Today we welcome author Rachel Stolzman to Author Exposure! She will be available all day to answer your questions, so please post them in the comment section. Rachel is offering a signed copy of her debut novel, The Sign for Drowning, to one lucky winner! Have a question or comment for our guest? Chime into the discussion and you will be entered in the drawing. Be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win. Good luck and enjoy!**********************************
The Sign for Drowning is a captivating tale about tragedy, forgiveness, and the brevity of human life. When Anna was 8 years old, her younger sister, Megan, drowned, swimming in the ocean off the coast of Cape Cod. There was nothing her family could do to save Megan, but simply watch as the powerful ocean claimed her. How does a child cope with survivor’s guilt and the loss of her sister? Young Anna conceived of an idea only a child could entertain. Since her sister was eternally underwater, unable to hear, Anna began communicating with Megan using sign language. Thus begins her journey to escape a fractured reality and find a place of her own among the deaf community. Her fascination with the deaf community leads to her becoming a director at a center for deaf children and, later, to adopt a young orphaned deaf girl named Adrea. A powerful bond forms between these two lost souls. But, will becoming a mother be enough to save Anna from her grief and enable her to finally seek forgiveness?
The author has written a truly remarkable tale! It is a well-crafted, honest portrayal of a family in crisis. Told in first person, I had to remind myself throughout the novel that it was not a memoir, but a work of fiction.
I think the cover artwork is absolutely perfect for this book. At first glance, it reminds me of my own time spent at the beach as a child, looking at the ocean while listening to its sounds captured in a shell. After reading this novel, I have a richer understanding of the symbolism behind this scene. You must read the novel to find out just what I mean.
My only criticism of Rachel Stolzman's first novel is the ending. I felt like the story ended before it was finished. This would actually be a great topic for any book club discussion. Additionally, there are several highly discussable themes including deafness, adoption, and forgiveness. Also, a terrific reading guide with questions is available on the publisher's website.
I definitely consider myself among the fans of Rachel Stolzman and look forward to reading her next novel. I would especially recommend The Sign of Drowning to those who enjoy character-driven works of literary fiction.
The author has written a truly remarkable tale! It is a well-crafted, honest portrayal of a family in crisis. Told in first person, I had to remind myself throughout the novel that it was not a memoir, but a work of fiction.
I think the cover artwork is absolutely perfect for this book. At first glance, it reminds me of my own time spent at the beach as a child, looking at the ocean while listening to its sounds captured in a shell. After reading this novel, I have a richer understanding of the symbolism behind this scene. You must read the novel to find out just what I mean.
My only criticism of Rachel Stolzman's first novel is the ending. I felt like the story ended before it was finished. This would actually be a great topic for any book club discussion. Additionally, there are several highly discussable themes including deafness, adoption, and forgiveness. Also, a terrific reading guide with questions is available on the publisher's website.
I definitely consider myself among the fans of Rachel Stolzman and look forward to reading her next novel. I would especially recommend The Sign of Drowning to those who enjoy character-driven works of literary fiction.
35 comments:
Welcome! Rachel, I loved your book. Thank you so much for joining us today. What inspired you to write about the deaf community? Is anyone in your family deaf?
Hi Rachel,
What did you think of the cover when you first saw it?
Janet
I think it's great that this book covers adoption! Did you have to do a lot of research for the topic?
Hi Libby, Thank you so much for having me. The novel was already underway when I added the deaf and sign l;anguage elements to it. While I was in grad school for creative writing and working on the first draft of this novel, I was also taking classes in American Sign Language (ASL). Then I found myself working a job with both hearing and deaf people doing gardening. I was working on the novel, about how this family unravels after the loss of their younger child, and especially how the older sister, the narrator, copes with being left an only child. It just dawned on me one day that the beautiful fluid movements of ASL looked like underwater movements and what I love about being underwater is the silence, and I made the leap to give Anna this fantasy and activity. I did work with alot of deaf people who helped me get the culture, language and history.
