Just got a Google Alert letting me know that I am among “the Bay Area’s best and the brightest.” How sweet it is!  The article is from the San Jose Mercury News, talking about the Awards Ceremony next weekend and my nomination for the 2009 Northern California Fiction Award.

“If there were ever a shred of doubt that the Bay Area is a veritable wellspring of literary talent, one would need only to drop in on the gathering the Northern California Book Awards hosts every year to honor local authors and present six of them with prizes for the best-published works of the previous year. Next Sunday’s ceremony, at 1 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Public Library, is no exception.”

Story Stalking: Historical Fiction Writing Workshop with novelist Molly Dwyer is set for 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on June 20, 2009 at Mariposa Center, a rural retreat in an oak-filled canyon ten minutes from Ukiah in Mendocino County. The $75 workshop fee includes a copy of her award-winning novel, “Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein” and a box lunch. Molly will use guided and free writing exercises, conversation, and presentation to explore four aspects of writing historical fiction:

• RESEARCH: Including linear approaches (such as the internet, primary sources, and period literature) and intuitive methods (such as travel, location scouting, dreaming, and synchronicity).

• FRAMING: How to shape fact into fiction and develop a strong sense of time and place with special attention to the sensibilities of characters living in another period or culture.

• STRUCTURE: How to organize a complex body of work to facilitate movement between research and writing, and how to coordinate between background, foreground and back-story material.

• ETHICS: How to stretch the facts to fit the fiction and transform fiction to fit the facts, and how to strike a balance between the two.

“GLOWING! Molly Dwyer gave one of the best, most articulate presentations about writing I have ever experienced, at any venue. I highly recommend her. Molly’s perspective is grounding, informative, inspiring, and current. Write on!”—Cindy Pavlinac, Vice President, California Writers Club Marin Branch

Molly has been a transformational educator for twenty years. She earned an MA from SSU and a PhD from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She studied creative writing with Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, studied fiction writing at Galway University in Ireland, novel writing with England’s prestigious Arvon Project and literature in an Oxford University summer program. Her debut novel, “Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein” was just nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Fiction as one of the best works by a northern California author published in 2008.

So. My name made it into the San Francisco Chronicle in an article about the awards. That is something I find exciting. Here’s the article. A friend gave me a copy, which appeared in the weekend Book Section and another friend said, “laminate it!” And you know, I might just do that!

WOW!! That’s all I can say, just wow!!

I just learned this afternoon that Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein, has been nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Fiction as one of the best works by a northern California author published in 2008.

It’s my second award nomination in two weeks. Last week Requiem was nominated for the 2008 Book of the Year Award for Historical Fiction by Forewords Magazine, a national award that’s being presented at the Book Expo America in New York City at the end of May.

The Bay Area award will be presented at 28th Annual Northern California Book Awards on Sunday, April 19, at Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin at Grove, at 1:00 p.m. It’s followed by a reception and book signing. The ceremony and reception are free and open to the public. They’ve told me all nominee will be honored on stage. I’m planning to attend. I’m giddy!

The Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah is hosting a National Women’s History event. I’ve been invited to be part of it, as has my publisher, Cynthia Frank. The evening starts at 6 pm. Hope to see you there. I’ll be talking about my writing, Mary Shelley, and probably about George Sand, since she’s one of the voices in my new novel, The Appassionata. I’ll also be talking about Louise Farrenc, a 19th century French composer and her daughter, Victorine Farrenc, a pianist and the main character in The Appassionata. I’m about halfway through with writing The Appassionata, which is very exciting. I’m hoping to go to Paris in the fall to do finishing work—on the set, setting and cultural ambiance. I don’t know the set-up for Thursday night, but if I have a chance, I’ll read from my work.

I’m happy to announce one more piece of good news. I’ve joined the The Story Circle Network as one of their online editors. The editing arm is a new program so the information isn’t even up yet, but the Story Circle Network is out of Austin. It’s a national not-for-profit membership organization made up of women who want to document their lives and explore their personal stories through journaling, memoir, autobiography, personal essays, poetry, drama, and mixed-media. I’m very excited about being asked onto their staff. I’ll keep you posted as things develop.

Seems like all of a sudden Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein is back in the news. How good is that! Here’s a new review, calling Requiem “strange and fascinating” from Raven’s Range. The reviewer, Linda Moore, says she “found it very difficult to put the book down.” I’ve heard that before. I mean, really. There’s an audience out there that can’t stop reading once they start—people who shut themselves in their room until they finish it. I love hearing that. It amazes me. Of course, I couldn’t put it down either, which may be part of the reason it took me so long to write it: I didn’t want to stop being part of that world. That has really come home to me now that Mary Shelley has made an appearance in The Appassionata (book two of La Belle Quartet). It’s a much older Mary Shelley, she’s in her forties, but still she fascinates, especially in the company of George Sand.

