Friday, November 20, 2020

Imagining the Other by Paulette Alden

 LUCY BURDETTE: Today's guest is a dear friend who lives in Key West a few months of the year, and Greenville SC the rest of the time. She's been working on an historical novel set in her home town for several years, and I knew this book, THE EMPTY CELL, would make for a wonderful discussion on our blog. I'll let her tell you about it--welcome Paulette!



PAULETTE ALDEN: When I was growing up in Greenville, S.C., I'd never heard of Willie Earle, a young black man who was abducted from a nearby county jail and beaten, stabbed and shot to death by a mob of twenty-eight cab drivers in 1947. He had been arrested on suspicion of killing a Greenville cab driver. All the defendants confessed that they had participated in the lynching, though none admitted to firing the fatal shots. All were acquitted in a nationally-covered trial in the Greenville County Courthouse on Main Street, where my father had his radio and TV store, in the same month in which I was born. 


It was quite by accident that in my late fifties I came upon a long piece of reportage called "Opera in Greenville," written by the famed British author Rebecca West, whom The New Yorker had sent to town to cover the trial. This brilliant piece of writing had two significant impacts on me: I was shocked and fascinated by what had occurred in my hometown; and for the first time I saw Greenville as having literary potential. I had written about Greenville but only as a setting; never a subject. I had left town to go to college and I just kept going. I returned home often while my parents were alive, but I considered Greenville dull and uninteresting. I thought I had "outgrown" it. 

But reading West's depiction of Greenville—


Near the center of Greenville there stands an old white church, with a delicate spire and handsome steps leading down from a colonnade—the kind of building that makes an illusion of space around itself. This is the First Baptist Church. In there, on Sunday evenings, there is opera. The lovely girls with their rich hair curling around shoulders and their flowered dresses showing their finely molded throats and arms sit beside the tall young men, whose pale shirts show the squareness of their shoulders and the slimness of their waists, and they join in coloratura hymns with their parents and their grandparents, who sing, like their children, with hope and vehemence, having learned to take things calmly no more than the older characters in opera. As they sing, the women’s dresses become crumpled wraps, the men’s shirts cling to them, although the service does not begin till eight o’clock at night. But, undistracted by the heat, they listen, still and yet soaring, to the anthems sung by an ecstatic choir and to a sermon that is like a bass recitative, ending in an aria of faith, mounting to cadenzas of adoration. In no other place are Baptists likely to remind a stranger of Verdi.


—made me see Greenville as the rich material that it—like any place—can be. 

The problem (among others) was that I didn't really know Greenville. I did and I didn't. I had grown up in the Jim Crow South of the fifties and sixties, and while I saw racism all around me (though I didn't know the word), I had been trained not to see. We had a maid, Edith, whom I loved, but who rode home in the backseat of the car and ate off separate dishes. I was aware in 1964 that the city had turned the municipal swimming pool into a "sea-quarium" to house six sea lions, rather than integrate it (the sea lions did not fare well). I was troubled, even outraged, in my awakening teen-age social conscience, but no one I knew talked about such things. It was only by getting away, and decades later, starting with when I read about Willie Earle, that I began to understand that not only was Greenville my subject, but also the racism I had grown up in. 



The epigraph of my resulting book, The Empty Cell, is a line by Alexander Chee, from his essay, "The Autobiography of My Novel": "I made a world I knew, but not the world I knew, and told a story there." This apparently enigmatic line resonated strongly with me; I felt I knew just what he meant. Having grown up there, I did know Greenville, but the story I wanted to tell was about a Greenville I didn't know. I had to discover that Greenville through research, interviews, reading, and most of all, imaging characters whose lives and experiences would become more vivid to me and certainly more interesting than my own. 


I had originally thought I'd end the novel with the trial of the cabdrivers. But I realized that to do so would be to leave my characters in a dark hole. Over the many decades when I kept returning to Greenville, I saw things that I had never expected to see there: Black people eating in the same restaurants as whites, being friends, having the same jobs. I decided to take the novel up to the beginning of change, when the civil rights movement came to Greenville in 1960 in the form of lunch counter sit-ins. 


