This is the first of two posts to go up on Reality 101 today for Ruth Rymer’s Virtual Book Tour for her new book Susannah, A Layer: From Tragedy to Triumph (The review can be found here).  Ruth was kind enough to answer a few questions that the book raised for me as I was reading it for review.  Considering the topic of Susannah, Ruth’s background is that much more relevant, and influenced the questions I asked:

About Ruth Rymer (From the Author’s website):

An early women’s rights scholar, Ruth Rymer practiced Family Law and lectured on “Women and the Law” in California before retiring to write. She holds a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems from The Fielding Institute and wrote her dissertation on the historical, sociological, and psychological aspects of divorce.

Dr. Rymer, listed in Best Lawyers in America 1988-2000, is Past President of both Queen’s Bench (Bay Area women attorneys) and the Northern California Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

The author lives in the Bay Area with her husband.  Susannah is her second book.

Ruth Rymer

Dawn:  Why historical fiction?  Did you develop the legal and social issues you wanted to address first, or did you choose the time period and then extrapolate issues based on the period?

Ruth:  Both.  I like the time period.  I know something about my great grandmother who was born at the same time and same place as Susannah.  I am fascinated by the period thirty years after the first women’s rights conference, as women timidly began to shatter their chains.  And finally, as a lawyer, I wanted to explore how hard it was for women to become attorneys initially.  I’d read and taught about Myra Bradwell, the first woman lawyer in America, and wanted to bring her in as a mentor to my protagonist. 

Dawn:  Susannah is a very modern thinking character.  How did you balance historical accuracy with modern notions of women?  Was any aspect more difficult than another? 

Ruth: Where women are concerned, there is always a first–the first woman lawyer, the first woman doctor, dentist, Congresswoman, Governor.   No woman breaks out of the women’s sphere prison without “modern thinking.”  To me, it is survival thinking–living one’s life by relying on oneself.

I loved the research and the writing.  Editing and birthing the book were difficult.

Dawn:   Do you consider Susannah, A Lawyer a feminist novel?

Ruth:  I could argue that both ways, but in general I find feminism more shrill than it should be to bring women into full partnership in society with men.  I tried to avoid lacing Susannah with feminist anger.  That’s for the reader, if she would like, or not.

Dawn:  You tackle domestic violence, rape and stigmatization of the victim, divorce, social and legal boundaries for women, and the right to independence and education of women in Susannah, A Lawyer (to name just a few).  Why include all of these issues in one novel? 

Ruth:  I wanted to present a slice of life from 1877 to 1880.  Any woman living during that period would encounter at least some of the issues presented in the novel, and a woman lawyer would deal with all of them in her quest to bring justice to her clients.   

Dawn:   Susannah, A Lawyer is historical fiction, but your protagonist and her struggles are anything but incidental.  What do you want readers to walk away with once they finish reading?

Ruth:  I think I’d like readers to miss Susannah after finishing the book.  I’d like readers to appreciate the freedom we have now and to understand how much better we control our destinies than women did in 1880.  Most of all, I hope readers will find Susannah a really good read!

Thank you, Ruth, for taking the time to answer my questions and to address some topics for discussion.  Readers can get the book at Amazon and Ruth’s website (among other places).  And read an excerpt of Susannah, A Lawyer on the book site, so go check it out and get reading.  I promise it will leave you with plenty to talk about!

Tags: Author Interviews, Book Reviews, LTR, Lyrique Tragedy Reviews, Ruth Rymer, Susannah A Lawyer, VBT, Virtual Book Tours

Sooooooo….. How’s it goin’ with you?

I know, I know… long time between posts… Sadly, it isn’t really something I can help.  I’ve been buried under deadlines and summits and editing and writing, and let’s not forget all the doctor’s appointments that have been necessary as of late.  Unfortunately they look like they’re going to continue for a while, but getting healthy is a process once you’ve beat up your body for most of your life.  I don’t like it, but it’s necessary.

That’s not to say I haven’t been thinking about posting.  Sure, there are probably three posts a day just waiting to be written, and every time I turn on the news something else comes up that I want to rant about (trust me, my blood pressure is probably better off this month if I don’t rant).  I have a stack of comic books sitting on my table at home that are waiting for me to read and pontificate on, and once I get my head back out of the books this month, I’ll be able to write like the wind.  I hope.

In the mean time, I’ll be hosting a Virtual Book Tour here and at Lyrique Tragedy Reviews for Ruth Rymer’s new novel Susannah, A Lawyer.  I’m not generally interested in historical fiction, but when it’s done well it can be a very satisfying read.  So far, I’ve been pleased with Susannah, A Lawyer, and I’m anxious to write the review.  Ruth has also agreed to answer some interview questions that the book raised for me, and I’ll share those here on October 5th, along with my review.  in the meantime, you should go pop over to her site and read an excerpt.

