was the first romance book you read and how did it effect you?Technically, it was Cinderella and the various fairytales…but I remember reading gothic romances by Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney when I was in junior high. I thought they were “mysteries” then, so I was as intent on solving the puzzle as I was on the resolution of the romantic plot. Years later, I read Jennifer Crusie’s Crazy for You and just fell in love with contemporary humorous romances. I devoured them.
12. If you were not writing, what would you be doing?
Traveling--I love to see new places in the world. I’d like to think I’d also be exercising more, but I’m afraid I use the excuse, “Oh, I can’t work out today, I’ve got to write,” a little too gleefully J. Extra time probably wouldn’t make me love the elliptical machine any more.
13. Do you use your OWN experiences?
Absolutely. There are a few of my real-life experiences peppered throughout According to Jane. However, I use far fewer of my own experiences than I do my own emotions. It’s not very important, in my opinion, that a writer live though any particular situation in order to write about it. She should be familiar with some of the corresponding emotions, though. For instance, I never went to prom in high school. But I did go to high-school dances, and I was asked to be the date of someone on the Homecoming Court in college one year. What I really knew about the prom experience was less about the details (I could make those up!) than about the emotions of a girl who might’ve felt disconnected and marginal at an event full of pomp and pretension. I think anyone who’s ever been in a room full of people and felt unbelievably alone, but still had to pretend to be having a joyous time, could channel those emotions and write from that place.
14. For you, what is the hardest part of writing a novel?
Concept, Characterization, Plotting, Writing the story, Synopsis/Query letter writing, etc. Ugh, the synopsis, especially if it has to be written in advance. I can write a fairly decent one once the book is finished, but it’s a challenge beforehand. For me, the most interesting elements of the novel emerge while actually writing the story. I wouldn’t want to be held to a book that followed my initial synopsis exactly.
15. This is your very first published work, how long did it take you to get published?
A long, long time! I started writing fiction seriously in the summer of 2000. I wrote 4 unpublished manuscripts--all complete novels--before I started work on According to Jane in 2004. After drafting and revising it, I sent it out to literary agents, and I signed with mine in July of 2006. I revised again, under her direction, and we sent the book to editors that fall. It was a Golden Heart® finalist and won my category in 2007, but it still hadn’t sold to NY. After some further editorial feedback, I restructured the book so it was no longer written in strict chronology, and my agent submitted this new version to editors. The wonderful John Scognamiglio at Kensington made us a 2-book offer just twelve days later, in April 2008. Production time was a year and a half… So, it took a full nine years after I started writing my first novel to see one published.
16. If you could work with any author who would it be?
You mean aside from Jane Austen?! In truth, as much as I respect many, many authors, I’m not a huge fan of group projects. I’m not really tempted to write a book WITH anyone. However, I’d be delighted to collaborate on an anthology where each of us had one of three or four stories with a related theme. That could be really enjoyable. I love women’s fiction/romance authors like Sue Miller, Elizabeth Berg, Anne Tyler, Laurie Viera Rigler, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Maria Geraci and Pamela Redmond Satran so, if I were ever fortunate enough to have my stories share an anthology with any of theirs, I’d be thrilled.
17. If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be?What was the most memorable scene you’ve ever read in a book and why did it stick with you?
Thanks again for having me here today! It was very exciting to get to visit Book Junkie!!
I would like to Welcome Marilyn Brant to Book Junkie today as my Guest Author celebrating her debut novel According to Jane that releases from Kensington on October 01, 2009.
And, Brande, I’d like to thank you for inviting me! It’s an honor to be here with you and your readers today.
