The Next Big Thing is an author's Work In Progress project from SheWrites. When I read Jeri Walker-Bickett’s blog last week, I immediately thought what fantastic questions for any author to ask themselves. So I was thrilled that afternoon, when Jeri emailed, and invited me to participate. A Big Thank You to Jeri.What is the working title of your book?‘Under The Bed’. It comes from the phrase ‘Red’s Under the Bed’, used in 1950’s America.Where did the idea come from for the book?I was set to write the sequel to my first book Radio Echo, catching up with the characters a few years after the end of WWII, but I decided to spread my wings as a writer, switched countries and found a completely different voice. The 50’s anti-Communist era in America struck a chord with me as part of the backdrop. In doing my research and seeing how widespread the effect of McCarthyism was, I didn’t want to focus on the more publicized Hollywood Blacklist, so decided to move cross country and settle my characters in New York. 
What genre does your book fall under?Literary fiction. Specifically mid-Century historical literary fiction. Set in both the early 50's and late 60's, makes it a tricky time frame, as some camps argue historical fiction has to be 50 years in the past. Other’s say it can be considered historical fiction if the time period - and its depiction - is at the core of the story. I think if the work involves major political or social events of the time and the character’s role in those events are interlinked, it’s historical.Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?I'll let the two main characters in the novel comment on this.Midge: “I know Izzie said I was a pissy mess the other week, but I'm trying darling, I really am. Putting on a few pounds wasn't a crime the last time I looked, but pudgy is such an ugly word. And these Chanel suits don’t buy themselves. I was a very successful business woman before the shit hit the fan. Life Magazine was always doing some article on Boswell Designs. Seems a lifetime ago now... like someone else’s life.... Er,... where was I? Oh yes... The actress would have to play a younger me as well wouldn't she? To do both roles justice, I think Sharon Stone would be marvelous. She’s got the same coloring too, don’t you think?”Izzie: “Do you think I give a shit who plays me in the film? How hard can it be to write some crap poetry, and take a few lousy photo’s in the East Village? [Takes a hit on a joint]. OK, fine. So I do care. I bet that skinny-assed Girl With a Dragon Tattoo actress would could make a stab at being me. Yeah, Rooney Mara. She’d be good.”What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?Two women, a generation apart, each burdened by guilt regarding the death of a sibling, find their own lives in danger during the Vietnam era, when the older woman’s brush with McCarthyism emerges during their collaboration on her autobiography. 
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?I will definitely look for an agent to represent me.How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 11 months. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?I obviously wouldn't dream of comparing myself to these authors, but I have certainly been inspired by them. These came to mind, each for different aspects of their content.Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. This is one of my favorite novels and spans the narrators lifetime, who is in her 80's as she is writing.The novel pays particular attention to the pre & post WWII years, but goes far beyond that in encapsulating a number of different story lines as well as time lines.Toby's Room by Pat Barker. Well know for her incredible "Regeneration Trilogy" , this is a sequence to Life Class, though it's also a stand alone novel. Set during WWI, the novel is as much about the interpersonal relationships as it is about the era. However, the two are interchangeable and it is the societal times of the era on the life of the individual that, for me is the real correlation between this and Under the Bed.The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. This is mid 20th century fiction, set during WWII. But Waters deals with the time frame in a very interesting way as she goes from finish to start. Who or What inspired you to write this book?After a friend told me about growing up with parents who were in the Communist Party in the UK, and what it was like as a teenager in the sixties to have your phone bugged, it made me think about the invasion of people’s privacy and what effect it has on them. Since 9/11 the invasion of privacy has became almost an accepted ‘right’ by Western governments in the quest to protect our freedom. CCTV tracks us constantly and emails are tagged continuously in the fight against terrorism. I questioned the end justifying the means. Eventually I decided to follow how anti-communist fervour has moulded certain key elements of American history, and chose to juxtapose the eras of the Vietnam War and McCarthyism, with 1969 being 'present day'.What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?The novel blends the struggle of the individual with that of the bigger picture of the political events of the time. Can we as both individuals or as nations, learn from our past? I believe we can, and yet, as we know, history repeats itself. ‘Under the Bed’ explores how an individual’s lack of control over their fate can be in the hands of the government, even a generation apart. But ultimately the fight for survival and coming to terms with past mistakes is up to the individual.
