Contact/News
You can order my books online at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, or you can visit your local bookstore.
You can contact me at arliss@arlissryan.com. I am available to speak at writers’ conferences, university seminars, library programs and other venues.
A Special Note to Book Clubs: If you would like me to visit your book club or chat with your group via speaker phone, please email me at the address above. I enjoy hearing readers’ reactions to my novels and am happy to answer your questions about how and why I came to write them.
Are You Lying? – Part 2
3/7/10
Why do people keep sticking their hands into wild animals’ cages at the zoo? Why do politicians keep cheating on their wives and think they’ll never get caught? And why do seemingly intelligent writers keep falsifying information and trying to pass it off as fact?
In February, I posted some thoughts on the latter issue. Now comes another instance: Henry Holt and Company has declined to publish a disputed book by James Pellegrino on the atomic bombing of Japan. Mr. Pellegrino has allegedly been unable to answer the publisher’s concerns about the veracity of certain information and the reliability and even the existence of certain sources.
I don’t get it. On the one hand, isn’t the bombing of Japan an incident of such historical and emotional significance that the truth needs no assistance? On the other hand, why not write your story as a novel if you enjoy making things up?
But then, if politicians remained faithful and people kept their fingers out of lions’ cages, we novelists would be deprived of stunning examples of real-life idiocy on which to base believable fictional characters.
This Novel is a Natural Product
2/26/10
I recently came across the following message as a tagline on a discussion forum:
This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and are in no way to be considered flaws or defects.
Since I have just finished proofreading the typeset pages for The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare, that sentiment really hit home. At this stage, I have made the final corrections to the manuscript, and I won’t see it again before it goes to print.
Thus, if there are any errors I have missed or if the typesetter fails to pick up those errors I have marked, they will appear in the actual book. Being a perfectionist about my writing, the idea of even a single typo slipping through is a hard lump to swallow, especially because, despite my best efforts, there are errata in both my previous books.
But maybe it’s time to take a more serene view and adopt the philosophy in the tagline above. Writing–and creating art of any sort–is an organic pursuit, and perhaps the results are never meant to be perfect. The joy is in the process.
Please Join Me
2/16/10
If you are in the area, please join me on Saturday, 27 February, for a presentation to the Florida Writers Association. I’ll share my experiences in writing The Kingsley House and The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare, followed by a Q&A on any aspect of writing that interests you.
What: “15 Tips for Researching and Writing A Historical Novel”
When: Saturday, 27 February, 10:30 a.m.
Where: Ponte Vedra Beach Library, 101 Library Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
The program is open to the public, and a book signing will follow. Whether you are a writer or a reader, this is your chance to learn from my (mis)adventures!
Are You Lying?
2/2/10
When a book gets published, the author is typically asked by the publisher to fill out a questionnaire covering the author’s personal and professional background, previous publishing credits, etc. The information is used by the marketing department to promote the book.
Having filled out such a questionnaire for my first two novels, I wasn’t surprised when my current publisher asked me to do the same for The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare, due out in June. But this time I was also requested to sign a statement certifying that all the information I provided in the questionnaire was “true and verifiable” and that I could produce documentation, if requested.
I’m guessing this in response to recent cases where authors have penned best-selling memoirs and, quite frankly, lied. The media pounced on the stories, the publishers claimed to be shocked, and the liars made a lot of money and became even more famous. In this country, we reward people for behaving badly.
So I want to confess right here and now that I lie all the time. I write fiction, and what is fiction but a tapestry of lies so beautifully and movingly interwoven that the story feels utterly true?
But I don’t lie about who or what I am. Even a bestseller isn’t worth that.
A Letter from Kenneth Branagh
1/28/10
In previous posts, I mentioned the generous endorsements I have received from other fiction writers for The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare. At the same time, I have been trying to obtain blurbs from Shakespeare organizations and scholars, historians and theater companies. Though not a Shakespeare scholar myself, I have put a tremendous amount of research into the novel, and a blurb from a respected source would help signal that the book would be of interest to serious fans of the Bard.
One of those I contacted was Kenneth Branagh, obviously well known for his film versions of Hamlet, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing and Love’s Labor’s Lost. Not having an email address, I wrote to him at a studio in England and sent it off by snail mail, not expecting a response.
Yet what should appear in my mailbox six weeks later but a letter from the studio “on behalf of Kenneth Branagh.” No, he couldn’t read my book. But he was flattered that I had considered him and hoped I understood.
Of course, I do. And whether or not the letter was generated on Mr. Branagh’s instructions or simply composed by the assistant who signed it, to have someone take the trouble to reply with a “real” letter was a gracious touch.
So my offer still stands, Mr. Branagh. Should the book ever be made into a movie, you may play any part you want.
