We are all drowning, and we are all saviors: American Still Life By Jim Naremore Book Tour with Guest Post & Giveaway
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR
of
American Still Life
By Jim Naremore
Tour Begins January 6
Book Summary
We are all drowning, and we are all saviors.
Wresting with addiction, guilt, and self-loathing, gifted
photojournalist Skade Felsdottir finds herself trapped in a web of her own
creation when she is forced by circumstances to return to her hometown—the
place that holds her crippling secrets. After screwing up her “big break”, a
photo essay book about descansos—roadside memorials to people who have died
tragically, Skade tries to salvage the project against a tight deadline. While
simultaneously working and keeping her darkest demons at bay, Skade reconnects
with an old boyfriend and befriends a unique but broken young woman named Kit.
Their burgeoning friendship begins a process of healing for them both, until a
devastating sequence of events plunges Skade into darkness, leaving her to
decide between redemption and running away; between life and death. Set against
a backdrop of the back roads of a forgotten America, American Still Life
explores the crossroads of grief and artistic expression, of loneliness and
atonement. A journey familiar.
Publisher: Regal House Publishing (Deceember 17, 2024)
ISBN: 1646035054
ISBN: 978-1646035052
AISN: B0CNTWJH98
Print length: 296
pages
Purchase a copy of American Still Life on
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/American-Still-Life-Jim-Naremore/dp/1646035054
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/american-still-life-jim-naremore/1144401418?ean=9781646035052
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/american-still-life-jim-naremore/21166321?ean=9781646035052
You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202538411-american-still-life?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=bDrIdOSiXR&rank=6
Guest Post
I’ve taught workshops on novel writing for several years and the very first thing I used to write on the board during the first meeting was this: “There are no rules.”
Given that most of the workshop attendees are fledgling authors, this statement is both confusing and a bit terrifying. They came to the workshop essentially hoping to find the golden rules that will help them create the Great American Novel, after all. It helps that there is an instant corollary to that bit of anarchy: “There are thousands of rules, and the better you know them the better off you’ll be.” That’s the second thing I write on the board. This, of course, is even more confusing. So, let’s unpack these two seemingly contradictory statements.
Writing is art, and art is complex. Art is about a lot of things, one of which is the expression of the ineffable, life, emotions, feelings, and the human experience. Typically, any artform goes about this expression in periods of style. An artist creates a style, or a movement, and that style or movement is copied by other artists who see ways to refine the style or use it in new ways. Think about Modernism or Post-Modern styles. In writing you see the novel evolve from the enormous volumes with purely omniscient narrators of the late 19th century, to a much more taught, streamlined first or close-third narration beginning in the early 20th century. Beyond styles you have fashion or fads that will run through periods. Inevitably, a style will run its course. It gets to a point where there is little left to be said in a certain style and things become redundant or over-wrought. Then suddenly, a new style or movement explodes on the scene and the process repeats. These new styles or movements are created because someone decided to ignore the rules. No rules means creative freedom, and from creative freedom we get something entirely new.
However, writing is also a craft: the craft of story-telling. And like any craft, there are thousands of rules and techniques that have been developed over the centuries to make the craft function as beautifully as possible. Think of it as infrastructure. The better you understand the rules and techniques that help create meaningful stories, the better your stories will become. Freitag’s Pyramid, three-act structure, beats, scenes, dialog, exposition, show-don’t-tell, editing, all of this is part of the infrastructure of writing and the better you understand these “rules”, the more powerful your story telling will become. But also—importantly—once you know these basic rules, the better understanding you will have of when and how to break them or ignore them or challenge them. That is important. In my first novel, The Arts of Legerdemain as Taught by Ghosts, I subtly and very much on purpose broke some of the rules relating to character POV in close-third narration. I did this with the full understanding of what that kind of voice brings to the reader. I wanted to try to give an edge of foresight to the reader by doing what I did, and it seemed to have worked. The important thing is that I would not have tried to do that if I didn’t have a grounding in the rules. There are no rules, but there are thousands of rules and the more you know them, the better off you’ll be.
