Like the first post in this series, environmental illness might not actually be discussed in the book as a cause of the Blonde Fury, but here’s a clip on the subject from Todd Haynes’ 1995 film Safe. Not only does his film feature a disturbing hair salon scene, it was a breakout role for Julianne Moore.
Moore as my character Wanda Kovacs? Just saying.
News from home
I will return to my blog series on the Science of the Blondes soon. However, my father passed away in March and this article cheered me so much today that I want to blog instead about it. Flash mobs in bookstores!
One of my favorite memories of my dad is of visiting this shop in Windsor, Ontario–Juniper Used & Rare Books. Our trip there was just last year, a perfect day: bright skies, the end of August, riding shotgun with my dad driving under marshmallow clouds. He was tan and strong, the picture of health. We had dropped my husband off at the Detroit airport and planned to stop at Juniper Books to buy a collection of historical photographs, Windsor Then. My dad had read about it and knew I would be interested. Together, we crossed the long arch of the Ambassador Bridge, which features prominently in the next project I’m working on. We ate fish and chips at a lunch counter on Ottawa Street, bought our book, and took the long way home, winding through the small French communities of southwestern Ontario. We talked about his youth growing up in Detroit–how his mother used to take him to work with her at an ice cream counter, how his grandfather worked at the Red River Rouge plant but never owned a car, how as a child he once found in his father’s drawer a small revolver leftover from his rumrunning days. We talked too of the things I hoped to write about, until the sunlight seemed to tremble above the cornfields and evening came on slowly as we drove.
Sometimes a book and a handful of hours with someone you love can change how you see things forever. It is great to see a local shop like this one, which gave me one of my best memories, getting the business they deserve.
The science of the Blonde Fury, part one
How does the virus work?
It’s the question I’ve been asked—usually just after I explain the plot—since starting work on The Blondes a few years ago. While I’m finishing up a proof of the novel I thought I would spend a few posts exploring ways that a rabies-like virus could only affect women with natural and bleached blonde hair. I won’t say what’s in the book or not but I’ve always believed in how Alfred Hitchcock rationalized The Birds to his co-screenwriter and producer: If you explain it, it’s science fiction. If you don’t explain it, it becomes something else.
So, the first possible route of transmission for Siphonaptera Human Virus is: mass psychogenic illness.
This fascinating New York Times Magazine article tells the story of the twitching girls of LeRoy, NY and the surprisingly commonplace occurrence of mass psychogenic illness or, as the article says, “another way of saying mass hysteria.” The most interesting part of the article, in terms of the themes of The Blondes, is not only the true physiological effects of women reacting to domestic and social stress but that such outbreaks mimic social hierarchy, with “cheerleaders” often being index cases.
Gordon Small: Composite version
When Brian Joseph Davis decided to create his Composites project, generating police composite photos of literary characters (read more about it in The Atlantic here), the first thing he did was test the program with a description of my character, Gordon Small, from my 2010 novel Heaven Is Small.
His skin did seem remarkably translucent above the three-day beard that lent him the air of a yellow Easter rabbit. “You should stand a little closer to a razor, son,” the Whoopsy’s franchise owner had perpetually told him. In its usual fashion, Gordon’s blond-brown hair was combed half over his forehead to hide the recession and shagged out behind his ears. His lips were still full, red and rubbery, not unlike those candied wax lips he had bought as a child from a bin for a quarter, chewed on, and then spat out. His eyes were like dark cracked marbles, but if they hinted at his mortality he suspected it was no more than they had during his life. His nose still hung with the bravado of a large appendage….
There are some perks to being Mrs. Composite. We collaborated, and it was an uncanny process — to see the man come to life. I didn’t think the character I had created was an awkward version of Ryan Gosling…but here we are.
You can’t have it all
“You Can Have It All” by George Mccrae is a great disco track, but in reality it’s just not true.