There were problems, uh, "challenges" in writing this novel. I knew one of the characters had to be one of the lynchers. It was necessary to include him as part of the story. And this character, Lee Trammell, being part of a lynch mob in 1947, used the "N-word" prolifically. There was no getting around that. When I finished the book, I put this in the author's note at the beginning: "I know that some may be offended by the use of the "N-word" by various characters in the novel. As disgusting as the term is, unfortunately it was in common use in the Jim Crow South. My fictional character, Lee Trammell, for example, being part of a lynch mob in 1947, would have used that slur. It's his, not mine. I don't use the word lightly, but I believe I do use it accurately." 


Another problem: I wanted to write about a Black woman, Alma Stone, who had loved Willie when he was a baby, who loses her religion and flees the South after his brutal murder. I knew perfectly well that I couldn't truly understand what it's like to be a Black woman, let alone during Jim Crow, nor was I supposed (or allowed) to take that on. I also wrote about a gay prosecutor and a young white woman who has a biracial affair. I just had to put aside all the "shouldn'ts" if I was going to write this book. And I wanted to write it. It became the most important thing in my life for several years. 


Which is not to say I didn't fret about criticism; I was afraid of it. But I took heart when I read Parul Sehgal's review of American Dirt, which received its share of knocks for cultural appropriation, in The New York Times: "I'm of the persuasion that fiction, necessarily, even rather beautifully, requires imagining an 'other' of some kind. As the novelist Hari Kunzru has argued, imagining ourselves into other lives and other subjectives is an act of ethical urgency. The caveat is to do this work of representation responsibly, and well." 

I hope I have done that, but it's not for me to say. 


Writers, have you ever had to put aside any "shouldn'ts" in order to write something you wanted to write? Readers, how do you feel about an author imagining the other?


About The Empty Cell:


"In the wake of the lynching in 1947 of a young Black man named Willie Earle by a mob of cab drivers in Greenville, South Carolina, four people on the periphery of Earle's life find their lives upended: Lee Trammell, one of the twenty-eight cabbies acquitted at trial, is tortured by the idea that not guilty is not the same as innocent, and escapes in the only way he knows how; Alma Stone, who loved Willie when he was a child, loses her religion and flees the South, only to discover that Harlem is not the Promised Land she sought; Lawton Chastain, a closeted gay prosecutor, realizes he must destroy his settled married life if he is ever to have a chance at happiness; Betsy Chastain, on the cusp of adulthood, embarks on a passionate interracial love affair that teaches her the power and limits of love and sex. Against the backdrop of the social and racial strictures of the fifties, each of these characters struggles to find his or her own version of freedom. Each experiences loss, sorrow, and growth as the South begins its long march toward racial equality.



Bio: Paulette Alden is the author of two collections of autobiographical short stories, Feeding the Eagles and Unforgettable; a memoir, Crossing the Moon, and The Answer to Your Question, a novel. A former Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, she taught fiction and memoir writing for many years at the University of Minnesota. In 2016, she and her husband Jeff moved (in her case, back) to Greenville, South Carolina, where she was born and raised. 

 


53 comments:

  1. Wow . . . what an amazing story. I’m looking forward to reading this, Paulette . . . .

    I have no problem with an author imagining the other . . . don’t we all do that in some way when we consider what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes?

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    1. Yes, I totally agree. But there has been an issue about white people writing from/about minority perspectives. I think the controversy that swirled around American Dirt was very helpful in bringing this issue to the fore, and letting both sides make their cases. I think it helped lay the matter to rest to some extent, because readers--as opposed to cultural critics--accepted the book and even made it a best seller. Of course some of that has to do with the enormous money and effort the publishing house made to make it a best seller! Thanks, Joan, for your thoughts and I hope you enjoy reading The Empty Cell -- I never know if "enjoy" is the right verb in relation to it, but it's not totally grim.

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  2. You have dug into the story you needed to tell in the best way you could tell it. That's all any of us can hope for. Best of luck with it!