The ‘award’ (discussed below) is my nomination for the 2008 Book of the Year Award from ForeWords Magazine. Requiem is a finalist for the Historical Fiction category and in the running for their Editor’s Choice Prize and Book of the Year Award. Winners will announced May 29th at Book Expo America in New York. Cross your fingers and wish me luck, but it’s wonderful being a finalist. We made the short list. Yeah! for Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein.

Well, hello out there.

I’ve been utterly silent for the last, what, four months. But today I received news that necessitates me blogging. Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein is a finalist for the 2008 Book of the Year Award for Historical Fiction. The award is sponsored by ForeWords Magazine and, according their PR, the finalists “represent some of the best work coming from today’s independent press community.”

The winners will be announced at BookExpo America in New York City on May 29. So, it’s not over yet. Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein could win a Gold, Silver or Bronze. There’s even a cash award. Very exciting. Worth writing about, yes?

I do have more news: I’ll be talking about Requiem and Mary Shelley in Ukiah at the Mendocino Book Company next Thursday evening. It’s a celebration of National Women’s month and starts at 6 pm. I’ll also be at the Gallery Book Store in Mendocino on March 29th. It’s a day-long event featuring local authors. I’ll be there at 1 pm.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Washington State for the Whidbey Island Writers Conference. It was great fun and very rewarding. I taught two workshops and gave a “fireside chat” presentation on researching historical fiction, so I they kept me busy. I truly enjoyed myself. My morning workshop was on Dialogue, the other, in the evening was called “Apprenticing the Masters.” It was a fifteen hour drive up there and another one back. Fortunately, for me, a writer friend, who is in my writing group was going up to the conference as a participant and he not only ‘gave me a ride,’ he did all the driving. What a gift! Thank you Doug Fortier.

So, here I am. I’ve broken the ice. I actually have even more news. I’ve just been hired as an editor by Story Circle Network. That’s a new online site that’s being put together by Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett. I’ll have more on that in the next week or so.

On top of all that, and in some ways, best of all, I’ve been writing a lot lately. I’m about half way through the original draft of my second novel, The Appassionata. My last entry, last fall was actually about The Appassionata. I’ll have more to say about that, but the big news is that Mary Shelley and Claire Claremont (her step-sister) made it onto the page and once they arrived, the book just opened up in front of me. It’s been very exciting.

A bit about my next novel:
The Appassionata (named for Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor, op. 57) is set in mid 19th century Paris and traces the life and death of concert pianist Victorine Farrenc (1826-1859), the daughter of classical composer and pianist Louise Farrenc. Both were contemporaries of Chopin, Liszt and Berlioz, who figure largely in the story. Victorine, like Chopin, died of consumption. She was only 32, and like many of the young women of her generation, Tori fell in love with Franz Liszt.

Set against the backdrop of revolutionary times, The Appassionata explores Tori’s passion for Liszt and for the rebellious Romanticism he embraced. Equally important, it is a study of death and dying. The Appassionata is filled with legendary characters: writers George Sand and Victor Hugo; painter Delacroix; opera singer Pauline Viardot (another of Liszt’s unrequited); and a host of others cameos, including the little known poet Elisa Mercoeur, and novelist Mary Shelley whose Frankenstein was popular on the Paris stage.

Though each book stands alone, The Appassionata is the second in a literary quartet, La Belle Quartet, about the Romantic Movement, and especially its women. La Belle Quartet traces the history of Romanticism, culminating in the counterculture of the Sixties. All four are also secretly (or perhaps not so secretly) studies of the nature of consciousness, dreams and reality. Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein, about Mary Shelley and her circle, is the first of the series.

I’m going to be on Canadian radio Sunday night!

I’ll be talking about Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein on KIXX-FM 106.9 London, Ontario, Canada. “Well-known Londoner, Bill Paul” interviewed me for his show, Straight Talk, which has been “entertaining and informing listening audience for over 25 years.” It’s community radio originating from Fanshawe College, Ontario, and deals with “a wide variety of issues and concerns, designed to entertain and inform.” Straight Talk airs live at 2pm PST (5 pm EST) and you can catch it online by streaming it here. (Click on the link at the bottom of the page that says “Listen Live.”) But keep in mind this is live radio so you have to stream it at 2 pm on Sunday in order to hear it. Got it? Good!

