The Test of Time,

 But That Was Yesterday

by Kathleen Eagle

The popularity of e-books has given multi-published authors the chance to offer their best previously-published books to readers in a medium that wasn’t available when the book first came out. Wow! It’s a whole new century, new millennium, new technology . . .

But is it a new ball game? Readers tell me that they love the portability, the convenience of storing a whole library in a gadget that fits in a pocket or purse. I celebrate the chance to make improvements before the book goes into the gadget.

Every writer who’s experienced the thrill of getting that box in the mail knows the feeling. The box contains the story she’s lived with for months in physical book form. She’s poured sweat and tears into this baby. Blood? Metaphorically, maybe. But definitely sweat and tears. Writing is hard work. And here’s the reward. It’s a real book. She takes a copy out of the box, pets the cover as if it might return her affection at last with some kind of contented sound, turns back the cover, and joins in the act of conjuring up images from the words on the page.

Wait a minute. Did I write that? I love it. I can’t believe it came from me. It has its own life. It belongs to readers now. It’s on its own. And it’s good. It draws me in. It’s as if . . .

Wait a minute. Did I write that? Can I grab it back one more time and change a few words? Right here, it’s just one sentence too many. Or too few. I can do better.

So the e-book—the whole new medium—that’s my chance. I’ve written many books since I finished But That Was Yesterday, and even though I won praise and awards for the book years ago, I know I’m technically a much better writer now. Am I a better storyteller?

I write from character, and I love the characters in this story. Sage Parker still breaks my heart and then puts the pieces back together. I love the story—the setting, the plot, the themes—all still there. I remember doing the research on how to build roads—Sage’s job. The wonderful friend who worked for the ND Department Of Transportation has since passed away, but the inspiration he gave me lives on in a book that I’ve revised more for style than for story. I didn’t change the setting. Every story is a moment in some time, lives lived in some place.

When the storyteller brings the audience to that time and place, the game isn’t new. It’s timeless.

But That Was Yesterday is on sale for $1.99 until January 31st!

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WHY I LOVE CHICK LIT

BY LIA ROMEO

I love chick lit.  I’m a smart girl – I’ve got my degree in comparative lit from Princeton and I’ve read my Derrida – but I’ll take Jennifer Weiner (also a Princeton alum!) any day.  Here’s why:

1.  It’s relevant.

I’m a young woman living in and writing about the 21^st century.  As such, while I absolutely think it’s important to use fiction to experience the lives and concerns of people who are completely different from me, I’m also going to devote a portion of my (all too limited) reading time to reading about people who are in a similar position, and thinking about the ways that their experience of the world might inform my own – and my writing.

2.It’s escapist.

Sometimes we just need to read something fun – and for me, it’s chick lit.  In chick lit novels, bad dates aren’t a pointless waste of time, they’re a way for the heroine to realize what she really wants.  Jobs aren’t tedious and boring, they’re full of fun anecdotes and entertaining coworkers.  And everything usually turns out okay in the end.  When I first decided to write a novel, I’d just gone through a bad breakup and moved out of the place I’d shared with my boyfriend, and I was living in a dirty apartment with two strangers, one of whom turned out to (literally) be a psychopath.  I needed a way to “get away,” and writing chick lit turned out to be perfect.

3.It’s conventional.

Okay, so this sounds more like it ought to be a criticism … but I find that working within conventions – or reading something that does – can actually spark creativity instead of stifling it.  I’ve always been fascinated by variations on a theme – it’s why I love the architecture of churches – they’re all created for the same basic purpose, and have certain similarities, but each one also executes that purpose in such a unique way.  I feel the same way about books within a particular genre – like chick lit.  When they’re badly done, it can feel like they’re just telling the same old tired stories over and over, but when they’re well done, I love seeing the unique spin that different authors put on the same conventions.  When I decided to try writing a chick lit novel, the first thing I thought about was how I could take the conventions of the genre and work with them in an original way.