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    1. It feels really good to have "done it" and have it "out there." The reception in Greenville has been great. But as a self-published book, getting the novel out beyond the local here is pretty difficult. We can talk about self-publishing if anyone is interested in my experience. Anyway, I just feel good about it and relieved to have it in print. Thanks for your nice wishes, Edith

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  3. Good Morning, welcome to JRW's. I just ordered the book, the theme speaks to me.
    As far as how do I feel about an author imagining "the other", isn't that what fiction writing does? Otherwise, women would only create women and men men. Of course cultural appropriation does raise some clear issues, I do resent a poorly researched book that relies on conventional wisdom rather than a close examination of a period or a group. These novels seem shallow to me.
    World building takes effort as well as talent. I look forward to entering the world found in The Empty Cell.

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    1. That is so nice, Coralee, and I'm honored to participate in such a lively, engaged, intelligent blog as JRW. In the 70s at the height of the women's movement (see how old I am) I remember feeling resentment that men were writing from the point of view of women! And publishing most of the books. And writing most of the reviews. They were hogging the publishing world (thought I) and now no one gives that much of a thought (though it's still somewhat uneven I think). We're free to range around -- but I understand why there is a controversy with some about the cultural appropriation of minority stories. With Alma, my Black woman character, I would never have written her from the first person. I felt using the third person allowed -- what? I'm not sure, but I didn't want to use her first person voice, or pretend I could get that close to her, if that makes sense.

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    2. That makes perfect sense to me.

      The day we discussed American Dirt here was the most contentious conversation I have seen here.

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  4. There has been such a backlash about writers trying to preempt "the other's" story, especially since publication of AMERICAN DIRT. (which by the way, I did read and found to be a sizzling page-turner. Although, not knowing the Mexican culture well, I didn't get a sense of how well the Mexican characters were depicted.) That aside, Paulette, have you run into this kind of reaction since THE EMPTY CELL came out?

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    1. Not yet! Most of my readers have been white. I was (virtually) at a book club the other night where the book was discussed, and of the 10 or so participants, only one was Black. Someone raised this cultural appropriation issue not as a criticism but to see what I had to say about it. I said more or less what I've said here and then I asked Charles, the Black man, what he thought and he said he had been hesitant at first about reading the book, but in the end he thought it was a good book. I was greatly relieved, but willing to hear whatever he thought. He reads mainly sci fi and fantasy. I appreciated that he read it.

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  5. I ripped through The Empty Cell, a great read. The story is sad and maybe even sadder because it is based on a real incident within our lifetimes, but still gripping. Paulette was very brave as she honestly took on all of the difficult issues that came up in writing a book like this. Even though Paulette is just about the sweetest person alive, there is a steel spine underneath. Bravo, and congrats on seeing so many years of work come out and succeed.

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    1. Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say "the sweetest person alive" -- that's Lucy, not me! Thanks, John, for being such a supporter and I'm so pleased that you liked the book! I never thought about being "brave." That's one of those adjectives other people apply to someone who is just doing what they feel more or less driven to do. I wanted to tell this story, and it really wasn't till late in the game that I begin to think about the issue of cultural appropriation--when I began to think of going public. I wasn't able to get it published by a press, and I do think one of many factors was that the publishing houses are spooked by the idea of publishing a white person writing a Black life. love you, John -- you're one of the sweetest people I know!

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  6. Welcome to JRW, Paulette. It sounds like you put your heart into creating this story. I understand how it feels to become aware of the racism all around you and to examine yourself for signs of it within.

    I firmly believe that an author must create characters different than himself. There is no book I can think of that does not have a character of a different sex, race, nationality, etc from the author. Research is the key to creating authenticity. Kudos to you for undertaking this challenging story.

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    1. Thanks, Judy. One of the best parts of this whole thing was interviewing Black people in Greenville -- if you can call "interviewing" sitting down over lunch and asking questions "interviewing" -- which sounds much too formal. I was so amazed and touched by how open and willing to tell their stories the Blacks I talked to were -- and out of that experience I made two good friends, one in his eighties and a woman who was part of the lunch-counter sit-ins that resulted in Peterson V. City of Greenville. And yes, every author does create characters different than herself -- otherwise things would get pretty boring (at least in my case!).