Here are the authors I’ve tagged for the project. Check out their websites and you'll be able see their interviews posted there next week.Claire CappettaDoreen PendgracsHemmie MartinSusan CooperBridget WhelanSally O’Reilly I’d love your feedback on the interview, so do leave a comment below. Or post this blog to your favourite social media.Connect with me on: -Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/artyyah/Twitter: @artyyahLike my Facebook page : http://facebook.com/akandrewwriterFor regular updates of my blog: Subscribe Here
Want to Change The Use of Space in Your Home?
How do you use your home?Is it somewhere you dash in and out of between work, or a place you like to spend as much time as possible? I was attracted to this film of the Eames house after watching the London Olympics opening ceremony where the house in the center of the stadium was used for a montage of British music. It made sense, as the home is where so much happens when we're growing up. But how we use our homes has changed in recent decades. For myself, I no longer go out to work and spend a lot of time at home. I write at home, though I also write in a notebook in odd places outside, whether catching snippets of an idea or small sections of a scene.httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv7ipQdUrYkLive and WorkMany people now use at least part of where they live as a home office. They might even run a business from their home. For most of us that means being creative. Can you use a cupboard or an alcove for your computer? Are grown up children willing to share a painting studio when they come and visit? Rooms in houses do not need to be static. Most of us don't have the freedom of space the Eames had, but when did you last try and think how to rearrange your living space to satisfy your current needs?I loved the fact that the Eames used the house to work as well as live. Their passion was clearly integral in their lives. What struck me about this film is the exploration of beauty in small things - a leaf, a chair spindle, a flower - as well as the modern design of the Eames. We see the change of the seasons, a symbol of the changes of life itself. Sometimes change can mean small touches that make all the difference.The Eames House, built in 1949, is a landmark of mid 20th century architecture. It was designed by the husband and wife design pioneers Charles and Ray Eames. It's construction was part of a project launched by Arts & Architecture Magazine in response to the need for housing following WWII.If you don't watch the whole film, dip in and out at the amazingly beautiful images. I particularly loved the way they invite the outside nature inside with the shadows of the trees. The beautiful play of shadows is prevalent throughout the film.How has the use in your home changed? What "use of space" changes would you like to make in the future? http://eamesfoundation.org/Details of the house and it's design:http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/case.houses/pdf01/08.pdfFilm by: http://pyramidmedia.com
#Dorothy Parker On Fiction
In researching the 1950’s for my novel ‘Under the Bed’ , Dorothy Parker's name came up as one of the Hollywood writers black-listed. It is also 45 years ago this week since her death.Dorothy Parker was renowned for her wit, being a keen critic, her poetry, short stories, plays and her left wing politics. When she died of a heart attack in 1967, her estate was left to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. foundation. Following King's death, her estate was passed on to the NAACP. In 1988 the NAACP dedicated a memorial garden to her in Baltimore and erected a plaque. She’d suggested her tombstone should read ‘Excuse my dust’. They didn't argue. But first, let’s have some fun and see if you can complete three of Parker’s famous quotes. No.1 is my favorite and was the name of the lunchtime theatre play in London where the wit of Dorothy Parker finally came into my life, a decade after her death. Answers are at the bottom of this post!
- Men seldom make passes,
At girls…………………..2. Guns aren’t lawful;Nooses give;Gas smell awful;You…………………….3. You can lead a whore to culture,But ……………………… The following is taken from a Paris Review interview she gave in 1956, on the Art of Fiction.* If you're not already familiar with them, the archives of Paris Review have some incredible interviews of literary figures - thoroughly enjoyable and a fantastic writer's resource.On how she started writing:
“I fell into writing, I suppose, being one of those awful children who wrote verses. I went to a convent in New York—the Blessed Sacrament. Convents do the same things progressive schools do, only they don’t know it. They don’t teach you how to read; you have to find out for yourself. At my convent we did have a textbook, one that devoted a page and a half to Adelaide Ann Proctor; but we couldn’t read Dickens; he was vulgar, you know. … But as for helping me in the outside world, the convent taught me only that if you spit on a pencil eraser it will erase ink. And I remember the smell of oilcloth, the smell of nuns’ garb. I was fired from there, finally, for a lot of things, among them my insistence that the Immaculate Conception was spontaneous combustion.”
On whether her reputation as a wit interfered with her acceptance as a fiction writer:
“I don’t want to be classed as a humorist. It makes me feel guilty. I’ve never read a good tough quotable female humorist, and I never was one myself. I couldn’t do it. A “smartcracker” they called me, and that makes me sick and unhappy. There’s a hell of a distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words. I didn’t mind so much when they were good, but for a long time anything that was called a crack was attributed to me—and then they got the shaggy dogs.