I’ve been juggling the arrival of my infant son, and the edits of my novel with Doubleday. I learned I was pregnant and began calling my son “The Boho Baby,” long before he ever arrived. Yes, it was the year I would crank out a kid, a novel, and travel. But…
If Tina Fey has trouble juggling career and motherhood, I guess it’s okay to admit that I do too. I’ve since begun to refer to my son as “The Saboteur,” so frequently does he interrupt my grand plans—sometimes because I’m dazzled by his beauty and just want to sit and hold him, other times by his amazing vocal range and volume. I have tried my best. I got back into my skinny jeans quickly, and I literally nursed him at my breast while flipping pages on the edits of The Blondes last fall. But…
All this is to say that baby has pushed the The Blondes a few weeks later and for those waiting patiently, I appreciate your patience. It is now set to arrive in the world on July 24.
Even if I can’t have it all, I am still attempting to have as much as possible within reason. I will, for instance, be reading at my neighborhood hangout Word Bookstore in Greenpoint, Brooklyn this week: Wednesday, February 8. If you’re familiar with the neighborhood, you might enjoy the Joyland Guide to Greenpoint.
I’ll also be minding the Joyland table at AWP in Chicago at the end of February, and helping with a Joyland/Dzanc event night at Quimby’s on March 1st (readings by Jeff Parker, Kevin Chong, Megan Stielstra, Eugene Cross).
A vital thing I’ve realized: disco songs make great lullabies. Because of their repetition, you don’t forget the words.
All out of Joy puns
Some friends have pointed out that the final shot of this video by Sean Ohlenkamp includes two of my novels, Joyland (rerelease edition) and Heaven Is Small, positioned on either side of the title card. If you watch closely, I’m sure you’ll see a lot of other favorites. I don’t know Ohlenkamp, but I love Type Books where the video was shot, so it’s exciting to see The Joy of Books vid getting so much internet buzz (1.6 million views on YouTube as of this moment). People sometimes think that those of us involved in digital projects are against print—but as much as I love the internet I also love a small edition that will fit in my purse and ride alongside me throughout my travels. When I have a good book in my hands, it is like a little romance.
Speaking of buying print books in local shops, the Joyland Retro anthology is now available at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly in Montreal, Type Books (Queen West location) in Toronto, and McNally Jackson in New York City. And of course from Joyland.
In other news, the National Post included my upcoming novel, The Blondes, in its 12 Most Anticipated Books of ’12. And Quill & Quire, which I mentioned in my last post, posted their preview of it online as part of a slide show. There’s also a hat tip from Canadian Bookshelf as part of their most anticipated list.
12 Links of Christmas
Things got away from me a bit at the end of 2011 (see previous post). But apparently motherhood means I now blog in bulk. Here are some wrapping-up-the-year highlights, and some looking-ahead links.
Looking Back at 2011
Joyland Magazine received several Distinguished Mentions in Best American Short Stories 2011 for works by Elisabeth Harvor, Erica Lorraine, and Maggie Shipstead.
In one of my favorite interviews of the year, our latest Joyland eBook author Megan Stielstra interviewed herself on the Nervous Breakdown. As the editor of Megan’s collection, Everyone Remain Calm, I’m obviously quite familiar with the stories, but I think her decision to give the real-life inspiration behind each piece is brave. It’s a simple idea but lends itself to the kind of intimate portrait one wants from fiction—the dish on what is real and what is fabricated.
In the early fall ECW Press put out a new edition of an old book, my very first novel, Joyland, which is where that other thing got its name. Designer Ingrid Paulson gave the book a gorgeous new look while still making use of the original art by Nate Powell. (Again, clearly I am biased.) This novel is a video-game framed coming-of-age story yet I felt very grown-up to see it being re-released five years after its original publication.
Looking Ahead to 2012
This past week, Now Magazine in Toronto gave some pre-love to The Blondes, which releases in May this year.
I was ecstatic to see that the new issue of Quill & Quire (print edition) features a spring preview of the book as well. They say that it “looks to be an extension of the author’s signature mix of quirky postmodernism and biting satire” and who am I to argue?
As part of our fundraising, Joyland Magazine releases its first print edition, the Joyland Retro, featuring fiction by James Greer, Roxane Gay, Scott McClanahan, Kevin Wilson, Zoe Whittall, and others. It’s kind of a “Best of” from the past three-plus years. If you want to help support what we do and keep the site running, buy a copy here. Or if you want to just read about it, Steven W. Beattie interviews co-publisher Brian Joseph Davis about the project over here.