1. I am a fly on your wall today, what would I see in the day of Marilyn?
If you’re a fly, you’d definitely see how very messy my office is! There are many piles of papers, stacks of teetering books, coffee packets, gum, a number of water bottles… And you’d see me in that messy office for hours and hours of the day. I start by checking email right after my son leaves to school in the morning. I then work on any publicity or website projects that need to get done, visit blogs of writing friends and/or make phone calls, drive to the post office, etc. All of those writing-related things. Then, I check email again and have a snack while procrastinating... Finally, usually by 10am, I get down to real writing. I’m a very slow writer, and I work chronologically through the book, so I don’t move onto the next page until the one I’m on seems to flow moderately well. I break for lunch or for anything important--calls from family members, close friends or writing colleagues--but, mostly, I stay focused on the book until my son returns home from school. After that, it’s homework for him and after school sports or playdates, etc. Plus, fixing dinner and the occasional household chore. (I really avoid those!) A few times per week I manage to slip in a visit to the gym for a workout, but I’m not nearly as consistent as I should be. When my husband returns from work, we all have dinner together and talk, some nights we watch a TV shows (I personally like “Castle,” “Glee” and “Supernatural”--our son doesn’t watch those with us, but he’ll join us for “American Idol”). After they both go to bed, I work on writing-related stuff or manuscript pages again. Usually until about 1am. The “glamorous” life of a writer, huh?! And one of these days, I’m going to clean my office. Really.
2. If someone were writing a story about Marilyn, what type of word would describe you? Inquisitive. I’ve been told by a few people that I’m “more curious about things than anyone” they’ve ever met. I like that!
3. How do you get started with writing a story (as in, how do you start developing the story, how do you get inspired for it)? Do you start with an outline, synopsis, characters; what is your writing process like?
I’m primarily a character-driven writer. However, I do a basic plot outline and a character study simultaneously because the kinds of main characters you have influence the kinds of storylines you need to write in order to challenge them. And, conversely, the plot points that get thrown at a character are handled in wildly different ways by the varying personality types. So, I need to know the basic traits, histories and attitudes of my heroine(s), then I’m able to plot out what mess she’d find herself in, then the kinds of secondary characters who would most help or thwart her growth and, finally, her actual speaking voice and manner of being in the world. Once I know her story and I know how she talks and relates to others, then I just let her narrate her tale--one page at a time with, maybe, two pages written in an hour--from the beginning of the book until the end.
4. Can you tell us a little about your newest release According to Jane?
Of course. According to Jane is the story of a modern woman named Ellie who gets dating advice from the ghost of Jane Austen. It begins one day in her high-school English class, just as Ellie’s teacher is assigning Pride & Prejudice. From nowhere, she hears a quiet “tsk” of disapproval aimed at the antics of the cute bad boy who has been teasing her. The author’s ghost takes it upon herself to stay in Ellie’s mind, offering up her own brand of Regency-era wisdom in regards to romance. Years and boyfriends come and go, but Ellie has a lot to learn about love. And, possibly, even Jane may benefit from a new insight or two.
5. What was your inspiration and WHY Jane Austen?
I remember the moment I first thought of the story idea: I was sitting in an RWA National Conference workshop (Dallas 2004) presented by Eloisa James. She was discussing the borrowing of classic plots from famous authors, as she’d done with Shakespeare. She asked us to think about which classical lit books we’d read and the authors whose characters and storylines we’d gravitate toward. I immediately thought of Jane Austen, of course, my all-time favorite author. Then I began asking myself questions--what would happen if a modern woman had a Pride & Prejudice-like experience? And what if Jane herself were involved in the plot somehow? Then: Oh! What if Jane could give dating advice? I thought of how much I would’ve loved for her to have shared some words of wisdom with me back when I was single… But then I pondered the idea that perhaps, Jane could be biased against someone in the same way her most famous heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, had been prejudiced against Darcy… And this premise took hold of my mind and continued developing from there.