The interview was taped when I was in Portland, and as I remember, we talked a lot about Frankenstein and what inspired Mary Shelley to write it. It runs a half hour.

106.9 fm, London, Ontario Canada
Straight Talk, with Host Bill Paul
A discussion of Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein
2 pm PST, 5 pm EST
Stream online here

Want a free copy of Requiem? Here’s a link to a give away.

The Reader’s Respite also has an interview with me up. Says Michele Jacobsen:

“After reading Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein (see my review here), I just knew that I had to contact the author, Molly Dwyer. Ms. Dwyer was gracious enough to indulge me by kindly answering all of my questions and I’m very pleased to be able to share her answers with all of you. Thank you, Molly.”

Thank you, Michele!

Michele Jacobsen, who describes herself as an “Intrepid Reader and Reviewer at Large for A Reader’s Respite” has reviewed Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein. The Reader’s Respite has twice won the Internet’s “Neat Award.” Michele starts off by explaining how she came to read Requiem—an explanation that thrills… She found it on her own on Amazon.com, was simply drawn to the title!

Here’s just a taste of what Michele has to say:

I thought I was getting an historical fiction novel about author Mary Shelley. What I received was so much more. Requiem, and you’ll forgive me for shortening the title, manages to defy any one genre: part historical fiction, part Gothic romance with a healthy dose of magical realism. It is the story of author Mary Shelley and her extraordinary, unconventional (and that is putting it mildly) life as experienced by Anna, a modern day American scholar on a research trip to England.

and farther into it, this:

The superb narrative in Requiem is so compelling that the reader receives a first-rate education in Romanticism without realizing it. Ms. Dwyer demonstrates a command of the time period with accurate historic details and realistic dialogue, neither of which bogs down the narrative. The story immerses you in an exciting period of literary history when boundaries were pushed and broken.

Under the comments, one of her readers has added: “I have a friend who read this book and said it was really, really good.” Please check out the whole review at Readers Respite.

I’ve been remiss. I haven’t been blogging. I’ve been playing catch-up and who knows what else. But, to begin with, Requiem will be featured at the Readers Respite this coming week. Here’s the first post from Sunday and today I got an email from the host of the site, Michele Jacobsen. She said:

I just wanted to let you know that I finished Requiem and the review will go up Thursday, followed by your interview on Friday.

On a personal note I just wanted to say that this was a phenomenal piece of writing; probably the very best I read all year. Your Indie Award is richly deserved and I absolutely cannot wait for your next book. I can’t imagine what it must be like to possess such talent! It has certainly been an honor to make your acquaintance.

Such high praise leaves me feeling a bit speechless, but I’m very grateful to see Requiem find another fan. Check out the review and the interview at A Reader’s Respite. It’s my understanding that Michele is also going to be giving a copy of Requiem away.

I’ve been intending to write about my adventures for several days now, but, apparently I’ve been too busy having adventures to write about them. I have a bit of a breather today. Last Friday I left Mendocino and traveled south to Salinas to the California Writers Conference that’s called East of Eden. It’s Steinbeck country and it was a great conference. I was befriended by Linda McCabe who is VP of the Sonoma branch of the CA writers club and she introduced me around. I felt like I was part of the “California” writing community…. a very vibrant community, indeed. The workshops were good, especially the one on Point of View. I met a lot of people, and, best of all, my book was in the bookstore and sold quite well. Very nice. I left with some really valuable information on using the Internet and a sense of inspiration. I drove north through the central valley and up into Oregon. Hot weather. In fact it’s been quite hot in Portland. It was a nostalgic drive. I hadn’t made it in a long time and it brought back lots of memories of my life. I used to live up here and have family in Washington still. I’ve made the trip up and down Highway 5 lots of times over the years.

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Well, I wrote a version of my blog post about Who Really Wrote Frankenstein and sent it off to the Daily Telegraph in London, England. Turns out The Original Frankenstein is a new version of Frankenstein that’s being published by Oxford University—my old Alma Mater. Just kidding, just kidding! Although I did spend the summer of 2004 at Oxford University’s Exeter College studying 19th century British literature. I also spent hours and hours and hours in the Bodleian Library that summer, researching the Shelleys. And it’s also where I got that A+ on a paper about Percy Bysshe Shelley I keep bragging about. In any event, my Letter to the Editor got published yesterday. Here’s the link:

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