February 2008 Archives

Last night I made my first visit to a book group discussing The Secret Between Us, and I have to say I was a little nervous. For one thing, I had laryngitis and had been whispering for two days to “save” my voice, but even then, I wasn’t sure could make myself heard. If you’ve ever had a bad case of laryngitis, you know the sheer effort it takes to produce sound.

Secondly, I wasn’t sure what I’d be asked. I’ve made many dozens of visits to book groups discussing Family Tree, but The Secret Between Us? This was the first. Okay, now, I have loads of things I would ask if I were talking with the author of this book. But what would this group ask? I had no idea.

An hour before the meeting, drinking hot tea laced with lemon and honey, I pulled The Secret Between Us off my shelf and flipped through just to remind myself of the story. If that sounds awful, take pity, please. I am up to my ears in my next book, which means total immersion in the characters, the plot, the themes. Wrenching myself from that and reimmersing myself in a whole other book takes some doing. Funny, though, the act of flipping through the pages did the trick. That quickly, it all came back.

Dinner was a silent fifteen minute thing with my husband, who is getting tired of my not having a voice, but there was no help for it last night. Leaving him to clean up, I came up here to my office to read up on the group I would be visiting. In planning each of these visits, my assistant asks for as much information on the group as possible. It helps me envision them and makes the time more fun.

My phone rang at eight on the dot. I took a breath and answered, forcing out a hello as best I could. It wasn’t pretty. But at least the women on the other end could hear me. So the voice worked. And the questions they asked? Amazing. They started by observing that I have children (they’d done their homework, too), and asking whether I would have done the same thing as Deborah if what happened to her daughter and her had happened to one of my sons and me.

It was a really thoughtful question. The answer is “yes,” to which several of the women voiced their agreement – and that set the tone for the evening. We went back and forth discussing what mothers do, agreeing for the most part but raising thought-provoking points – like after reading the book would we still have done the same thing in that situation? These women made me think in the way friends around a table would do.

Thirty-five minutes passed in a wink, and though my voice was growing worse for the wear, I would have talked even longer if – would you believe? – I hadn’t had another group to visit at nine.

The Secret Between Us turned out to be a terrific discussion book. Let me tell you, that’s a relief. And my voice is better today. Still not great. But better. And I don’t have another book group visit until next Tuesday. Should be perfect by then!

Naturally, I’m thinking about this because my new book. The Secret Between Us is on sale, contests are running, and I’m booking phone visits with reading groups to discuss it. Secrets – why we keep them, when we tell them, whether they help or hurt – are bound to be part of the discussion.

Want to help me prepare? Here are some questions.

Yes or no. Do you have a secret you’ve never told another living soul?

Yes or no. Did you ever keep a secret from a parent?

Yes or no. Have you kept a secret from a spouse?

Yes or no. Are there any situations when keeping a secret is the best thing to do?

I thought about these issues often while I was writing The Secret Between Us. Using the word ‘secret’ is something of a set-up. From the get-go, the reader knows that a secret if the focal point of the book.

If you’ve read my earlier blogs on this book, you’ll remember that its original title was Driving at Night. I loved the ambiguity of it, the juxtaposition of the physical act of driving at night, as occurs in the opening scene of the book, with the figurative act of feeling one’s way through the murky times in life. My publisher came up with The Secret Between Us, and from a marketing standpoint, it is better. There’s something about a secret that makes people lean in, cup an ear, and listen close.

What is it about secrets that makes them so appealing? Is it their hidden nature? Their potential for dirt or intimacy or even betrayal?

When you think about it, secrets are a staple of fiction. I’ve dealt with them in many of my books. Jenny, in Flirting With Pete, kept a major secret. The secret held by Gretchen, the title character in The Woman Next Door, kept the tension up through three neighborhood marriages and much of the book. And no less than four characters grapple with secrets in Family Tree.

One of my favorites when it comes to secrets is For My Daughters. This is the book I wrote after reading The Bridges of Madison County and seriously doubting that a woman could meet the love of her life during a summer fling and afterward return to her life with no one ever the wiser. My Virginia wasn't so lucky. Now, at the age of seventy and in failing health, she has a secret to tell her daughters. The reader learns that at the outset, and doesn’t learn the secret until the end of the book. It keeps her reading.

So. How about you? Right now, right here. Want to share your thoughts about secrets?

I know, I know. I’ve often said that I don’t outline my books prior to writing, that it takes too long, that it stifles creativity.