6. Let’s talk Sam and Ellie, the main character’s in According to Jane, why stretch their love story 20 years?
This is an excellent question, Brande! I spent a lot of time mulling it over as I was writing the novel, and there are several reasons for my decision. For one, it’s because the book is about one woman’s relationship “odyssey”--and I meant that very much in the Homeric sense. Just as Odysseus had to journey on through two decades of challenges, frustrations and danger, Ellie is traveling through a modern woman’s relationship version of this before she’s able to “return home.” There may not have been the literal sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, but there were bad boyfriends, nasty schoolmates, unkind family members, etc. By narrowly avoiding one bad choice, Ellie sometimes ended up with a different but equally bad problem. She steered off course more than once and fought to survive the emotional warfare of love. There was no way for her to “get where she really wanted to go,” until she was able to do it humbly and honestly. The idea of Jane as a parallel goddess to Athena was also appealing to me J. In a much simpler, pure-storytelling sense, though, the kinds of changes that needed to take place between Ellie and Sam (and also between Ellie and her big sister) would NOT have occurred realistically in a year or two. Both of those relationship arcs needed significantly longer to develop. Even in Austen’s Persuasion, the main characters must be apart for nearly eight years before the heroine is emotionally ready to be with her hero. A woman is not the same person at 19 or 20 that she is when she’s approaching 30 and knows something more of life… In that way, too, the longer timeframe was a requirement. Additionally, there are smaller details (i.e., Sam going away to medical school), that put the romantic story on a longer time track than usual.
7. If you could cast Sam and Ellie for a movie who would play them on screen?
Ack! I never know who to choose for this! Both would have to be actors who can convincingly play a range from teen to early thirty-something. So, I think they’d have to really be in their mid-twenties. I’ve always imagined Sam to be someone like a young John Cusack--the way he was in “The Sure Thing”--smirky, clever and slowly discovering that he wanted something and someone rather different from what he’d expected. As for Ellie, an American Emma Watson-type, perhaps, with the intensity and intelligence of a Hermione, but not the confidence or outspokenness. But, if According to Jane were turned into a movie, I’d happily trust these decisions to the casting director and just enjoy the simply watching the film J.
8. Why do you think it is that Jane Austen “never goes out of style”?
I think it’s because her characterizations are unbelievably universal and timeless. She had a tremendous gift for really seeing people--the way they acted in private vs. in public, the way they revealed themselves through dialogue, the way they handled stress and insecurity. She recognized the range and depth of human behavior and was a genius at showing it to her readers. Plus, since she didn’t spend time dwelling on the specificities of clothing or the political climate, her books have an intimate feel to them. When talking about promising relationships or annoying neighbors, there is not much difference between the conversations of Austen’s time and those we could be having with friends or family today. I think that’s what keeps her work so contemporary--whether it’s read or performed in the 1800s or at any time afterward.
9. Did you draw your characters from the personalities in your life?
Some of my characters have a smattering of qualities and personality traits drawn from people I know, but I do a LOT of blending. It’s incredibly important to me to make my characters unique. To do that, I feel I need to give them a range of quirks and some very distinctive behavior/thought/speaking patterns. The real people in my life are certainly interesting, but none of us (myself included!) are entirely “fiction-worthy.” And I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to be a real-life character. I wouldn’t want to be oddly specific enough for fiction. And I sure wouldn’t want those closest to me to be riddled with the stresses and insecurities prominently featured in the secondary characters I’ve created. So, while I’ll happily pluck a trait or two from someone I know to add to the character mix I’m making, I have to do much more to any character to make him/her novel-ready than merely copy someone from my everyday life.
10. What are you currently working on?
I just finished editorial revisions on my second women’s fiction book (still untitled, but my editor and I are narrowing down ideas). It’s a modern fairytale about three suburban moms who shake up their marriages and their lives when one of them asks her friends a somewhat shocking question… I’ve also just begun drafting my third novel, which is just at the proposal stage now, but I’m excited by the possibility of it. More on that one later!
11. What was the first romance book you read and how did it effect you?Technically, it was Cinderella and the various fairytales…but I remember reading gothic romances by Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney when I was in junior high. I thought they were “mysteries” then, so I was as intent on solving the puzzle as I was on the resolution of the romantic plot. Years later, I read Jennifer Crusie’s Crazy for You and just fell in love with contemporary humorous romances. I devoured them.
