Ramblings. As in: Have Words -Will Ramble. As in: Ramble: to write or talk aimlessly or without sequence of ideas, to proceed with turns and twists; meander As In: observances of an everyday life in passing through the spectrum of extraordinary.
Book Clubs and Readers Guide
Sunday, August 09, 2009
My apologies to the Book Clubs and readers who have been asking for the Reader's Guide for Saints In Limbo! Those questions are posted here for easy access and will be posted on the Saints In Limbo page soon. Also, look for a new addition to this site that is designed just for book clubs and will feature photos of most recent conversations, podcasts, and visits. We'd love to post short stories regarding how your book club was started and what has developed from your reading practice! That's me visinting with Pulpwood Queen book club members at their January Girlfriend Getaway event - I'm in the center having been bribed to wear red by Denise Hildreth. My proof to her since she was not there that she owes me big time :) Shellie Rushing Thomlinson is on my right and Suzanne McLenndon is on my left. And what a story teller she was!
If you are a book club that has requested Book Plates through face book please email me through this website and I'll get those out to you right away. And if you have a book club or group that would liked signed book plates for your book group, just drop us a line.
Many book groups are reading, meeting and discussing the latest novel and I absolutely Love, love, love visiting via skype, phone, or whatever video or telephone conference call system you prefer. I'm also frequently on the road speaking and signing and would be happy to include visiting with your book club as part of the trip. It is always a joy to talk with people who love stories and embrace reading.
In the meantime, yes, I'm still in the cave at a friends lovely woodsy, retreat sans tv, movie theatres, friends, family, big barking dog, demanding cat, and all the other joys of my 'real life.' Right now my real life consists of writing, writing, killing scorpians, and writing. Oh, did I mention scorpians. Yes, yes, they live here. They tried very hard to tell me they lived here more than I would. I asked a nearby park ranger about the scorpians and how to deal with them and he said they liked dark so just check my shoes before I put them on. He is wrong. They like me. And that's what I told him. Wrong. Me they likey because I woke up with two on my pillow.
Now, My husband thinks scorpians are umm, nice, cute, pretty - I forget exactly but he doesn't seem to fully get the face that I have been stung by a tennessee scorpian that popped me on the hand (and yes, it's true the smaller the more poison) and it turned nasty purple red orange green and hurt to move it, eat with it, or TYPE which did I mention all I am doing is typing/writing? I assured my husband that I gently removed the critters from the bed and gently lifted them to where they could be free. Which diciphered means I smashed them flat and flushed them down the toliet. Then I was tiptoeing around in scorpian fear for days yelling and killing them. And let me tell you - they are little liars is what they are because you can cover one with a can of raid and he will fall over dead but when you leave the room to get a broom and dustpan to remove him, ha, nothing but a puff of raid. Now any self respecting florida cockroach would have given up the ghost and had all twenty feet in the air but no - the scorpians they fake it because they intend to come back and get you. You can tell they are vengeful and hold grudges just by looking at them. At this point I can't tell you how many I have killed. But I can tell you this, I wake up ready, can see them out of the corner of my eye when I'm writing in my notebook, then the Clint Eastwood music starts playing in the background and I sling that notebook with all my might, kill that scorpian and keep on writing. You know, woman's gotta do what a . . . I have killed some mightly wicked looking wolf spiders and one so big it had to be a black widow just because they got in the way of me trying to kill a scorpian. I kid you not.
For the record - there is not a single scorpian in the storyline of this new novel. Not a one and I don't mind. But sometime later, sometime when I am writing in a place and country that doesn't have them, then maybe I'll revisit this issue.
In the meantime, I must come out of the cave in a few weeks because I get to join that big chapter of the Pulpwood Queens book club in Texas via SKPE where we will tell stories and talk about the things that surprised them, made them laugh or cry in Saints.
Book Clubs have become one of the greatest ways that those of us who love reading, continuing to support books and to also introduce friends to new writers ever day. It's a great way to taste something a little different than your usual read and to discover some new favorites in the process.