Well, I’ve just gone and made an outline for my work-in-progress. The book is titled While My Sister Sleeps, and it will be published in early 2009. Why have I broken my long-held rule?

First, because this book is complex. I’m working with five different points of view from characters ranging in age from 27 to 55, and their emotions run the gamut from grief to joy, envy to admiration to fear, love to hate. Quite honestly, keeping everything straight is tough. An outline helps with that.

Second, because my life is complex. Business intrudes (like writing this blog!) and distracts me from my novel. Family intrudes. So do friends. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. An outline helps me focus when I return.

And third, because rules are meant to be broken. If my mind wasn’t open to new and different things, I’d be writing the same old book again and again. Same with style. I’ve already talked in earlier blogs about the way I’ve streamlined my prose. Well, the writing process deserves the same fine-tuning. Hey, I’m not saying that I’ll outline every book to come, only that an outline works with this one.

So how did I do it? While My Sister Sleeps takes place in five days. I ran through those five days for each of my major characters, succinctly listing what each would experience on each individual day. Then I cut-and-pasted. Literally. Well, on the computer. You know what I mean. I moved this here, that there. I’ve had to tinker. Timing is crucial when you’re only working with five days. And I’m sure I’ll tinker more as the writing progresses.

A caveat for you would-be writers. I couldn’t have outlined this book three or four months ago. I didn’t know the characters well enough to see where they would head. I’ve actually already written the first hundred pages of the book. But now I’m at the point where the plot thickens, and the number of Post-its on and around my desk have gotten out of control. I’m counting on my outline to restore order. Will I blindly follow this outline? No way! If my characters start doing different things than I’d planned, I’ll adapt. The goal is producing the best possible book. My characters and I agree on that.

While My Sister Sleeps doesn’t yet have a link on my site. I do have a summary. But I’ll wait for a cover to post it. I don’t envy the Doubleday art department on that one. The cover of The Secret Between Us is spectacular. Making this new one even better will be a challenge.

BTW, check out my GUESTBOOK banner for an update on The Secret Between Us. That spectacular cover is working!

In most major publishing houses today, an author has a publicist assigned to her book. In my case at Doubleday, that’s Todd Doughty, whom I admire and adore. Todd crafted my Family Tree tour last year, and though I haven’t done a formal, in-the-flesh tour for The Secret Between Us, he has still done plenty of work. It’s his job, for instance, to send review copies of the book to every possible media outlet, and while that sounds simple enough, consider this. I’ve been around for a while. Yes, my books consistently hit the NY Times list (did you see my NEWS clip about its debut at #12 on February 10?), but lots of other books hit those lists, and many are books by first-time authors and are, therefore, treated like the next new not-to-be-left-unreviewed thing.

Getting reviewers to read and review my books can be a challenge. Todd’s pitch letter (describing the book, telling why it's different) is crucial, as is a follow-up phone call or two. And even then, a newspaper or magazine may say they’ll be posting a review, only to preempt it if something better comes along.

Moreover, there’s the be-careful-what-you-wish-for phenomenon. A review may be hard-won … but scathing! Is all publicity good publicity? Is it better to have a bad review than no review at all?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. But I lucked out last Friday. My PEOPLE magazine arrived with a fabulous review of The Secret Between Us inside.

“What would you do? That’s the question implicitly posed in Delinsky’s provocative new novel when mother and daughter Deborah and Grace Monroe hit Grace’s history teacher with their car, mortally wounding him. Grace, 16, was driving, but Deborah hides that fact and takes the blame. Delinsky is interested in how the lies we tell for love can destroy us instead – and she lays out this particular deception so painstakingly that even the most honest reader will sympathize. Like a car wreck about to happen, this family’s near-undoing can be tough to watch, but it’s even tougher to look away.”

Can an author ask for a better recommendation? Well, I can’t. And I’m reprinting the PEOPLE review here in this blog, because (a) PEOPLE doesn’t seem to post its book reviews online, and (b) I am so proud of this one. Okay, I’m also hoping to impress you, so that when you read the inevitable bad review, you’ll know there are two sides to every story.

BTW, just to clarify, review copies are sent by the publisher to its own list, not mine. They decide how many to send out and to whom. So if you’re one of those writing to me asking for a review copy, I just can’t help you. I’m sorry. I bet you’d write me a good revew.

Actually, many of you have. Check it out!