12. If you were not writing, what would you be doing?
Traveling--I love to see new places in the world. I’d like to think I’d also be exercising more, but I’m afraid I use the excuse, “Oh, I can’t work out today, I’ve got to write,” a little too gleefully J. Extra time probably wouldn’t make me love the elliptical machine any more.
13. Do you use your OWN experiences?
Absolutely. There are a few of my real-life experiences peppered throughout According to Jane. However, I use far fewer of my own experiences than I do my own emotions. It’s not very important, in my opinion, that a writer live though any particular situation in order to write about it. She should be familiar with some of the corresponding emotions, though. For instance, I never went to prom in high school. But I did go to high-school dances, and I was asked to be the date of someone on the Homecoming Court in college one year. What I really knew about the prom experience was less about the details (I could make those up!) than about the emotions of a girl who might’ve felt disconnected and marginal at an event full of pomp and pretension. I think anyone who’s ever been in a room full of people and felt unbelievably alone, but still had to pretend to be having a joyous time, could channel those emotions and write from that place.
14. For you, what is the hardest part of writing a novel?
Concept, Characterization, Plotting, Writing the story, Synopsis/Query letter writing, etc. Ugh, the synopsis, especially if it has to be written in advance. I can write a fairly decent one once the book is finished, but it’s a challenge beforehand. For me, the most interesting elements of the novel emerge while actually writing the story. I wouldn’t want to be held to a book that followed my initial synopsis exactly.
15. This is your very first published work, how long did it take you to get published?
A long, long time! I started writing fiction seriously in the summer of 2000. I wrote 4 unpublished manuscripts--all complete novels--before I started work on According to Jane in 2004. After drafting and revising it, I sent it out to literary agents, and I signed with mine in July of 2006. I revised again, under her direction, and we sent the book to editors that fall. It was a Golden Heart® finalist and won my category in 2007, but it still hadn’t sold to NY. After some further editorial feedback, I restructured the book so it was no longer written in strict chronology, and my agent submitted this new version to editors. The wonderful John Scognamiglio at Kensington made us a 2-book offer just twelve days later, in April 2008. Production time was a year and a half… So, it took a full nine years after I started writing my first novel to see one published.
16. If you could work with any author who would it be?
You mean aside from Jane Austen?! In truth, as much as I respect many, many authors, I’m not a huge fan of group projects. I’m not really tempted to write a book WITH anyone. However, I’d be delighted to collaborate on an anthology where each of us had one of three or four stories with a related theme. That could be really enjoyable. I love women’s fiction/romance authors like Sue Miller, Elizabeth Berg, Anne Tyler, Laurie Viera Rigler, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Maria Geraci and Pamela Redmond Satran so, if I were ever fortunate enough to have my stories share an anthology with any of theirs, I’d be thrilled.
17. If you could ask readers any one question, what would it be?What was the most memorable scene you’ve ever read in a book and why did it stick with you?
Thanks again for having me here today! It was very exciting to get to visit Book Junkie!!
The lastest news can be found on Marilyn's Site or her Blog..... so head on over and check it out!!
GIVEAWAY!!!
For a Signed ARC of According to Jane by Marilyn Brant ....
+1 Entery for Answering Marilyn's Question
+3 For being a follower/becoming a follower
+5 For Blogging/Tweet/Facebook/Myspace about this contest
***winner gets the ARC PLUS Marilyn has graciously included 3-pack of the new Starbucks VIA Ready Brew coffee ***
*Winner Chosen Sept 25th*
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35 comments:
What a wonderful interview and I must say the premise of the book has me thoroughly intrigued! I have to say the most memorable book scene for me is from the book, The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough. When Meg is basically telling Ralph he has to choose between her and God..what an emotional scene.
September 16, 2009 1:55 PMBest of luck Marilyn with your next novel! I can't wait to read According to Jane :)
I'm already a follower :)
wendyhines (at) hotmail (dot) com
Great interview!! I love the premise of According to Jane..how cute!
September 16, 2009 2:53 PMGreat interview! I've had my eye on this book, it looks like a terrific story.
