new Dark Shadows novel

[gwynnega]

My friend Lara Parker has a new Dark Shadows novel, Wolf Moon Rising. I haven't read it yet, but loved her previous Dark Shadows book, The Salem Branch, which she was writing when we were both MFA students at Antioch. (As some of you know, I became a Dark Shadows freak because I went to Antioch with Lara, who played the witch Angelique on the show.)

She's in the midst of a book tour (dates on her website, linked above), and I was delighted to see that Dodie Bellamy (our teacher from Antioch) posted about her appearance at Borderlands in San Francisco. I especially liked what Dodie had to say about the treatment of genre writing and literary experimentation in MFA programs. (At Antioch I wrote experimental poetry and a vampire novel, so I know what she's talking about!...though fortunately I had teachers who got what I was trying to do.)

Comments

[usedtobeljs]

A fascinating blog post. And yay for friends with novels! :) [hugs]

[gwynnega]

Come to think of it, I have rather a lot of friends with novels. :-)

::hugs::

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

This is not surprising to me :)

[carlamlee.livejournal.com]

That looks AWESOME! Thanks for the information.

[gwynnega]

My pleasure!

[cafenowhere.livejournal.com]

What a cool connection to have to Dark Shadows! And what Dodie says about genre fic and literary experimentation is heartening. If genre must be marginalized, at least we have cool cohorts!

[gwynnega]

I had wanted to study with Dodie after I read her novel The Letters of Mina Harker, and then I lucked out that I was able to work with her on my vampire book! I'm pretty sure my novel and Lara Parker's were the only two books with genre elements in our MFA program when we were there...

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

My creative writing prof went beyond "dismissive" straight into "discouraging and elitist" about genre fic. At least until I explained to him the part where (in 1994 when I was working on me BA) the short story market was DRIED UP except in genre mags, and also I had a much better shot at writing for Highlander than I ever would NYPD Blue. And I also knew that I would rather sell to MZB than I ever would The New Yorker.

(I may have also told him to his face to stop being such a dick. Because that was me in my early 20s--fearless and ballsy.)

[gwynnega]

I was extremely lucky to have teachers who didn't have that attitude towards genre. One of my teachers who worked with me on my vampire novel had a "no elves" policy, but fortunately he was fine with vampires...

[cafenowhere.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! Dodie's Mina Harker book looks amazing! I've added it to my Goodreads queue. :D No wonder you were eager to work with her.

[gwynnega]

I've been wanting to reread Mina Harker...I haven't read it since the late '90s when it came out!

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

zomg she looks AMAZE. Does she bathe in the blood of virgins?

[gwynnega]

She looks amazing in person as well! I don't know her secret. Maybe it's the spirit of Angelique...