Hi Rachel,
What challenges did you face while writing your debut novel? Is there a particular challenge you feel you overcame and are particularly proud of?
Lydia
Benz1966@gmail.com
Hi Janet,
The cover art was an unexpected and actually challenging experience, because my publisher, Trumpeter presented me with a different cover orignially. I loved there first effort and happily accepted it. They had created a gray day beach, with a drak ocean and a gray sky, and the title resting right on the horizon of the sea, with the word drowning beneath the water line. It was somber and ominous, and not overly feminine. To me, it fit the tone of the novel. Trumpeter did not forewarn me that the cover art could be changed. So I was very surprised about a month later when they told me they were starting over. they said they wanted brighter colors, and the figure of a girl on the cover. They gotten feedback from sales reps and bookstores. So, when I first saw the cover I loved the notion of a girl listening to a seashell. That wa sso perfect, I wondered how I hadn't thought of it before. But I also wished the girl wasn't blond! I picutred Anna, Megan and Adrea all as brunettes, so I was like- who's this blong girl? They were absolutely right though about the image in general. It's eye catching and stands out, and people tell me all the time they love it. My uncle had made a poster of the first book cover before I knew they were changing it. So I have that still! :)
The cover is full of symbolism--it's great!
Hi Traci,
I did do alot of research on adoption and deaf education and culture. In college, I lived next door to a woman who had six foster children. I learned about the system through her, and always thought adopting a foster child would be a wonderful thing for me to do. You never know!
Rachel, how fluent are you in sign language?
Hi Lydia,
What a tough question! There were challenges for sure. I guess the main thing was the time it all took- I started writing it in 1995 and it was published in 2008! I had a first draft finished in the late 90's, and had a very hard time finding an agent. The book was so sad, and I needed help from an editor. I discovered then, that you really cannot get published without an agent, and when many agents turned it down I put it on a shefl and wrote other thing. In 2005, I went back to it and saw so many areas to improve the book, I did a whole new draft in about 3 months and the book came back to life- and got me an agent. I'm proud I went back to it because of its' themes especially, these were things I wanted to write about. But I'll also say- it feels great to move on the new writing.
Thanks Rachel! I wasn't aware it took so long to get the story written. I really enjoyed the book!
Hi Libby,
I was very conversant at the time I was writing "Sign" and working with deaf people. Twice a day I attended unit meetings with a sign interpeter and that helps you learn very fast too. If the interpreter was absent, I'd even interpret the meetings- although not that well! Unfortunately, I've forgotten a lot of vocabulary. I can still sign a conversation, but I can't follow very fast signing at all!
I have always been fascinated by sign language. I really learned alot about the language from your book. Being an outsider, how was "Sign" received by the deaf community?
I see so many advertisements on TV now for the need for foster parents. It almost seems like there's surge of neglected children recently.
Have you decided to offer your book in other formats? i.e. e-book or even braille?
Hi Libby,
As publication approached, I grew so nervous about how the deaf community would receive the book. Shortly after it came out I received an email from a Prof. at Gallaudet University- the only American Deaf college. She really enjoyed the book, and told me it rang very true for her as a hearing deaf educator. Her response was hugely gratifying for me. I recently made a new friend who's husband and most of his family are deaf and she works as a sign interpreter. She also assured me that I'd gotten things mostly right- she said she would have a described a few signs differently. :)
Hi Traci,
There are always children in foster care, needing goof families. Unfortunatly, a lot of people who take the adoption route, don't consider foster care for adoption.
I'd love to see the book in more formats. The publisher has to offer to do it though.
Hi, Rachel!
The cover art of your book grabbed me immediately. I like the idea of a sister trying to hear her deceased sister through a seashell. It is innocent, so sweet and childlike. The comparison to the deaf community is wonderful. I wonder how you captured the sounds of silence? Can't wait to read the book!
lwilson6@nc.rr.com
Rachel, what has been the best avenue for marketing your book?