September 16, 2009 2:55 PM+1 One of my all-time favorite scenes is in P&P when Elizabeth refuses Mr. Darcy's offer of marriage. It's very moving.
+3 I'm a follower.
+5 if pimping your contest on my sidebar counts!
http://sleeplessinneworleans2.blogspot.com/
Kudos to Marilyn Brant for a great interview! I saw this book on Library Thing and have been hankering for it ever since! It sounds absolutely wonderful and is on my TBR list.
September 16, 2009 2:57 PMAs far as the most memorable scene, the one that sticks in my mind right now is the scene were "I" DeWinter finds out that Maxim killed Rebecca in a rage and made it look like a boating accident. I think it sticks in my mind because it's sudden, you don't see it coming and it changes the story dramatically. Really, a perfect piece of gothic mystery romance (the book in general).
I would love to win this book. I am already a follower and I posted a link to this giveaway on my blog (www.psychoticstate.blogspot.com)
Thanks for the opportunity!
Oh, and the scene I mentioned is from "Rebecca" by Daphne DuMaurier. Sorry - - I got carried away and forgot to cite my source!
September 16, 2009 2:58 PMGreat interview and the book sounds very interesting. Please count me in - I'm a follower and I've posted about this giveaway on my blog
September 16, 2009 3:38 PMPlease enter me
September 16, 2009 4:47 PM+3 For being a follower
:) Erica
thebookcellar@wi.rr.com
Great interview, and thanks for stopping by!! After reading the summary, I was immediately hooked!
September 16, 2009 5:08 PM+1 A scene that stuck with me.. I would say a scene from "Night Play" by Sherrilyn Kenyon, where Bride starts crying because Vane is being so nice to her, and he doesn't know what to do, so he tries wiping her tears away, only to accidentally poke her in the eye. I just can't get over how sweet, though that last bit sounds a little painful. He's unsure and confused himself, but his first instinct is to make her feel better.
+3 Being a follower
Thanks!
Morning Glow
ohmorningglow AT aol DOT com
I have read so many great scenes, I can't pick just one.
September 16, 2009 5:35 PMI am a follower.
I absolutely cannot wait for this book to come out. Any character who could be played by John Cusack had me at hello. And Marilyn, I'm absolutely thrilled that you'd include me in that fabulous list of authors. I'm smiling. Really I am:)
September 16, 2009 8:19 PMBrande~what a lovely group of people have visited here today already! Thanks to all of you :).
September 16, 2009 8:40 PMWendy~I *loved* The Thorn Birds and remember that scene well--wow! It was such a powerful book and film, wasn't it?
Mandi~glad you like the premise!
Patti~well, you won't hear me arguing against *any* scene in P&P!! I have so, so many favorites from that novel...Jane was a genius.
Lori~I knew the book you were talking about ;). Rebecca is such a great gothic, isn't it? And when a big mystery award (the Daphne) is named after the author, that confirms it! Thanks for reminding me of that scene.
host~so glad you enjoyed the interview :).
Erica and Estella~thanks so much to both of you for stopping by!
Morning Glow~I haven't yet read this one by Kenyon, but you've made me want to! I remember how much I enjoyed Fantasy Lover...mmm!
Maria~*mwah* You know I love ya! (And apparently we both love John C.--though I called him first. ;)
That was a great interview! Your book sounds so good!
September 16, 2009 8:47 PMTo answer your question, one scene that sticks in my head is from Jodi Picoult's Handle With Care. The little girl, Willow, has brittle bone syndrome (there is a more medically correct name, but there is no way I could spell it right), and her mom is always worried about her getting hurt and limits her activities. Willow really wants to go ice skating and her mom knows that she would really hurt herself if she did, so she came up with a way to do it safely. She put her in a chair and got her out on the ice and pushed her around. If I remember right, Willow's mom said she was "lowering her fences" to let Willow have some fun.
