Stella reports: It was a dark and stormy morning and all through the Library not a creature was stirring . . . Who stirs when Jayne speaks?
This morning I dragged myself to Redmond Regional Library, something I wouldn’t even have considered after only three hours of sleep unless Jayne Ann Krentz had threatened to cut off my lattes if I didn't.
On the way there, downed power lines decorated the highways, bridges were closed, traffic lights–all lights–were out, rain slashed, wind howled and it was dark indeed.
I’ll be honest here, the library wasn’t all that quiet when I got there, grumped over to get some tea (kindly supplied by Seattle RWA), and huddled in a seat. But, boy did it get silent when Jayne started telling it like it is. She’s good at that. Straight from the shoulder. No punches pulled.
Jayne gave a speech, primarily on popular fiction, and took questions. I've picked out a couple of the really sprightly discussions.
Q: Why doesn't popular fiction get respect?
Jayne:
For 150 years critics have been trying to kill off genre fiction--particularly romance. A possible reason is that these are stories written mostly by women, mostly for women.
Literary fiction had its beginnings in the 20th century and was heavily influenced by existential philosophy, Freudian psychology and Marxist social thinking. These forces are waning but still strong today.
Pop fiction has roots that go much further back to old heroic traditions of storytelling. Here honor matters, and courage, a belief in love, and determination. These qualities are the bedrock of our civilization and we go to such stories to reaffirm our beliefs.
Literary fiction doesn't have to resolve problems.
In popular fiction we expect issues to be resolved using core values.
Whew, enough of the fancy stuff. I also enjoyed hearing a question dear to the hearts of most writers struggling to be published.
Q: We hear about the huge slush piles in editorial offices. How can we try to get a manuscript out of those piles and read?
Jayne:
Executive editors, senior editors, editors and other really important people are so busy keeping up that they don't have a lot of time to spend on unsolicited material. In publishing, everyone serves an appreticeship and works to get noticed. For assistant editors and editorial assistants the slush pile has potential. They dive in and rummage around hoping to discover a golden submission with career building potential for them.
Find out the names of these people and submit to them. A call to the house, just to check on a title and the correct spelling of a name never hurts.
Listening to Jayne and watching an enthusiastic audience was worth the terrible inconveniences I suffered, including having to eat a cheese and spinach quiche in a warm little cafe afterward.
REDMOND REGIONAL LIBRARY
Librarians: Dan Shaffer, (Stella and Jayne,) Kim Pollow, Michele Drovdahl, Deborah Schneider, Andy McClung
Were you a "library kid?" Are you a "library grown-up?" What is your fondest "library" memory?
On the way there, downed power lines decorated the highways, bridges were closed, traffic lights–all lights–were out, rain slashed, wind howled and it was dark indeed.
I’ll be honest here, the library wasn’t all that quiet when I got there, grumped over to get some tea (kindly supplied by Seattle RWA), and huddled in a seat. But, boy did it get silent when Jayne started telling it like it is. She’s good at that. Straight from the shoulder. No punches pulled.
Jayne gave a speech, primarily on popular fiction, and took questions. I've picked out a couple of the really sprightly discussions.
Q: Why doesn't popular fiction get respect?
Jayne:
For 150 years critics have been trying to kill off genre fiction--particularly romance. A possible reason is that these are stories written mostly by women, mostly for women.
Literary fiction had its beginnings in the 20th century and was heavily influenced by existential philosophy, Freudian psychology and Marxist social thinking. These forces are waning but still strong today.
Pop fiction has roots that go much further back to old heroic traditions of storytelling. Here honor matters, and courage, a belief in love, and determination. These qualities are the bedrock of our civilization and we go to such stories to reaffirm our beliefs.
Literary fiction doesn't have to resolve problems.
In popular fiction we expect issues to be resolved using core values.
Whew, enough of the fancy stuff. I also enjoyed hearing a question dear to the hearts of most writers struggling to be published.
Q: We hear about the huge slush piles in editorial offices. How can we try to get a manuscript out of those piles and read?
Jayne:
Executive editors, senior editors, editors and other really important people are so busy keeping up that they don't have a lot of time to spend on unsolicited material. In publishing, everyone serves an appreticeship and works to get noticed. For assistant editors and editorial assistants the slush pile has potential. They dive in and rummage around hoping to discover a golden submission with career building potential for them.
Find out the names of these people and submit to them. A call to the house, just to check on a title and the correct spelling of a name never hurts.
Listening to Jayne and watching an enthusiastic audience was worth the terrible inconveniences I suffered, including having to eat a cheese and spinach quiche in a warm little cafe afterward.
REDMOND REGIONAL LIBRARY
Librarians: Dan Shaffer, (Stella and Jayne,) Kim Pollow, Michele Drovdahl, Deborah Schneider, Andy McClung
Were you a "library kid?" Are you a "library grown-up?" What is your fondest "library" memory?
posted at 7:55 PM