On contemporary writers:
“…as for living novelists, I suppose E. M. Forster is the best, … at least he’s a semifinalist, wouldn’t you think? … He once wrote something I’ve always remembered: “It has never happened to me that I’ve had to choose between betraying a friend and betraying my country, but if it ever does so happen I hope I have the guts to betray my country.” Now doesn’t that make the Fifth Amendment look like a bum?
On her own writing practice:
“It takes me six months to do a story. I think it out and then write it sentence by sentence—no first draft. I can’t write five words but that I change seven.
On whether her political views made any difference to her professionally?
“Oh, certainly. Though I don’t think this “blacklist” business extends to the theater or certain of the magazines, in Hollywood it exists because several gentlemen felt it best to drop names like marbles which bounced back like rubber balls about people they’d seen in the company of what they charmingly called “commies.” You can’t go back thirty years to Sacco and Vanzetti. I won’t do it. Well, well, well, that’s the way it is. If all this means something to the good of the movies, I don’t know what it is. Sam Goldwyn said, “How’m I gonna do decent pictures when all my good writers are in jail?” Then he added, the infallible Goldwyn, “Don’t misunderstand me, they all ought to be hung.” Mr. Goldwyn didn’t know about “hanged.” That’s all there is to say. It’s not the tragedies that kill us, it’s the messes. I can’t stand messes. I’m not being a smartcracker. You know I’m not when you meet me—don’t you, honey?
If Dorothy Parker was alive today, what issues do you think she'd be writing about? 
*From Dorothy Parker, The Art of fiction No 13,Interviewed by Marion CampionTo read this interview in full, go to:http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4933/the-art-of-fiction-no-13-dorothy-parker Endings of Dorothy Parker quotes above:1.At girls who wear glasses. 2. You might as well live. 3. But you can’t make her think.
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Related articles Time and Place: 1950?s USA (akandrew.com)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Parkerhttp://onetrackmuse.com/2012/06/11/a-year-in-booksday-154-the-portable-dorothy-parker/#more-3123http://www.npr.org/2012/06/07/154148811/how-dorothy-parker-came-to-rest-in-baltimorehttp://www.dorothyparker.com/wordpress/
Time and Place: 1950's USA
I’ve recently finished the first draft of my second novel, “Under the Bed”. It's set in New York in both 1969 and 1952. Time and place are integral to the story; the commonality between the two eras is anti-communism in the USA. I’ll only deal with the 1950’s in this blog.“McCarthyism”, which was at the heart of the anti-communist movement, started in the late forties. You may be aware of the havoc and horror the Hollywood blacklist had on the lives of actors and screenwriters, many of whom were banned from writing or acting. Their careers, and often their entire lives were left in shambles. A number also went to jail. Dashiell Hammett is one of the more famous names of people who served time. He died a year after his release. Lillian Hellman, was also brought before by the House Un-American Activities Committee - HUAC. She took a landmark stand, later known as the 'Diminished Fifth', in which she was willing to talk about her own activities but refused to talk of others .Paul Robeson and Charlie Chaplin were also victims of the HUAC. Chaplin, who was born in England, was refused re-entry into the USA in 1952, and ultimately never returned to America. Paul Robeson’s passport was confiscated, leaving him unable to work abroad – he was already blacklisted from working in America. His career as a singer and his International Human Rights advocacy work were severely curtailed. 
Influence of the House Un-American Activities Committee, reached far beyond Hollywood into many professions, including those in public service. University professors and elementary schoolteachers were asked to sign an oath swearing that they were not, nor ever had been a member of the Communist Party. Those who refused, which many did on principle, lost their jobs.All serious stuff - but in researching the period, I came across some hilarious footage from the public service announcement of the ‘Duck and Cover Campaign’ that told people, and especially schoolchildren, what to do in the case of a nuclear attack – “Why, duck and cover of course!”.httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89od_W8lMtAIts simplicity might seem ludicrous to us now - perhaps it did to many people at the time - but it gives us a certain insight into an era of fear, tinged with naïveté , in the USA of the 1950's.I love the whole idea of exploring different time and place in writing. They're usually the two challenges I first set myself when I start a new project. It’s so important in a novel in setting the tone.Where do you set your work? Is it is always in the present, or in the town or country where you live? How does time and place affect your choice in the novels you read?Let me know - I’d love to hear from you.
Related articles
- Sunday Open Thread (3chicspolitico.com) (A great blog site!)
- Tayo Aluko pays homage to a musical pioneer (charlestoncitypaper.com)
- Defrosting The Cold War (envisioningtheamericandream.wordpress.com)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Hellman