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  7. Frankly, it's silly to complain about fiction authors "appropriating" other cultures. It's fiction. I love Hari Kunzru's comment. That is exactly what we need right now, putting ourselves into "others'" shoes! Just the act of reading about other cultural groups, immersing ourselves in worlds we have never seen in real life, should lead to our wanting to explore in more detail those worlds. Writing them from our imaginations is the ultimate act of putting ourselves in others' places. I applaud your courage, because you had to have faced many hard truths in your process.

    Your comment, Paulette, about burning to write this book, resonated with me. I had the same experience in the early 90's with a nonfiction topic. I couldn't not write it, but it didn't fall into any neat categories and I couldn't find a publisher willing to take it on. After being rejected by some three dozen houses (there actually were that many then!), I ended up self-publishing. That was not as simple to do then, before publishing on demand, and before electronic formats. And before the Internet made it vastly easier to market almost everything. I wish you great success with The Empty Cell. The premise gives me chills, and I look forward to reading it.

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    1. I think for a long time many minority writers felt excluded or not invited to the publishing table to the same extent as white writers (except for the few successful ones) but now a great deal of the most interesting, exciting and great books are being written--and published--by minority writers. It's a real sea change! I didn't feel I was honing in on anyone's territory because Blacks and other minority writers are covering their own bases brilliantly! And being read, winning awards, reviewed and on the best seller lists.
      That was so interesting about self-publishing in the early 90's, Karen. No, that was definitely harder to do back then. Now self-publishing may be easier (it wasn't for me!) and maybe a little too easy in that there are no gate-keepers and everything can be self-published, regardless. But it's very democratic for any writer to be able to get their work out. But at the same time, it has a bit of a stigma. Oh well. I applaud your getting your book out. It would have been awful to just have it "shelved" in your computer when you cared so much about it. And it not finding a publisher was not--as you know in your heart of hearts--a comment on its value. You got to be the one to say, "This is worthy."

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    2. Harder, in the sense of promoting the book. Bookstores wouldn't touch it, because it had no distribution. Amazon was just getting started then, and Jeff Bezos himself called me to ask if I would place it with their brand-new online store. They wanted too big of a piece of the pie, though, more than anyone else, including Ingram, so I said no. I ended up handselling that book, in person and via my website, along with finally getting it into some catalogs. It did very well, considering.

      Paulette, the success of that book also caught the attention of a publisher, and they asked me to write another one for them. So that was good, too. I hope you have a similar experience.

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    3. Yes! It was 1995, not long after he started the company, and I had no idea of the significance of his call. Up until then I had only gotten orders from a few libraries, and they were all sent by mail or fax, and I wasn't expecting anyone to call for an order. He just sounded like some guy, and I had no idea who he was at the time. Now I wish I'd paid better attention!

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  8. Congrats, Paulette! Sounds like a compelling story.

    I'm on the side of Rachel Howzell-Hall and Frankie Bailey here. It's not about you "can't" or you "shouldn't" because as writers that's our job. The question is why do you want to? And if that answer is compelling (not just "it's the fad du jour") then do the work and get it right. Sounds like you did that.

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    1. I think you put it very well and succinctly. I tried to do the best I could to get it right, and I trusted my own opinion that it was "good enough." So I put it out there and then readers get to decide. I expect there to be various opinions and reactions -- as there are re: any book. That's not to say I'm not afraid of criticism and negative reactions -- who wants those! -- but I felt in my own self I could stand behind it.

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  9. Congratulations on your new release! You've proven you can go home again and write about it. I've published two stories set in the forties and fifties, using photos and family letters to get into the mindset of the times while envisioning the female protagonists in the sixties and seventies.

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    1. that is so interesting Margaret about using family photos and letters to get into the stories you were writing. A sort of historical research, right?

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  10. Wow—what a necessary book for you—and you are so brave to write it! Congratulations. And that Alexander Chee quote is brilliant. So eager to read this.

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    1. I agree,Hank, and necessary, too, for all of us who want to help dismantle our own internal racism, and the structural recuse that is such a dreadful part of our history.

