HARDWICK – Last Tuesday evening, the Jeudevine, in partnership with the Galaxy Bookshop, hosted local author Jodi Lew-Smith for the official launch of her second novel, “Asa James.” The event was held in the Parker Ladd Community Room. About forty people attended.
Galaxy Bookshop co-owner Andrea Jones introduced Lew-Smith, using the opportunity to share Galaxy employees’ reviews of advance copies of the novel. A sampling: “The writing was gorgeous,” “A retelling of a favorite classic,” “Even better than her first book.”
Lew-Smith opened her presentation with a reading of the book’s prologue, set in 1851, which describes the discovery of a foundling in an abandoned sugar shack, on a “black and vicious night” in November. The child, nestled against her deceased mother’s body, has survived, and is carried away, held tightly against the breast of Sister Ruth Reed.
Lew-Smith was reluctant to reveal any more of the plot, so as not to spoil her readers’ experience. She chose, instead, to speak about her journey from aspiring writer to novelist.
Her genre is historical fiction. She finds herself drawn to the nineteenth century, “to a time that helped shape our country today.” Of all places across the United States, she mused that perhaps Vermont is closest to that time, noting with a chuckle that her family still heats with wood.
Eleven years have passed since the publication of her first novel, “The Clever Mill Horse,”which won both the Feathered Quill Book Award and James River Writers Indie Novel Contest. In the interim Lew-Smith has read countless books on fiction-writing, attended writers’ workshops and created a number of story manuscripts. Each of those manuscripts was sparked by an idea that seemed worthy of exploration. “Asa James” is the first of those to reach completion and publication.
Lew-Smith described the onerous process of beginning to write a novel. She noted that she has discarded hundreds of pages of writing through the years. Arriving at a workable first draft, which she described as likely to be “crappy,” might take six or more months. Once she has that first draft, subsequent steps are shorter. She finds the greatest enjoyment in the fine tuning of scenes, of dialogue and of the writing when she is confident that the structure of the story and characters is in place. “I could do that forever.”
In pursuing her self-education as a novelist, she surprised herself with the discovery of books about screenwriting. That skill set is much more focused on characters and plot, not on language and literary flourish. Lew-Smith came away from that reading with the understanding that characters drive plot development and vice-versa. She compared plot and characters to “two sides of the same coin,” emphasizing that it becomes paramount to fully develop and understand one’s characters so they lead the way to their stories. Additionally, she recognized the importance of keeping her plot relatively simple so as to allow more complex characters to emerge.
Lew-Smith noted that she literally must have “pen in hand” to write. Thus she has dozens of spiral-bound notebooks on her shelves filled with handwritten notes from her historical research, plot and character sketches, and early drafts.
As the storytelling unfolds from draft to draft, she utilizes Scrivener software to aid in chapter, setting and character development. She described that product as enormously helpful in tracking settings, dates and events as she writes.
She allows herself a cup of tea each morning before she moves on to “butt in chair,” the sacred time she devotes each day to her writing. Recognizing the importance of that daily schedule was another key revelation to her in helping her work progress. That time might only result in the crafting of a sentence, or in the development of something much larger. She tries to end each of those sessions with a few written words to prompt or guide her when she returns to her writing the next day.
She finds the input of trusted readers invaluable, anticipating that they will honestly share what works, or does not work, in her story. Lew-Smith noted that the input of both agents and publishers can be very helpful, even rejections serve a purpose. She sees their goals as similar, but opted to work on her own to find a publisher for this book. She landed on a small publishing house, Köehler Books of Virginia Beach.
Lew-Smith closed with the news that she is currently working through a re-writing of “The Clever Mill Horse.”She implied that less than eleven years should elapse before the launch of her next novel.
