Mad Max Makes Her Debut

Last night, April 16, Mad Max made her official international debut at the Westlake Library where I live at Smith Mountain Lake. Her story is told in Mad Max Unintended Consequences. Our local library is a community center for local writers. Our head librarian, Joesephine Clark, and the Friends of the Library hospitality committee, John and Shirley Yates, made more than 35 people welcome. Thanks to everyone who came out. I'm humbled by your support.

As Mad Max's interpreter, I planned to talk a bit about how she came into being, read a few sections, and answer questions. I knew most of the people in the audience, the benefit of being in two local writers groups and the state-wide writers club, as well as being director of communications for the local arts council. Never hurts to have a platform when you're ready to launch a book.

It helped to have props. This funny little stuffed animal, Puss in Boots, was a gift from my grandmother on my first birthday. Yes, I kept it. So does Max...

I did my reading and threw the floor open to the audience. One of the first questions was about how Max came to be Max. Honest, I didn't plant it. Really I didn't.

Max was never supposed to be the main character. She was supposed to be a secondary character, part of a Greek chorus, if you will. One night in the eighth or ninth draft I woke up about four in the morning. I felt hands around my throat. A voice in my head shouted, "It's my story, damn it. Tell it my way." Okay, then. Can't argue with a pissed off voice in the head.

I recast the novel to be from Max's perspective. I gave her both meanings of the word mad. She is angry when her daughter stops being a mother to her children. She is madcap when her grandchildren need to laugh and be kids. And she is conflicted about the new role she is being asked to play in the family.

Even though her son-in-law is in the picture as a father, he's never been a hands-on father. He's always traveled for his work. Max has to decide if she's going to step back into a role of child rearing or not.

We talked about the major themes in the book: 

• What happens in a family when one parent suffers a brain injury and her personality changes?
• What would you do if you found yourself faced with raising children after you thought you were done?
• What steps would you take to protect your grandchildren from evil?
• How far would you go to seek justice in what seems like an unjust legal system?

We had many more questions, but those were the tops. Of course, writers wanted to know how many words I write/edit/polish each day (about 1000 polished, from 2500 to 5000 when writing very crappy first draft), if a sequel is in the works (the second manuscript is due to my agent, Dawn Dowdle, at Blue Ridge Literary Agency in June), and who would I see playing Mad Max in a movie or on television (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Afterwards, I signed books while my dear husband and business manager, Terry Naylor, handled the money.

At last we had cake. A word about the cake. Friends from the west coast donated it, since they couldn't come. Look closely. The first word is "imlroducing" instead of "introducing." Not as bad as the flub on my friend Alan Orloff's launch cake. His read "Deadly Camping" instead of "Deadly Campaign." Oh well, at least the decorator used cursive...

Reading and Writing

I devoted a lot of time over the Thanksgiving weekend to reading and writing. I was coming down with a cold, so I got really sluggish at times. So what did I read and what did I write?

I read Charles Shields's bio of Kurt Vonnegut. It's terrific, the kind of bio that keeps you turning pages because it's so damned well written. And Kurt Vonnegut was a strange bird. Shields doesn't pull any punches about what a screw-up Vonnegut was at times. Well worth the time to learn about a great writer who wasn't afraid to break new ground.

What else did I read? This answer is all about me. I blew cyberdust of a manuscript I wrote several years ago. It's a coming-of-age trilogy about a circle of women. The first book is about growing up in a Leave It To Beaver town in Northern California as the fifties transitioned into the sixties. The second is about getting out of that town, college at Berkeley during the turbulent sixties. And the final book follows the women into marriage, motherhood and careers. All fraught with personal conflict set against a time of major transition in our country's history.

I got through the first 200,200 words, or about the first two books. After several years of not looking at the manuscript, I was surprised at how well I told the story.

And therein lies the problem. The story is told. I now have to redo it completely and let the characters and action show the story. Writers will understand what I mean. A monumental task, but there is no deadline on it. Yet.

And yes, I did write as well. I began a first-person thriller about a serial killer. Lots of them on the market, but this will have a different presentation and therefore a different twist. I've invited about a dozen people to join a closed Facebook group to help shape the novel. Now, that should be an experience.

I'll keep you posted on progress on both stories.

Reading and Signing

Sally Roseveare had a wonderful turnout at the Westlake library last night and sold ten books. She read sections of both of her Smith Mountain Lake mysteries, told hysterical stories about doing reseach on stuffing a man into a porta-potty (No, it really can't be done), talked about how she names and creates her characters and answered a host of thoughtful and well-informed questions. Check her web site for signings and readings. Take it from me: her books make great Christmas presents, particularly when she personalizes her signature. Don't miss out.