Ep165: Story Retellings with Guest Jeanne Blasberg

Writer Craft Podcast

Main Topic: Jeanne Blasberg, Story Retellings (starts at 21:39 on video)

PATREON:

Thank you to our existing patrons for believing in our work offline and here in the podcast.

Become a patron of the arts at Patreon.com/valerieihsan for books, writing instruction, coaching, and planning. Go to Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Segment 1 (Announcements/Author Updates):

• (Accidental Stranger Book 2 out)
• SWWC and Write in the Harbor (Erick teaching.) (Valerie will be at Write in the Harbor in Gig Harbor, WA this year, too! And also speaking at Alaska Writers Guild conference in Anchorage in October.)
• Host of Ghost Story Weekend for Wordcrafters. (Erick)
• writing, working on print version of Accidental Stranger, rewriting next Strange Air novel, client biz. (Erick)
• client work, getting ready for conference next weekend. (Valerie)

What are you reading?

• Valerie: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman; The Horse (Willy Vlautin); We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman's Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power (Rachel Rodgers)
• Erick: The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters (J.W. Ocker)

Jeanne Blasberg's reads:

Land Rich, Cash Poor: My Family's Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer (Brian Reisinger)

Entitlement (Rumaan Alam)

• Segment 2 (Resources/Tips/Tidbits):

• Tidbit #1: Six-Week Writing From Your Body workshop (author Anna Willman)--starts September 28 -- $40 per session or discounted rate for all six. They always work with individuals to make their workshops accessible to all. Focusinginternational.org Writing from your body FII workshop

Tidbit #2: Squibler (new writing organizer); Knowing what your boundaries are is key. I get to say what I do.

Tidbit #3: Chris Frizzell (Frizz Lit) Book club of the classic, chapter by chapter, funny host

Segment 3 (Mindset-Craft-Biz Check):

Segment 4 (Main Topic): Jeanne Blasberg is an award-winning and bestselling author and essayist. Her novel The Nine (SWP 2019) was honored with the 2019 Foreword Indies Gold Award in Thriller & Suspense and the Gold Medal and Juror’s Choice in the 2019 National Indie Excellence Awards. Eden (SWP 2017), her debut, won the Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for Best New Voice in Fiction and was a finalist for the Sarton Women’s Book Award for Historical Fiction. Her forthcoming novel, Daughter of a Promise (SWP, April 2, 2024) is a modern retelling of the legend of David and Bathsheba, completing the thematic trilogy she began with Eden and The Nine.

Jeanne cochairs the board of the Boston Book Festival and serves on the Executive Committee of GrubStreet, one of the country’s preeminent creative writing centers. Jeanne was named a Southampton Writer’s Conference BookEnds Fellow in April 2021. She reviews contemporary fiction for the New York Journal of Books, When not in New England, she splits her time between Park City, UT, and growing organic vegetables in Verona, Wisconsin.

Jeanne Blasberg

Daughter of a Promise

Retellings: def -- not side story (that's its own genre) -- have the events from the original tellings (same or parallel); reimagined in different setting; make things contemporary and relevant. Not a 'diss' on the original. Opportunity to retell is a fun journey for reader and author. Plots are familiar (off-beat romance, forbidden relationship, etc), can insert or end story at a different point. In conversation with other works.

Only so many plots, we process our lives with story. Not derivative.

Our human struggle has really never changed. The setting has, but universal truths haven't. As a species, have we really made much progress?

Take plot, make modern day, explore the relationships.

Do the research of retellings (all) already written first. Find what hasn't been said. Why are you telling this version? What questions exist? Why are you driven to write about it?

Follow your why's? What story has you still thinking about it? Follow your curiosity. This is the ultimate fan fiction. What are you obsessed with?

What are you wanting to say with this retelling?

"Inspired by" -- have permission to make these stories our own.

Insert our own thoughts and conversation with this art.

Art evolves this way. Museums hold many variations of the Virgin Mary. For instance.

License to play with it.

What about exposing yourself to the "scholars" and experts response?

Interest and curiosity is the response. Tip: Don't feel like anything is out of bounds for you. Just do it well. You are allowed to do it. If it lights you up, I think you should do it.

If you've triggered someone, clearly you've done it right.

@jeanneblasbergauthor

Constantly Curating on Substack (writing and farming)

Sonic Branding (link TBD)

Next episode:

Find Us:

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Patreons:

https://patreon.com/valerieihsan

https://patreon.com/strangeairmysteries

Tools:

Passion Planner: https://passionplanner.rfrl.co/e86j8 (affiliate link) Discount Code: VALERIE184

ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate link)

Resources:

"How to write an eavesdropping scene" on Erick's blog

Reading Critique Group for Writers FB Group (Jennie Komp's group)

3 Bird View FB page (Jennie Komp's business page)

Author XP (marketing for authors) (bi-monthly promotions)

Raven Publicity (publicity for authors)

The Shades of Orange (Rachel, Book Blogger on YouTube) for book recommendations SF/Fantasy/Horror

Contact Erick for business-starting advice or building a website.

Contact Valerie for author coaching.

Thomas Umstattd Jr, at Novel Marketing Podcast. Ep255: How to Create an Email Onboarding Drip Campaign

Russell P. Nohelty and Monica Leonelle's book, Get Your Book Selling on Kickstarter.

Balance meditation app.

• Story Rubric version 1.1 and podcast episode.
• Three Story Method worksheet

Book Recs for writing/creativity/business:

• Thinking in Pictures by John Sayles

• Take Off Your Pants: Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing by Libbie Hawker
• Story Hypothesis: A Writer's Guide to Crafting Resonating Stories by JP Rindfleisch IX
• Fast-Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Life Story in 45 Hours by Rachael Herron
• Three Story Method: Foundations in Fiction by J.Thorn and Zach Bohannon
• The Anatomy of a Best Seller by Sacha Black
• Slow Productivity by Cal Newport