My daughter has dilated cardiomyopathy, which means her heart is really enlarged. I have to limit her activities, especially since she is only 3...and that really hit home with me. Making it fun for the kids and finding a way to do it to keep yourself comfortable.
So that is my scene :)
Oh, I am a follower too! +3
Thanks!
Amy M
great interview
September 16, 2009 9:00 PM+3 follower
throuthehaze at gmail dot com
+1 One of my favorite books scenes occurred at the end of Jonathan Stroud's The Ptolemy Gate. The MC is dying but he also has a demon bound inside him to give him more power in order to stop the villain. The MC and the demon have had a turbulent relationship for the last two books and for the MC to finally set the demon free just before he died brought a tear to my eye.
September 16, 2009 11:00 PM+3 Already a follower.
lesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com
Wow, what an awesome interview ladies!! Wonderful! Very great Q&A!
September 16, 2009 11:31 PMI have posted this one up on my side bar as well...
www.alliwantandmore.blogspot.com
You know I am a follower (stalker) of yours!
Amy~I've read Jodi Picoult before and really enjoyed her work, although I haven't yet read this novel. I will now. The scene you described was so touching, and I can really understand how you could relate to what was happening there. It's really amazing this love we feel as parents, isn't it? I don't think humans are ever more creative than when we're trying to do something to help those we love. Thanks so much for sharing your story :).
September 17, 2009 8:40 PMthrouthehaze~thank you for visiting!
Llehn~thanks for the book recommendation! I've never read Jonathan Stroud, but the scene you described sounds really powerful. I'll have to check him out.
Cecile~I'm really glad you enjoyed the interview :).
OMG! I worked with Marilyn at a public library! *waves to Marilyn* I knew she had won one of the RITAs, but it's crazy to see her book on the blogosphere nonetheless!
September 17, 2009 10:35 PMWow, I was just browsing through google reader and saw her picture and was like OMG I worked with her! For three years!
So hi to Marilyn! ANd just wow! You're a star my friend. :-D
-Kristen N.
bittahsweetharmony@yahoo.com
Kristen!! Hey, there, bride-to-be :). Nice to see in the Blogosphere! And, btw, while I'm HOPING I'll win a RITA one day, my novel wasn't published at the time I won the award (it was the Golden Heart). This coming year is the first time I'm eligible to enter the RITAs, so I have my fingers crossed... Hope we'll run into each other at the library soon or, perhaps, another parade--LOL!
September 18, 2009 12:54 PMI read so many books but the most memorable scene that I recall was at the end ofone of Janet Evanovich's books when Stephanie opens the door and whoever is standing there says soemthing like "Nice outfit babe. Now take it off" and we don't get to see if it was Morelli or Ranger.
September 18, 2009 3:50 PMJWIsley(at)aol(dot)com
I would like to be entered and great meeting Marilyn Brant here!
September 18, 2009 5:25 PM+3 - Follower!
+1 - I just finished reading Anne Gracie's His Captive lady and the last scene is memorable. Harry has protected Nell and recovered her baby... and on their wedding night, it finally felt right to tell her he loves her.
"Tell me what?" She knew, but she ached to hear it for so long...
"That I love you. That you are my heart and my life." He wrapped his arms around and pulled her hard against him.... "I love you... Don't ever leave me."
delilah0180(at)yahoo(dot)com
What a fascinating interview. It's always so exciting to hear what an author's process is.
September 18, 2009 7:30 PMCongratulations on what sounds like a wonderful book, Marilyn. May it be a huge success! And thank you for including me in your dream anthology--I am truly honored!
As for my favorite scene: I would have to say the conversation that Anne Elliot has in PERSUASION with Captain Harville, which inspires Captain Wentworth to write The Letter, and Anne's reading of the letter itself. Anne's words sum up all that she believes, feels, has suffered, and how compassionate and warm she is. And Wentworth's letter is the answer to all of her prayers. And ours. How can anyone not believe in second chances after reading this scene?
Thanks again for a wonderful interview!
