Lois Leveen

Blog

March 6, 2012

Books do not fall from the sky

Books do not fall from the sky. Which is why as part of Portland's Everybody Reads program, I'm teaching a seminar on HeidiDurrow's The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, looking at the 'literary lineage' of the novel.

We've covered everyone from William Blake to Hans Christian Andersen to Nella Larsen to Langston Hughes to Audre Lorde -- in just three sessions. And tonight, we'll be hearing from Heidi herself, when she speaks at "The Schnitz" here in Portland (for out of towners, the Schnitz is a lovely performance venue, not a sausage stand).

It's made me wonder what people will see as the literary precursors to my novel. I've got my own list, but readers may see some connections I don't.
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March 3, 2012

USA/CSA/NBA

Civil War thought du jour:

Jeremy Lin-coln
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March 1, 2012

I Scream, You Scream, But the Union Didn’t Scream for Ice Cream

Abraham Lincoln never had an ice cream sundae. Neither, for that matter, did Dolley Madison.
Ice Cream sundae
Ice cream sundaes did not exist until the 1890s.

This *is so* a fascinating fact related to *The Secrets of Mary Bowser,* on account of Mary not being able to go out for an ice cream sundae that did not yet exist. You may set a scene in an ice cream emporium in the 1850s, but you do not want to fudge the historical accuracy by having anyone order a sundae.

Ha ha, get it? "Fudge"!
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February 29, 2012

Kirkus

Things that make authors vomit . . . today's fascinating fact about The Secrets of Mary Bowser is a brief quiz! No puking required!

One of the many things that happens between an author handing in the final manuscript and a book being published is the book manuscript going out to various reviewers.

So in honor of the fact that Kirkus, once described by the New York Times as 'reliably cantankerous' will post its review of The Secrets of Mary Bowser on Monday, here's a quiz.

Which recent bestsellers did Kirkus sum up with the following phrases:

1. This genuine page-turner offers a whiff of white liberal self-congratulation that won’t hurt its appeal and probably spells big success.

2. Juicy melodrama obscured by the intricacies of problem-solving.

3. A solid sophomore effort, and hopefully a sign of even better things to come.

4. While no masterpiece, this work nevertheless contributes in good measure to the current and very welcome revitalization of the historical novel.

And NO, none of those are about my book.

(btw, Kirkus does a huge amount of plot summary, so if you read a review of my book, it will completely decimate the actual pleasure you might have gotten from reading the book. I will post their one-sentence assessment when it goes live on Monday, so you can see how I fare compared to 1-4 above).
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February 27, 2012

Lincoln’s Air Force

Civil War fact du jour: Sure you know about Obama 's Navy Seals. But did you know Lincoln had a secret Air Force?
Reconnaisance balloons
Here's a lovely picture, courtesy of Harper's Weekly. This was big-time techno-warfare, enabling Union trips to reconnoiter over Confederate lines.
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