The first boost the novel got was being placed on the front tables of Barnes and Noble bookstores when the hardcover came out in June 08. That makes a huge difference in sales, as people who aren't looking for it, can stumble upon it. I think every review and author interview I've had has helped the book sell more copies. Recently, I've enjoyed another wave of blog reviews, author interviews, giveaways and guest blogging. That definitely generates new interest among people who love books. It's an on-going process for sure. Also, book clubs are great for word of mouth promotion. If the club is in NYC, I'm happy to come and join for the meeting as well.
What has been your favorite part of joining local book club discussions of "The Sign for Drowning"?
I always loved listening inside those large sea shells. I oftern found myself lost in the sound. For me it is a wonderful childhoos memory.
Best of luck with your book, Rachel. I hope I win one. I hope my email is in your file somewhere, Libby. This thing is not letting me put it in.
GL
Hi Libby, one book club I went to had a woman who'd been adopted by a deaf mother, a woman who'd lost her brother in childhood and a woman who'd adopted her two children. That was amazing. I love hearing the members debate a character's motivations and behavior and whether they believe in how the charcter reacts to things like loss, grief and recovery.
Thanks for sharing that with us. There certainly are plenty of topics to discuss in your book. Do you have a favorite character?
I don't know about favorite, but I found Adrea very easy to write. From the start, she was just a jumping energetic very present character for me- I felt I could see what she was doing in reaction to things. And of course, I was taken with her, as Anna is.
You did a fantastic job capturing your characters. Some authors say their characters talk to them while others say they see them on a movie projector. Can you tell us how you developed your characters? How did you get into the mind of a child?
Thank you. I've never felt like my characters are real people who talk to me and tell me their stories. They all have to be imagined and then I need to get beyond who they are at the time I'm writing about them, ie their back stories. Usually, in first draft my characters are not very three dimensional- I haven't made all the choices about them yet and therefore don't full know who they are. Maybe sort of like an actor making up the background of a character they're playing. Some characters come to me more fully developed and therefore always read better, more whole. Others are cardboard at the start and I have to fight my way into making them seem real!
Rachel, I know you need to sign off soon. I just have one question that we ask all our authors. Can you give your readers 5 adjectives that describe you--the writer?
Rachel: It sounds like you've done a number of "public appearances' while promoting your book. As a writer myself, I'm curious which format you like best and why.
Adjectives: well you said you the "writer" not you the "person" so I'll do a combo of both: unfortunately I am not a perfectionist, earnest- another unfortunate, a work horse and not a procrastinator, observant, always and forever in the non-profit world!
Hi RJ, I dread doing readings- I get very nervous beforehand and then I love them. It's a rare treat to share the work with strangers and with friends and family. I like the on-line interviews too. I did one radio show and was sweating bullets! But I'd do it again.
Rachel, it's been a pleasure!
Check out Rachel's website at http://www.rachelstolzman.com. Here you can learn more about her book, upcoming events, and follow her blog.
Thanks for the thrilling opportunity Libby. Any writer would enjoy a day of reflection like I've had today. All the best, Rachel
Wow! This sounds like an incredibly powerful story and exactly like the kind of thing I really enjoy reading. I'm definitely adding this to my "to read" list! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Really enjoyed reading the conversation from earlier in the day, too. Love hearing thoughts from the author and from other readers. Best wishes to all! ~Kristen, msugleefulone@yahoo.com
Wow. I had never heard of this book until now. I read the review and it really grabbed my attention. I have added it to my list of books to read.
I have also read all of the comments/questions and responses and can't really think of anything else to ask, having not read the book!
lovemykidsandbooks@ gmail.com
Marilu, I'm so glad you added this book to your books to read list. It is a fantastic novel! Please come back after you've read it and share your thoughts with us.
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