Anonymous/JWIsley~OMG, yes!!! That moment had me hooked on Evanovich for life! And I was actually very fortunate in the sense that I hadn't discovered the Stephanie Plum series until a month before To the Nines was about to be released. I was devouring the prior books one by one, and I reached the end of the High Five, with that scene you mentioned, and had to wait until *the next day* to get Hot Six. The wait almost killed me! I can't imagine what it must've been like for those readers who had to wait a YEAR to find out what had happened!
September 19, 2009 12:11 PMetirv~What a lovely scene--thanks for sharing it. I haven't read this author yet, so thank you for introducing me to her :). I'll try to find the book!
Laurie~How wonderful to see you here! And, yes, I agree with you on that scene in Persuasion--I think it's my favorite one in the whole book. Plus, it's so powerful when translated to film, too. I've loved watching it in every adaptation...
This was a great interview.
September 19, 2009 12:23 PMThere are 3 scenes in Voyager by Diana Gabaldon which I'll always remember.
1 - When Jamie sees Claire for the first time in 20 years and FAINTS!
2 - When Fergus sees Claire for the first time in 20 years and grabs her around the knees.
3 - The very last line in Voyager...
"And this is Claire," he said. "My wife."
Sorry for the long post!
Thanks,
Tracey
I'm a follower.
booklover0226 AT gmail DOT com
No need to add me to the giveaway, as I have already read According to Jane. I just wanted to drop in and rave about the book for a second. You won't be disappointed when you read this one. Here are my thoughts after I finished it.
September 20, 2009 1:11 PMhttp://myeclecticreads.blogspot.com/2009/09/thoughts-on-marilyn-brant-according-to.html
Kudos to Marilyn! Much success!
Kimm from Oregon
booklover/Tracey~Okay, I *have* to read Diana Gabaldon! One of my critique partners has raved about this author for years and I've always meant to read her work but just hadn't gotten to it yet. I must, though. This sounds so good...
September 20, 2009 4:54 PMKimm~Oh, thank you!!! Reading your comments on the book was such a delight. I can't tell you how much I appreciated them :).
Would LOVE to read this one...thanks.
September 21, 2009 4:30 PMkaren k
kmkuka(at)yahoo(dot)com
I would love to read this book!
September 22, 2009 1:32 PM+5 Tweeted: http://twitter.com/bunnyb/status/4176920841
Thanks!
bunnybx at gmail . com
I don't remember the name of the book, Catherine Anderson was the author, The hero was falling for the heroine in the book who was in a wheel chair and they happened to meet at a dance, although she thought she could not dance. He picked her up outside the dance where no one could see and danced her around and around and around with her feet flying and she was exstactic. dancealert at aol dot com
September 22, 2009 9:16 PMI'm a follower on google reader!
September 22, 2009 9:18 PMdancealert at aol dot com
Karen K and Bunny B~thanks to you both for stopping by!
September 22, 2009 9:39 PMBrenda~I can see why you'd remember a scene like that...I would've loved it, too! Thanks for sharing it ;).
What was my most memorable scene? I think it was when Jamie sent Claire back thru the stones in Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon. I cried like a baby.
September 23, 2009 11:06 PM+1 Answered Question
+3 I'm a follower
Thank you for the giveaway!!
Mitzi.
The most memorable
September 24, 2009 1:41 AMThe last line in Voyager
This is Claire my wife
Mystica
mystica123athotmaildotcom
Oh, wow! Two more votes for books by Diana Gabaldon--I'm *really* looking forward to reading her! Thanks, Mitzi and Mystica, for visiting and sharing those scenes ;).
September 24, 2009 2:52 PMhmmm the scene that seems to stick in my head is from Good Omens when Adam is filled with the power to rule the world and he drops everything in a second when he realizes he tried to control his friends.
September 24, 2009 4:41 PMMoncoleman (at) gmail.com
Oooh, MoSher, that sounds like a compelling story--and an intense one! I haven't yet read this book, but you've got me intrigued. Thank you :).
September 25, 2009 8:24 PMPost a Comment