If the universe is kind, you may see a Blackest Night review and maybe those long awaited Marvel Divas & Gotham City Sirens posts I’ve been toying with.  I’ve also picked up Justice League: Cry For Justice (Sooo, what do you do when Green Lantern and Green Arrow decide that cleaning up after the bad guys destroy things isn’t working and they start taking the fight to their door?  AWESOME)  the relaunch of Batgirl (1 and 2), and the wonderful Batman and Robin that comes after Battle for the Cowl (easily the most disturbing villains and circumstances I’ve seen in comics… I’ll tell you why later… trust me).  There’s so much to read, y’all, and so much to tell you that I wish I had just one full, uninterrupted day where I could just write it all out.  There are things you need to be reading!  Wonderful, artful, masterfully written things! 

But for now, hold your horses (if you do, in fact, have horses, and if not then don’t get your panties in a bunch…. and if you’re a commando kind of guy/gal, then just …. I don’t know, be patient!) and I’ll be around sooner than you think.   

Tags: Author Interviews, Book Reviews, Comic Book Reviews, Comic Books, DC Comics, LTR, Lyrique Tragedy Reviews, Updates, Virtual Book Tours

I’m surprised it took this long to happen. 

This weekend author Alice Hoffman took Roberta Silman’s book review to heart and attacked the Boston Globe reviewer through Social Media.  On Sunday night (apparently at about 4 am) Hoffman began a 27 tweet string of vitriol-laced updates to her Twitter account (which was deleted as of this morning) blasting the reviewer and attacking her credibility, her position, and even the reviewer herself.  One of the more shocking tactics that Hoffman used was publishing Silman’s email and phone number for “fans” to respond to the critic in a Tweet that read:

“If you want to tell Roberta Silman off her phone is (redacted). (Email redacted). Tell her what you think of snarky critics.”

Since the account was deleted, the string went into the void along with it, but the author didn’t move fast enough.  You can still read her string of attacks, along with interesting takes on the events, at Gawker, Mediabistro, Entertainment Weekly, The National Post, and the NY Times Entertainment section.  It’s clear that Hoffman realized that she, perhaps, went too far and whether it was through the advice of colleagues, lawyers, or agents, she deleted her Twitter account (@AliceHof).  Smart move, perhaps, but the damage was done.  In this age of instant gratification information systems, her attacks were read and re-posted and re-tweeted almost instantly, and everyone knows that once you open Pandora’s box you can’t delete the box and hope the bad things (i.e. personal attacks, off color humor/statements, unprofessional behavior, etc.) you let out disappear on their own.  No can do, sister.

So what’s the big deal?  Authors have been raging against critics for ages.  Very few, however, took to open forums to attack a critic for doing her job.  The review itself is far for scathing, and Silman mentions her admiration for Hoffman’s previous works.  So the review wasn’t what Hoffman wanted to read.  So what….

In another Tweet, Hoffman lashes out:

“Now any idiot can be a critic. Writers used to review writers. My second novel was reviewed by Ann Tyler. So who is Roberta Silman?”

….Newsflash, Alice….

Idiots “Average people”–otherwise known as YOUR READERS–have always levied criticism of their own.  The difference now is that with the explosion and ease of blogging and social networking sites like LibraryThing and even Facebook, EVERYONE is a critic, and EVERYONE can post reviews for the world to read.  But instead of embracing this opportunity, authors are finding this threatening.  More opinions can be heard.  More negative reviews can be posted.  Forget that more positive reviews can be posted too, and that fan page after fan page can be posted.  Forget that this gives authors, agents, and publishers a unique insight into the worlds and minds of the readers.  None of that matters when compared to the fragile ego of the author. 

Writers used to review writers?  True.  But there have always been literary critics who weren’t commercial fiction writers, or writers at all.  Do you seriously think that all film critics or all food critics made movies or were 5 star chefs?  Get a grip and come down from your pretentious high horse.  You’re not writing academic criticism for a small, very specific group of readers.  You’re writing for the masses.  To make money.  Your objective is to write what people will buy (and want to buy) for a living.  Everyone, artists included, receive criticism on a daily basis and the reality is that it’s not always sunshine and puppies.  You can’t please everyone, and when you lash out it makes you look like a child.  It makes other reviewers not want to read your books for reviews–good or bad–and what happens then?  You fall into obscurity or you are driven to go ask those “idiots” online to give you a review, any review, for the love of all that is holy I need my work to be talked about to sell copies!!!  And guess what… When you come knocking to the doors of people who watched you attack a critic publicly, and personally… no one is going to answer.

And for the record, Roberta Silman is a writer, in every sense.  She’s a critic and published author.

Tags: Authors, Book Reviews, Book World News, Criticism, Lit issues, New Media, social media