Ivana's Interview

I cannot fully express my appreciation for the people who support and encourage me. One friendship I treasure is with Ivana Marić in Croatia. Ivana blogs at Willing To See Less. Here is an interview she did recently. Nadine

My guest blogger today is Nadine Laman, a wonderful author and a very dear friend of mine. Our friendship started some three months ago, when I discovered FiledBy, a social network for authors and readers to meet. Nadine is a writing mentor and a personal cheerleader, often a shoulder to cry on. I am glad to have met her and to have read and reviewed her books, Kathryn's Beach, High Tide and Storm Surge. Today, Nadine is answering some of my questions on the trilogy and the writing process.

Q: Tell us how Kathryn's Beach was born!
A: Kathryn's Beach began as a short story banged out and emailed to a friend who had "cabin fever" during an ice storm. The friend wanted more, and the novel was born. In 21 days, I emailed a chapter or two to her each night until the draft of the story was finished.
Once my friend pushed for more story, I got serious about Kathryn's story and used the skills I had learned in writing classes to transform it into a novel.

Q: At that time, did anyone know you were writing?
A: Until that time, no one except my husband knew I wrote. I'm not sure he read any of my works, but he knew I wrote a short story a night after our boys were in bed and the house was quiet.

Q: Did you encounter any difficulties in writing Kathryn's story? Were there any obstacles in getting the books published?
A: The difficulty was that I had type cast Kathryn as a wounded person in search of redemption from the responsibility she felt for the death of one of her young clients. It was a balancing act to push her to move forward for answers and keep her wounded an appropriate amount of time. The dilemma became writing a weak character without making the writing weak. To complicate matters, I had set it as literary fiction - one of the least popular genre.That was almost a sure way to make certain that the book would never be published. Not to mention that writing in first person, present tense is a terrible idea. It has no commercial appeal. The books have been turned down because they were written in first person, sight unseen.

Q: How did Kathryn's Beach grow into a trilogy?
A: My friend asked for more, for a second book. At that point I knew there had to be a third book to finish the story; a beginning, middle, and end - the first rule of writing.The question was then, how to make each book complete, unique, and lead to the end of the third book that not only was satisfactory as an end to the book, but to the trilogy as a whole.

Q: You mentioned Kathryn's Beach was originally a short story. Was it difficult to expand it into a full-size novel--a trilogy, to be exact?
A: What saved me in transitioning from a short story writer to a trilogy of novels, was the writing classes I had taken at university. I suppose it can happen that a writer has an innate sense of writing, but most of the time, the tools of the craft set the foundation for becoming a novelist.

Q: You are very supportive towards novice writers. What is the best advice you can give to us who are just starting out?
A:I believe anyone can write, but to write well a person has to learn the skills of the craft: character development, dialogue, pacing, story line with arcs, literary devices. These are not hard skills to learn and it only takes a bit of discipline to apply them and the guts to write so that it can withstand the reader's test.

Thank you for being my guest today, Nadine, and for doing this interview!

This is a blog to be followed and a writer to anticipate her debut novel, Ivana Marić http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com/2009/10/guest-author-nadine-laman.html

BUZZ-BUZZ, BOOK BUZZ

by Ivana Marić, Croatia, guest blogger

Storm Surge by Nadine Laman: Grandfather McKenzie announces his retirement at a staged media event, naming who will succeed his rule of the McKenzie multi-billion dollar empire. In the four years Kathryn has known him, he never mentioned his plans to retire. None of the McKenzie heirs are thrilled about the announcement. The first lesson is, "Money corrupts!" Lesson two: "Everyone has an agenda!"

Preceded by Kathryn's Beach and High Tide, Storm Surge is the last book in the trilogy. Though I tend to love the first in the series best, it's not the case with this one; Storm Surge is my favorite in this series. It's different than the first two in many ways. In Kathryn's Beach, Kathryn is broken and struggles to make peace with her haunting past; in High Tide, she is confronted with changes and is doing her best to resume her life. All she learned and knew will be put to test in Storm Surge. When Grandfather McKenzie's announcement comes like a bolt from the blue, she needs to change her simple way of life in order to carry out her new duties as the heiress of a multi-billionaire worth business empire. She becomes the most powerful woman in California. But with power comes obligations, responsibilities and many tough decisions-not to mention danger and loss of anonymity.

Storm Surge was a read that made me hold my breath and flip the pages to find out what happens next. Once again, Kathryn proves herself as an intelligent, smart, compassionate and strong woman able to cope with any problem coming her way. She is thrown to the sharks, faced with the dark side of a world she never wanted to be a part of and carries it out graciously and without corrupting her own system of moral values. The ending was everything but predictable. As the families dirty laundry comes to surface, Kathryn is faced with a terrible illness-her own. It almost kills her, but with some help from her lovable friends she returns stronger.

I just love the way Nadine builds up her characters and story. Her writing is a wonderful example of show, don't tell . The characters crystallize through their actions, not words and descriptions.The last pages leave more than enough space for one more book, and it's amazing how the last chapter is tied back to Kathryn's Beach.