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  11. That's is a great way to describe it: "a necessary book for you." I used to tell my students "Write the book you want to read." That's what I did. You might like to read Chee's essay on writing his own not-autobiographical novel. It's very interesting--in his book by the same name.

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  12. To write is to 'other', I think--other genders, other cultures, other places, other religions, other foods even! As you note, Paulette, we can be othered in our own hometowns. If you start with the intention to explore all those others, then the writing will sing. If you're only reproducing stereotypes, then, nah.

    Your book sounds compelling, Paulette--wishing you great success!

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  13. This is such a moving essay... thanks Paulette for sharing.

    What a thorny question. I remember when I was at a writing conference and I first heard someone say, "That isn't your story to write." That day I got my lesson on the dangers of appropriating others' experiences without doing the research and having the review necessary to give it authenticity. And many of the fictional characters I once read and loved seem riven with stereotypes. Not the best time to stamp my foot and say dammit it's my story and I'll write it the way I want. I think... it's complicated.

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    1. "It's complicated": TRUE THAT! Yes, that would be an -- ah -- interesting moment when someone's reaction was: That's isn't your story to write. What did you do? Did you write the story or lay it aside? Or do the research to make it authentic. I am not entirely comfortable with the idea/word "research" -- though I did a lot of that to try to make the time and people authentic. But "research" sounds so dry and detached (though necessary). After the necessary research, I think it's in the realm of the imagination -- where it's just you and your character -- and then just your character -- whom you become and who becomes you, that the real authenticity takes place. Thanks for adding this interesting personal experience to the discussion.

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    2. It wasn't my writing she was talking about. That would have made it even more complicated to get my arms around.

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  14. Thanks, Flora. That's a great line: "To write is to 'other." But I do think a lot of writers write about "others" who are similar, familiar, known to them (possibly like them in some basic ways so it's less of a leap). Is that right? Lots of brilliant examples where it's not right come to mind! But to cross some of the boundaries of race, genders, religions, etc. can be a special challenge and lead to either stereotyping or the charge of stereotyping. It's natural for people who are members of those groups to feel particularly sensitive or defensive about having their experiences and worlds represented by people who haven't "walked the walk." They own it. I understand that. But I don't think it means that one can't do a pretty credible job of bringing certain individuals (as opposed to a whole group) to life and making them real and believable. At least I hope that's true. Emphasis on individual--as individual as we each feel and are, regardless of what our broad demographics are. Writing well is about what is individual about a character and making that real and true.

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    1. In the realm of mystery fiction, I think of Tony Hillerman, whose characters include Native American people--men and women, old and young, Navajo, Hopi, as well as Hispanics. I think it takes a great deal of care and effort to get it 'right'--to be more than a voyeur of the other.

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  15. Liz expressed my thoughts far better than I could and I can only echo her.

    It's difficult these days, especially for writers of a certain age as we were raised in a different milieu. I remember as a Yankee child being confronted with Jim Crow when I tried to sit in my favorite seat in a bus. In the back, so my feet could rest on the top of the tire well. The bus driver refused to move the bus until I moved. That event was educational, and gave me a different view of prevailing laws, but was no where close to what must have been the soul-altering degradation of institutional compartmentalization that was prevalent at that time. It's hard to get it right. It takes empathy, understanding, curiosity, tons of research, and great cultural reviewers. Sounds like you had all of that. Kudos.

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    1. Wow, I love your commentary -- the detail about trying to sit in your favorite seat on the bus because you wanted to rest your feet on the tire well (and the bus not moving until YOU did!) is delicious to a writer! Yes, "soul-altering degradation" and it continues in so many ways. Things HAVE changed, thanks to the civil rights movement in the 60s, but BLM has brought us up to date and further waked us up. Your description of what it takes -- empathy, understanding, curiosity, research, cultural reviews -- are so right on. I'm glad you introduced the word "empathy" into the discussion. It wouldn't be complete without it. THANKS!