A couple of caveats with this. Generally, I would advise new writers to stick close to the existing rules. Learn your craft, I guess. Get to know how things work on the page, and you will begin to intuitively find things you want to do differently. Secondly, The art of writing is often placed hand-in-hand with publishing. Publishing is not art, it’s business. Business has a lot of rules, and it often casts a dim view on rule breaking. So much so that even manuscript word-counts are tracked by the industry, and your chances of getting a deal diminish (sometimes greatly) if you fall outside the prescribed word-count limits for your genre. Break rules, create something entirely new. But tell a great story. No rules, but lots of rules.
About the Author
With roots in the American deep south and the Midwest
grounding his sense of place, Jim Naremore has published an array of short
fiction and the award-winning novel The Arts of Legerdemain as Taught by Ghosts
(Belle Lutte, 2016). He holds an MFA from the Solstice program at Lasell
University in Boston and currently lives with his partner and cat in New York’s
Hudson River Valley.
You can follow the author at:
Instagram: @jim_naremore
https://www.instagram.com/jim_naremore/
Website: https://www.jim-naremore.com/
Giveaway
Join us as we celebrate the launch of Jim Naremore's literary fiction American Still Life. Read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of his book.
https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
#AmericanStillLife #LiteraryFiction #BookTour #Giveaway #JimNaremore #WOW @WomenonWriting @wow_womenonwriting @jim_naremore
January 7th @ C.C. King
Author Jim Naremore stops by with a guest post about how you
transform an idea into a full blown story.
https://www.caitrincking.com/blog
January 9th @ Some Thoughts - Everything Creativity
Jim Naremore, author of American Still Life, share his
thoughts on the MFA: what do those three letters get you?
https://www.kaeceymccormick.com/blog
January 10th @ What Is That Book About
The spotlight's on American Still Life by Jim Naremore.
Could this be your weekend read?
https://www.whatisthatbookabout.com/
January 12th @ Knotty Needle
Judy reviews American Still Life by Jim Naremore.
http://knottyneedle.blogspot.com
January 13th @ Tracey Lampley
Author Jim Naremore wants to talk about sex...and the
challenge of writing a good sex scene.
https://traceylampley.com
January 14th @ A Storybook World
Want a cup of tea and a good read on this winter day? Check
out the spotlight on Jim Naremore's American Still Life.
https://www.astorybookworld.com/
January 15th @ Choices
Jim Naremore stops by with the ABCs of a good writers'
group.
http://madelinesharples.com
January 16th @ Words by Webb
Thoughts on the novel American Still Life.
https://www.jodiwebbwriter.com/blog
January 18th @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion
Meet writer Jim Naremore in today's interview.
https://bootsshoesandfashion.com
January 21st @ Word Magic
Before you “kill your darlings”, what does that
misunderstood axiom really mean? Author Jim Naremore shares his thoughts on
darlings and their demise!
https://fionaingramauthor.blogspot.com
January 23rd @ Lisa Haselton Book Reviews and Interviews
Lisa has some intriguing questions for Jim Naremore in
today's author interview.
https://lisahaselton.com/blog/
January 24th @ A Wonderful World of Words
What's the first thing Jim Naremore tells students in his
Novel Class? Stop by and find out!
https://awonderfulworldofwordsa.blogspot.com/
January 29th @ The Faerie Review
Discover author Jim Naremore with a review of his latest:
American Still Life.
https://www.thefaeriereview.com
January 31st @ Nikki's Book and Movie Reviews
Looking for a new book for next month? Check out Nikki's
review of American Still Life.
https://nikkitsbookreviews.wordpress.com
February 4th @ Writer Advice
Stop by for some tips from Jim Naremore on ways to find and
maintain (and recover!) your “voice” in writing.
www.writeradvice.com
February 7th @ Boys' Mom Reads!
American Still Life is reviewed by Karen of Boys' Mom reads!
https://karensiddall.wordpress.com
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