I'll miss Kathryn. As I said in my previous reviews of Kathryn's Beach and High Tide, she is as real as she can be. It was wonderful to watch her unfold to the maximum of what she can be in Storm Surge. Luckily, we'll spend some more time together as I'm translating Nadine's books into Croatian!

Meet Ivana Marić, Croatia. She is a English and German student, a novelist, blogger, and most importantly, a mom. Visit Ivana's blog http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com/2009/10/tss-storm-surge.html

BUZZ-BUZZ BOOK BUZZ

by Ivana Marić, Croatia, guest blogger

Kathryn has the perfect job, the perfect friends and family, and the perfect lover; until a client dies, her lover moves away, she meets her paternal grandfather and learns the secret of her identity. Things are starting to make sense or are they really what they appear to be?

High Tide sees Kathryn faced with numerous transitions. For a moment, everything seems to be just fine; Joseph is about to return from Ireland, the homeless project is showing great results and Kathryn’s grandfather establishes contact to her. Even Maggie is with her through her diaries.

At some point, everyone starts to fall apart. Upon his return, Joseph startles her with an unexpected offer. It’s on her to decide whether she is ready to leave her newly reclaimed life and her beach. After breaking up with Joseph, she seeks refugee in her beach again, and realizes that five years of absence was more than enough.

Everyone seems to be leaving, and Kathryn starts to feel lonely. Here is one of my favorite quotes: “I am tired of telling everyone Goodbye as they move on with their life, while I stand still. Maybe, I am ready to move on. Maybe it’s finally my time!” (p 115)

Sometimes it’s difficult to escape the high tide, but eventually, Kathryn takes control over her life, despite some “lawyers and their ability to mess up her life”. She finds her hope again, and decides to “chase after life with the drive of an eight-year-old chasing an ice cream truck!”

In conclusion: Nadine did it again. Her engaging first person present tense makes the story as realistic as it can be. Written in a simple, easy-to-read way, High Tide is a great read and, personally, a source of inspiration through Maggie’s and Kathryn’s diaries.

I love the beach descriptions as an instrument to show Kathryn’s sometimes stormy, sometimes nostalgic mood. Through Kathryn, the social worker in Nadine shines through. I was amazed with all those small things Kathryn does to make her clients feel better. Sometimes just a silk scarf is enough to raise someone’s self-esteem.

There were some parts that had me rolling on the floor laughing. Ever gave driving lessons to a nun? No? Maybe you should; nothing will reestablish your connection to God like that experience.

I’m looking forward to reading Storm Surge and learn more about Kathryn’s family. If there are any like her cousins, Storm Surge will probably be brimming over with intrigues!

Meet Ivana, my dear friend and writing colleague. Check out her blog and follow it! http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com/2009/09/tss-high-tide.html

Party with NADINE LAMAN!

by Ivana Marić, Croatia, guest blogger

Party, Party, Party...can you believe we have been partying for three weeks? Let's keep celebrating and give away more autographed books today! Everyone, world wide is invited...EVERYONE! Want free books? Play the game and/or comment in the comment section.

Carrie is the winner of Joy and Joyce's book yesterday. Congratulations! (email me, please)


Nadine Laman and I have met two months ago, but in many ways it feels much longer than that. Incidentally or not, we met on my birthday.

I had to see what was all the buzz about Nadine Laman and Kathryn’s Beach on Filedby. Seeing the words dyslexia and writer at the same page—in the same sentence, was my WOW moment. We started chatting, and Nadine heard my whining about lack of new books in English in our bookstores as I was unable to make online purchases. Not two weeks later, Kathryn’s Beach arrived at my home.

As I just commenced into my education on the world of publishing, Nadine answered many of my questions, sometimes even those unstated, on her blog, First Draft. Nadine is a mentor and friend who takes notice when I’m not around and takes time to email me and asks if everything is fine.

I am reading Nadine's High Tide. Kathryn is one of the most believable characters out there. Nadine's writing style is compelling in the sense you get a peek into Kathryn's mind and heart, making her all the more believable-and enjoyable.

What I learned from Nadine is that there are no obstacles in pursuing your dream-and if they still get in your way, how to easily avoid them.

With this blog party, which is really a terrific idea, she introduced so many great authors and readers I feel blessed to have met. She brought us together to celebrate what we love and what is our mission-writing our stories. Nadine magnanimously put others under the spotlight for the past few weeks. Today, Nadine, the stage is yours! Come out, take a bow and enjoy all that jazz!

Original music by Nadine's youngest son when he was 14. Photos from Seal Beach, California, taken by Nadine and family...often with a disposable camera (or a 35mm Minolta).