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  16. Perfect. Right. Thanks for the example. I don't really know much about him. I looked up his biography here, at ehillerman.umn.edu/biography -- very interesting. He went to an all-girls Native American school as a child. I'm going to try to copy the bio here but if it doesn't come out, those of you who are interested can go to that site above for the specifics.

    Anthony Grove Hillerman (1925 – 2008)
    Tony Hillerman
    Tony Hillerman was born in Sacred Heart, OK on May 27, 1925, and was the youngest of three children. He attended school from 1930-38 at St. Mary's Academy, a boarding school for Native American girls at Sacred Heart. He was one of only a few boys enrolled there, and Hillerman later attributed his sensitivity to and respect for Native American cultures to this experience. Broadly speaking, although Hillerman discerned the differences between Native and colonial settler cultures and histories in the United States, in his words, poor kids were poor kids, and that’s how the students at St. Mary’s saw each other and why they got along. This shared human condition and respect for its subtle – and not so subtle – variances present themselves throughout the corpus of Hillerman’s writing. Refreshingly – although sometimes critically interrogated for doing so – Hillerman wrote through the eyes, ears, and understandings of partially assimilated Navajo Tribal Policemen, revealing what have often been considered guarded, intimate details of the Navajo belief system. Yet, these portrayals have also been appreciated as objective, respectful, and accurate portrayals of the grounded, profoundly aware, and drily, wryly humorous denizens of Navajo country. This outsider/insider perspective provides a mirror in which Native and non-Native readers alike recognize some of the least attractive elements of a humanity that is no longer in balance, portrayals of the human condition that are neither overdone nor completely damning but always provocative. Who is not fascinated by the idea of a sickness, derived from moral, social, or cultural imbalance, that presents itself as a Skinwalker or Navajo wolfman? Ultimately, it is the human condition and its range of expressions that finds its way into the pages of Hillerman’s Navajo Detective Novels, novels whose ethnographic insights are acutely perceptive and revelatory regardless of whether the subject under observation is Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, or white.

    Looks like it copied. THANKS, Flora, for adding this dimension to the discussion. And from the bio, the all important "human condition"!

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  17. Fascinating story - and backstory! - Paulette. I wish you well with it.

    I've been struggling with "writing the Other" and "not my story to tell" with a crime novel loosely connected to Dayton's Roma (Gypsy) history, and those are some comments I've run up against...by people who haven't read the MS! I'm discouraged, stymied by a brick wall I can't seem to scale, but your work gives me hope.

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    1. I'm so glad you wrote in, Clpaulwels, about your discouragement from these comments that are intimidating and stopping you (and maybe other things are too -- lord knows there are a myriad of things that can stop us, with self-doubt being right up there). People who are telling you that it's not your story to tell have their opinion, and they're welcome to it but they're judging prematurely and unfairly, in my opinion, since they haven't even read the manuscript (and even if it turns out to be brilliant, you probably won't change their minds). Let them write their own damn books without trying to shut you down. The real question will be whether the book is a good book (and it doesn't have to be for everyone, nor will it be) and you don't know that yet. You will still probably get some of those opinions if and when you publish, but you get to write the book you want to write. The temptation is to give up too soon, before you know whether it's viable. But you get to make that decision, not others. Again I say Write the book you want to READ. And if you're fascinated (curious) and feel compelled to tell a story no one else can tell or is likely to, you have to give it your best shot. You also need to try to be your own best reader. We need other readers at various stages of the book, but you need to try to be your own best reader - to stand apart from your writing-self, and be a reader-self, and say, Would this compel me? Would I keep turning the pages? Would I care about the characters? I'm running on here, but I did hire two professional editors at various stages of Empty Cell -- who were not my friends -- and who knew the field, so to speak. And who would tell the truth and offer professional critiques.
      I think the Roma story is an undertold one (I know almost nothing about it in the US--are you talking Dayton, Ohio?) and chances are no one will tell that story but you. Even if that history is not the heart of your book -- but the context. I want to give you hope -- by affirming that boy, did I feel discouraged a lot along the way. A lot of rejection! My touchstone was just wanting to tell that story, to write that book. You'll know whether that is your touchstone or not. Hope this helps. Good luck and godspeed!

