Taking a Leap...

It's the beginning of a new month, which means the start of a new CW blog chain which I will be leading off...or maybe I should saying taking a leap as that is the topic for this month's chain of writing.

For my start of the chain, I would like to do a book review on a story that is a true leap of faith. The book is a Southern novel (which means there's going to be a lot of talk about food, family, and gossip). The story begins with the lead character, Mattie, a spirited 76 year old, preparing lunch for her son who is coming to visit. She is still living on her own despite her son's thoughts that she should be in a nice old folks home as the upkeep of the house is too much for her. Her son doesn't like the fact that she's taken in a mangy stray dog and is even more upset when she takes in a runaway who is also a bit of a juvenile delinquent.

She thinks taking care of them is what she should do as she follows the words of the Bible which say we are to take care of "the least of these" referring to the dog and the young boy. Caring for these two of God's creatures gets Mattie a lot of grief not only from her son but the local townsfolk as well. There's some interesting scenes with the local church folk also who seem to miss the point in the Bible of caring for one another. Mattie doesn't care what others think. She has taken a leap of faith that with God's help she can do some good for both neglected and unwanted creatures.

The title of the book (and later a movie) is "Walking Across Egypt" by Clyde Edgerton and was written about 20 years ago. It rings true today as it did when it was first written. The title refers to the Israelites walk through the desert looking for a new home that God promised them. This is also comes into play with a current sermon series by Max Lucado at my church entitled "You'll Get Through This." In both cases they deal with taking a leap of faith when times are rough and looking to God for direction. Each reminds us that life can dry out our spirit and we can be in for a lot of frustration along the way. Still we've got to look past our here and now...to what can be... with a little leap of faith.

If you would like to learn more about the book and it's author, click here for a link to my interview with him. If you'd like to hear all or part of Max Lucado's series, click here. Then be sure to click on each of the daily posts this month to the right for others thoughts on taking a leap of sorts.

Interview with Clyde Edgerton, Author and Southern Raconteur

I'm not one for holding on to books. I usually read them and then donate them to the library. However, I do have a few favorites that I will not give away. One of them is a novel entitled Walking Across Egypt. It's a novel that is full of southern charm and the joy of home cooking. If you haven't read it, you need to pick it up. My interview today is with the author of that book, as well as nine others. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and five of his novels have been New York Times Notable Books. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and teaches creative writing at UNC Wilmington.

Let’s go back to your earliest novel, Walking Across Egypt, which is one of my favorite books. It was first published in 1988 and was then re-released in 1997. How much did the movie increase sales?
I'm glad you liked that book. It's sold better than any of the others. I'm not sure if the movie increased sales. Because the movie never went to theaters I'm thinking maybe not. But I've not been able to track sales figures in any precise way.

Tell me about the process of what it took to go from a book to the screen.Who initiated the quest? How much input did you have in the movie script? What surprised you most the process? How did the process change with your other novels being made into movies?
A filmmaker from Nashville, Madeline Bell, approached me, and worked for four years on getting the film made. It was finally made, thought in order for that to happen Madeline lost much of the control. I was asked to look at the script for minor problems with speech, etc. I was not surprised by much during the process. It was exciting to think about the story appearing on screen. I only saw about 40 minutes of Raney. I never had an opportunity to see that one. Killer Diller was great fun because I knew the director and scriptwriter, Tricia Brock. She let me critique the script and play a bit part. I think it's the best of the three.

You’ve also had stage adaptations made from your books. Which results do you like better the plays or the movies?
I like the plays better. They are flexible and change with each production. The plays have been great fun, especially my working on the musical Lunch at the Piccadilly with musician Mike Craver. We went back and forth for two years on email writing that thing--2004, I think--and have had great fun with it since. Steve Umberger is working on setting up a tour which I hope happens in the future.

You’ve now published 10 novels and had movies and stage adaptations done of those books. What keeps you still teaching creative writing?
I teach to make a living--and I'm lucky that I enjoy it. I made a living from 1988 to 1998 as writer only, but I needed the added security of a steady job that paid health insurance etc. as my oldest daughter prepared to go to college, so I went back to teaching.

What do you tell your students who want to be famous writers? What is one of the most rewarding moments you’ve had as a professor with your students?
I tell my writing students to follow no advice that doesn't make sense to them and to try to understand what the story they are writing is about so that they can better revise. One of the most rewarding moments I've had as a professor was seeing a book by one of my less talented(but very hard working)students published.

What have you learned from your own writing experiences that you have incorporated in your teaching as tips for aspiring writers?
I think my answer above--take no advice that doesn't make sense to you and know what your novel is about(this may change during revisions)--are two lessons I've incorporated into my teaching. There are many mini-lessons: help the reader see the action by picking just the right details; get two people into the story as soon as possible(since much literary fiction is about relationships between characters); minimize flashbacks; minimize adverbs and adjectives; realize that you have three main tools in getting plot and theme: your experience, your observation (of the experience of others); your imagination. When one tool isn't working all that well, try either of the other two.

Do you remember the first piece you had published? Can you tell me about it? At that point did you really think you would go on to publishing books?
My first publication was a story published in my high school newspaper. It was about an adventure that two other students and I had when during biology class when we released a tadpole into a creek down in the woods (We begged the teacher to let us do this) and then "lost our way" back to school. We missed about an hour of class wandering in the woods.

I thought we'd get punished when we returned to school, but rather, my English teacher asked me to write about the experience for the school newspaper. When I saw the story in print and realized that it was funny as I'd hoped it would be, I was smitten. At that point I didn't know what I wanted to do in the future.

Later when I stumbled onto Flannery O'Connor's and Eudora Welty's stories, I realized I had plenty of experience as an only child with twenty-three aunts and uncles to make up stories from. When I later saw that the stories could be molded into novels, I thought I might have a chance at publishing a book.

Your new book is entitled, The Night Train, which is about musicians. When I read the trailer, it made me think of the movie, The Commitments (an Irish band who plays the blues like James Brown). What inspired you to write this book?

I never saw the Commitments, but I will now. I was partly inspired to write the book as a consequence of joining a band in 1963 (I was nineteen). The lead singer (white, as were all of us) wanted to be James Brown. When I joined the band (The Seven Keys) the band was learning Live at the Apollo, Brown's famous 1963 album that was played as a single song (there were no breaks between the eleven songs). My experiences in this band and another rock and roll band I was in prior to this one helped inspire the novel.

What type of music do you play?
I play piano and harmonica on the vimeo trailer--that gives a hint. I play some blues piano, a tinkering of jazz, some bluegrass banjo and I sing some original folk-country songs.

Here's the link to that trailer http://vimeo.com/25265338. If you would like to learn more about Clyde Edgerton's writing go to http://clydeedgerton.com. And if you're in the Wilmington, North Carolina area you might consider taking one of his classes.