Publishing | Lauren B. Davis

We Remain Faithful

May 16, 2012 By Lauren B. Davis 6 Comments

Gustave Flaubert

“Talent is long patience.”
— Gustave Flaubert

A few years ago I lay on the couch in my living room, curled up into a fetal position, intermittently groaning and blinking back tears.

I felt as though everything I had worked for had been ripped away from me, as though I had arrived at the party to which I’d been invited, only to have the door slammed in my face, as though the fragile mask of competence I’d been wearing had been torn away, and the whole world now saw what a fraud I was.

Filed Under: Publishing, Straight from the Quill -- notes from the writing workshops, Writer's life, Writing process

10 Truths for Emerging Writers (hint: think slow)

March 16, 2012 By Lauren B. Davis 4 Comments

I heard from an emerging writer recently who said she’d been crushed, devastated, destroyed by the feedback she’s received on her book, which she recently self-published, and by the lack of sales. She was so convinced it was brilliant. Now she feels as though readers are idiots or else she’s utterly deluded. Either way, she’s done. Quit. She won’t write again.

Oh, dear.

Back at the beginning of time, before self-publishing became so popular, writers developed over years, sometimes decades. A writer became a writer by spending a lot of time reading, figuring out how writers he or she admired crafted wonderful books and, in turn, spending a fair period of time (often years) learning to do this him or herself.

Filed Under: Publishing, Straight from the Quill -- notes from the writing workshops, Writer's life, Writer's Mental Health, Writing process

Musehouse Reading

February 15, 2012 By Lauren B. Davis 2 Comments

Bookbound has an article about my upcoming reading at the Musehouse Center for the Literary Arts in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia on Saturday, Feb. 18th. I think the writer, Nicolette Milholin, did a fine job with it. You can read it here. Hope some of you can make it to the reading!

Filed Under: Publishing, Writer's life

Globe & Mail Review of OUR DAILY BREAD

October 14, 2011 By Lauren B. Davis Leave a Comment

I am humbled and grateful for the wonderful review Alan Cuymn gave OUR DAILY BREAD in the Globe & Mail. I have enormous respect for Cuymn’s work; to get such a positive review from him leaves me breathless.

He says:

Where is hell, exactly?

Up the mountain, where it has always been. The road there takes your children first.

Our Daily Bread, by Lauren B. Davis, is all about that road. Signs blare from the beginnings of many chapters, sermon excerpts from the Church of Christ Returning. But it’s not all fire and brimstone. Much of the scenery looks hauntingly familiar, and that’s the power of a literary novel detailing, almost lovingly, every good intention.

Filed Under: Book reviews, Publishing

My Book Addiction

September 29, 2011 By Lauren B. Davis 2 Comments

The site “My Book Addiction” has posted an interview with yours truly, a review of OUR DAILY BREAD — and they’re doing a giveaway! They’re offering 4 print copies of Our Daily Bread. The Giveaway runs from today September 29,until October 6, 2011. Good luck! Let me know if you manage to snag a copy!

Filed Under: Book reviews, Publishing

Bright Spots

August 17, 2011 By Lauren B. Davis 2 Comments

Cover, "Our Daily Bread"

I am so grateful for the support I’ve received for my new novel, Our Daily Bread. Thomas E. Kennedy, author of The Copenhagen Quartet, Duff Brenna, author of Too Cool, The Book of Maime and The Holy Book of the Beard (among others), and Dexter Palmer, author of The Dream of Perpetual Motion, have all donated blurbs, as has the wonderful Canadian author, Jane Urquhart. Jane says,

“Our Daily Bread is a compelling narrative set in a closely observed, sometimes dark, but ultimately life-enhancing landscape. Lauren B. Davis’ vivid prose and empathetically developed characters will remain in the reader’s mind long after the final chapter has been read. “
—Jane Urquhart, prize winning author of Away and The Stone Carvers

Filed Under: Book reviews, Publishing, Writer's Mental Health

The Forgiveness Cure

February 8, 2011 By Lauren B. Davis 5 Comments

I’m in the midst of editing my new novel, OUR DAILY BREAD, which will be released in the US in September. It’s the story of what happens in a small town when, for generations, certain folks have been ostracized, pushed away and left to fend for themselves. Considered Those People—beyond the pale, beyond redemption—they become resentful, insular, self-hating, inbred, almost feral. Think a rural LORD OF THE FLIES with grown-ups.

Filed Under: "The Other" (Us vs Them), Addiction, Depression and Suicide, Publishing, Spirituality, The World, The News & My Opinions On Stuff (for what it's worth), Writer's life, Writer's Mental Health Tagged With: acceptance, forgiveness, writing, Writing Life

Familiarity breeds….

January 18, 2011 By Lauren B. Davis 2 Comments

It's editing time.

I’m in the process of editing my manuscript, OUR DAILY BREAD, which will be published in the fall. Now, I’ve read this manuscript probably thirty times. My Best Beloved, who is also my first reader, has probably read it five times. My agent has read it at least once. My editor has read it a few times. All these people have caught errors, bless ‘em. So, you’d think we would have caught sentences like these: “I’m you don’t mind Ivy helping me” or “It seemed there was there no end to the surprising things Dorothy might find herself saying.” But no.

Filed Under: "The Other" (Us vs Them), Publishing, Writer's life, Writer's Mental Health, Writing process Tagged With: editing

A Third Possibility

December 13, 2010 By Lauren B. Davis 3 Comments

What?? You didn't go to college???

People frequently ask me, “Where did you go to college?” and some look as though I’ve just walloped them in the face with a flounder when I reply, “I didn’t go to college.” How can that be, I see them thinking, you’re a published author. Yeah. And in this era of nearly mandatory MFAs, I suppose I do seem like a bit of a freak.

Filed Under: Publishing, Writer's life, Writing process Tagged With: Faulkner, Graham Green, J.D. Salinger, James Agee, writing

More than enough shame to go around

November 19, 2010 By Lauren B. Davis 6 Comments

Anyone who has read this blog even occasionally knows my feelings on the psychological dangers inherent in chasing the publishing carrot and the sort of relentless self-promotion writers (and many other artists) are expected to engage in these days.

Sure, we all want readers and publishing can be lovely, but I don’t believe the way we measure success, particularly in North America, is good for either writers or literature and I don’t believe, in the final analysis of a life’s worth, sales figures and fame mean very much.

Filed Under: "The Other" (Us vs Them), Publishing, The World, The News & My Opinions On Stuff (for what it's worth), Writer's life, Writer's Mental Health