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    2. You all can probably tell what an amazing writing teacher Paulette is, aside from being a wonderful writer!

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    3. Thank you, Paulette, for the kind words. The story is written; I think it's the best I've done (it's novel #4, technically). Unfortunately, I've been querying for far too long (read: years...). Unbiased/professional critiques on the query and the opening chapters have been encouraging, but then the brick wall (rejections, no response (!!) after requesting a full...). And the "Other" comments.

      So yes, discouraged. Debating my next move on that story while finishing edits on an earlier novel (#3 in my series) that will hopefully be out after the first of the year.

      Thanks to the Reds for letting me unload! Onward...

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  18. WOW. You have me intrigued by the synopsis. I have no issues with imaging, as long as it is done correctly and honestly.

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  19. Paulette, I’m so glad the word is getting out on your fabulous novel. After reading it, I bought 10 for Holiday gifts, ordered through my fave local indie bookseller. I hope it goes out far and wide; as comments on today’s blog indicate, it’s an important part of our current cultural conversation. I’m especially glad it was so well reviewed in Greenville itself.

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    1. Sue, this is remarkable -- to buy 10 copies! Thank you! And good for the local indie bookstore. Thanks for your tremendous support -- and friendship!

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  20. Congratulations, Paulette. What a remarkable undertaking. I believe that writing “other” is the whole point of writing fiction. I frequently write in the male perspective, which I could get blasted for but haven’t yet - as far as I know. Now that publishing is finally awakening to publishing more authors of color, I hope that the uproar about authors writing stories outside of their own cultural experience will become more acceptable. Here’s to you for leading the way!

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  21. Hi, Jenn, I'm no leader and we'll see how "brave" I am if I start getting trashed! I felt that the controversy over American Dirt really shined a light on the issue of cultural appropriation, gave it a good airing, and people opposed to cancel culture spoke out and defended writers' freedom to write the stories they want to tell. But the proof is always in the pudding. Is it a sickening stereotyped reduction or a full-blown, full-bodied, convincing and original rendition. The novel/movie The Help is an interesting case: enormously successful in book and movie form (Viola Davis was magnificent) and applauded by many and trashed by others. Viola Davis later disavowed it and wished she hadn't participated in the movie. I found it stereotypical but also saw value in that it did bring to consciousness what it was like to be maids in the Jim Crow South into the sixties. I'm glad you're writing from the male perspective. I can't imagine being prohibited or inhibited from taking that on.

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    1. Good point about THE HELP Paulette. I remember discussing that book and movie with you some years ago. I loved it, but I was not raised in the south so probably a lot more ignorant than I should have been about the stereotypes it embraced.

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  22. Hi Paulette! Welcome to Jungle Red, and congratulations on your book. Your cover is wonderful! This is such a fascinating--and challenging--discussion. I certainly think writers should do their research, as you have obviously done, but I firmly believe that it is the writer's job to put himself or herself in other people's shoes. How boring would fiction be if writers were only allowed to write about people just like themselves, or to only tell their own stories? And it seems to me that we need leaps of empathy and imagination now more than ever. I salute you for having the courage to tell the story that spoke to you. And I can't wait to read it!

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  23. Hi, Deborah, you put it all very well (as I'd expect!). Thank for mentioning the cover. I really like it myself. The face on the front is actually that of Willie Earle -- it's in the public domain, so I didn't have to get permission. I hired the most wonderful (I think) cover designer: Emily Mahon. I was so relieved to turn it over to someone who was a pro, and I think she did a great job of a book that was hard to capture because of four main characters and a lot of story line. Thanks for your note.

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  24. If you can write someone else’s story, faithfully and well, and you feel the need to do so, then why not?

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  25. Thank you, Lucy, for inviting me to participate in JRW. And thanks to all of you who commented with such lively, engaged, intelligent posts. I enjoyed the experience so much, and I wish you all the best with your writing and books! Good wishes to each and every one for a safe and thankful Thanksgiving and onward into a new year that will surely be better than the one we'll be glad to leave behind. Be well! Paulette

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  26. Well done. The book is timely and I am giving copies to friends for Christmas

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