Thanks, Ivana. That was very sweet. You did a better job than I would have. I'm not surprised after the review you wrote for Kathryn's Beach. http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com/2009/08/now-real-tss.html

I think everyone must know by now that Kathryn's Beach began as a short story emailed to a friend, a chapter a night. The whole thing was planned about as well as this blog party five minutes before I said, "Party!" (The planning came after the announcement.) In the short story, I gave Kathryn a frail but resilient personality. After Terrie, my friend, insisted I write a novel, then a second (the third was my idea), I was stuck with the characteristics I had given Kathryn in the short story.

Kathryn's Beach is the story of Kathryn's return home to resolve the past that haunted her. After knocking the wind out of Kathryn toward the end of KB and having her dust herself off, High Tide gave her a few more bumps and busies and laughs. All of the struggles and triumphs came together so she could meet her biggest challenge yet in Storm Surge.

I would rather not give away spoilers, since I know most people at the BLOG PARTY have not read my books, otherwise, ask me anything about the books, the differences in writing a trilogy, or my well documented ability to jump off cliffs!

Party game: As we were thinking about a party game, Nadine mentioned she hated Haiku poetry. I’m not a fan of it either, so let’s turn it into our advantage and have fun. Write a Haiku in the form 5-7-5 syllables that has to have the words Nadine and Beach anywhere in it. If it doesn’t give you a brain hemorrhage, do more than one. It’s not so difficult once you give it a try! (Oh yeah, giving away autographed books!)


This is the place to party without worrying about typos in the comments (who cares?) -- this is after all, only the FIRST DRAFT.

**If you need help navigating blogger, here are some basic instructions: http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/2009/08/just-few-basics.html

The comment section is below this line. Click on the word "comments." That's where you can leave a note. eMail me if you have trouble with this...NadineLaman(at)aol.com

BUZZ-BUZZ, BOOK BUZZ

by Ivana Marić, Croatia, guest blogger

Kathryn's Beach: Kathryn abruptly ends a self-imposed exile to return to Los Angeles. Her friends and a cryptic letter written by a powerful man push Kathryn to reconcile the past. Who says, “You can’t go home again?” Sometimes that is exactly what must be done. But, is it worth it?

I say—yes, it is. Once home, Kathryn is catching up the past five years of her absence. Her friends and colleagues welcome her as if she never left. Life seems to get back on track, slowly but steadily, though the chill Kathryn feels when thinking about her last case fades too slowly. With several unexpected twists, a sweet romance, a tragic loss, a group of incredibly dexterous nuns, and a lot of compassion, Kathryn’s Beach is one of those books you wish were longer. You simply don’t want it to end. Maybe that’s the reason why it took me two days to read the last five pages. I didn’t want to let go. Developing a strong sympathy to Kathryn is inevitable, just as feeling with her. There is no violence, no sex, no bad language and no cheap and pretentious clichés, humorous in a refreshing, witty way. Needless to mention, all the female characters are strong women, but Nadine shows their fragile side as well. They all seek refuge on their beach, which is beautifully and expertly described.

The social component-Nadine’s profession-is presented with all the faults and flaws of the system, but leaving strong hope for change and improvement. Nadine leaves you several loose ends as invitation to read High Tide and Storm Surge.

In conclusion:
The words coming to my mind when thinking about Kathryn’s Beach are unpretentious, gentle, caring, compassionate, hopeful, realistic and LIFE with all its highs and lows. You lose some, you win some. Forgiving thy neighbor is sometimes difficult, forgiving yourself sometimes impossible-even when there is nothing to be forgiven. “Life is good; not always easy, but good.”

MEET IVANA:

Ivy is a young and ambitious mom and student. She is studying German and English with the goal to become a translator. Check out her blog, her English is better than mine! http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com/2009/08/now-real-tss.html

Seismic Activity

Glynis in Cyprus (isn't the internet wonderful?) is blogging about character development including more sensory experiences. I thought that was interesting since it isn't something a million other writers blog about. That led me to do a self-review of my works.

Most serious writers are interested in anything that improves their writing, and usually only the most arrogant (I've met a few) or inexperienced writers think what they bang out is perfect.

Ivana, a young writer in Croatia, reminded me of one of the universal responses to Kathryn's Beach, the impact of the beach in that story. I've mentioned before how setting needs depth to enhance the stage for characters to play upon.

Yesterday four Mexican earthquakes were felt in Phoenix (they were in Baja California). The report said that several high rise buildings downtown were evacuated. We are part of Phoenix, the western part, and I didn't notice the quakes. Maybe that is because I grew up in Southern California where we have earthquakes all the time, but it set me thinking how I would find it unbelievable if someone wrote there was seismic activity in Phoenix - maybe even if that was part of the plot.

Often writers exaggerate to make things feel more real, an innocent kiss with a touch of tongue, a car crash with several rollovers, or spousal banter that ends in an earthquake (like in the movie Grand Canyon, set in LA). Yet, it has to be within the realm of possibilities. Having lived in Phoenix (twice now) I just wouldn't buy an earthquake, even though, it does seem to happen. So... there is real and there is believable writing.

Glynis is here: http://www.glynissmy.com/