I Hope your personal story is still full of slow summer evenings, the ones where you really take time to actually sit on the porch, and do nothing but chat with a neighbor. And that you have one more road trip, even a short one, still in the making. You've got time, all you need is a car and a few days. Because photo's like the one here wouldn't be possible without a road trip and boy, did that one produce it's own bag of stories. The Adorables said life was better in 3D. I couldn't agree more!
Safe Journey!
River Jordan
ABOUT THIS GUIDE Ever since her husband, Joe, died, Velma True's world has been limited to what she can see while clinging to one of the multicolored threads tied to the porch railing of her rural home outside Echo, Florida.
Then one day a stranger appears at her door. Without knowing why, the agoraphobic widow welcomes him into her kitchen for coffee while she tells him stories of how life used to be, before her purposes were "all dried up." Just before disappearing as suddenly as he came, the man presents Velma with a special gift, one that allows her to literally step back into the past through her own memories to a place where Joe still lives and the beginning is closer than the end.
While Velma is consumed with the man's gift, her son Rudy is also being presented with a challenge to his self-centered, complacent lifestyle. And a teenage girl winds her way to Echo, determined to unravel the mysteries her dead mother left behind. As secrets old and new come to light, Velma finds herself unmoored from the fears of the past and feeling her way toward freedom.
This lyrical, Southern novel weaves mystical elements with tangible touches of God's redemptive grace to reveal a pattern of irresistible hope.
Reader's Guide 1. Saints in Limbo takes place in the deep, rural south, in fictional Echo, Florida, near the state’s northern border near Alabama. Have you read other novels rooted in the deep south? Do you believe that the southern landscape has changed in modern culture, or is it changing still? Is this of significance? What do you think should be preserved of the “Old South” and what should be released to the past? 2. Velma clings to the threads on her front porch. What do you believe that she needs from having the threads there? Do you have similar “threads” in your life? What do they provide you? 3. Early in the novel, Velma is given an incredible gift from a mysterious stranger. A rock that allows her to travel back through time into her memories. Are there tangible things or places in your life that are touchstones - like Velma's rock - that elicit your memories? Do they require protection of any kind to keep them? How can you use your touchstones to help you appreciate your memories while living in the moment? 4. Discussing what one has read is very important to Velma’s friend Sara, as she is hurt to discover that Velma actually read the copy of Moby Dick Sara loaned to her twenty years before. But Velma feels like the story loses something in the discussion. She says, “Talking about them isn’t going to change anything. Not gonna bring Moby back.” Why do you think Velma feels so apathetic about sharing with her friend? 5. The gift of reliving memories plays a significant role in Saints in Limbo. If you were suddenly given this gift to re-experiencing portions of your past, how do you think you’d respond? Would you escape into your past, or avoid those experiences? 6. Throughout the story, in the midst of everyday life, spiritual occurrences touch down and invade the natural world. Do you feel that the spiritual side of life has ever invaded, or overlapped, into your everyday world? 7. A malevolent force tries to rob Velma of her ability to use her gift to gain wisdom from the experience, and to affect her future for the better. Do you believe a force, or forces, exist that attempt to stop the good things from happening, or certain destinies from being fulfilled? 8. Velma's son Rudy appears to have wasted all his potential and seems to live an unremarkable life. What do you believe are the experiences that set Rudy’s course? By the end of the novel, do you feel that Rudy’s journey can be seen in a different light? What kind of future can you imagine for Rudy? 9. Velma and Sara are best friends, even though they are different in almost every way. Are your friendships built around people who are much like yourself? If so, why? If not, how has this affected you? 10. Annie's presence in Echo serves as a catalyst for several of the characters. Can you think of an experience with a person–friend, family member, or stranger– who served as a catalyst in your own life? Was it a positive or negative experience? 11. Near the end of Saints in Limbo, Velma sees the man who brought her gift to her on her birthday, and she now finds that it’s gone. She says, “Looks like all I’ve got left now is today.” How do you think Velma feels about this? How does this phrase make you feel? 12. Velma, Sara, Rudy, Rose, and Annie go through “stretching” experiences in the novel, testing them and challenging them to grow. Do you feel as if these characters have changed by the end of the story? Who has changed the most, and in what way?
River JordanLabels: Book clubs, reading groups, reading guides, SAINTS IN LIMBO
posted by River Jordan at 11:15 AM
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