Daily Caylee

Elizabeth Camden The Lady of Bolton Hill, Writing Life Leave a Comment

Okay, I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I’m going to blog about the Casey Anthony trial.  Believe it or not, it really does relate to the book I just released (The Lady of Bolton Hill).  Writers tend to snatch little pieces of inspiration from real life to weave into their stories, and since I live only a couple of miles from where the Casey Anthony tragedy happened, I have been inundated with news about this notorious case from the day it broke.  I used to see teams of searchers combing the woods near where I live in an attempt to find the missing baby.  

For those who don’t read tabloid news, Casey Anthony is a young woman whose two-year old child, Caylee, disappeared without a trace three years ago.  Inexplicably, Casey told no one about her daughter’s disappearance for a solid month while she indulged in a wild round of partying, shopping, and summer fun.  Caylee’s body was found about six months later.  Prosecutors believe that Casey, tired of being a single mother, deliberately killed the child in order to cut loose and live the good life.  

All this happened around the time I was writing the first draft of the manuscript that would become The Lady of Bolton Hill.  Fairly late in the manuscript I needed a quick illustration of how low and depraved drugs can drive an otherwise decent person to behave.  During that summer, the Casey Anthony investigation topped every news broadcast, and voila, I had my example.  The heroine recounts a quick, one-paragraph story about a young widow who loses all interest in her daughter in order to feed her craving for narcotics.  In my mind’s eye, that young widow was Casey Anthony. 

Casey Anthony finally went on trial last week, which was ironically the precise week The Lady of Bolton Hill finally hit the shelves. It is hard for me to believe that I have been shepherding this story towards publication for a solid three years, but the resurrection of the “Daily Caylee” news cycle caused me to remember the summer three years ago when I was sweating bullets as I madly pounded away at my keyboard with a story that was pouring out of me.   

As wonderful as the publication process has been for me, I wonder about what life has been like for Casey Anthony.  In the past three years that young woman has been sitting in a jail cell, probably counting her regrets every hour of every day.  I hope she can turn her ship around.  Even in jail I believe she can find a way to do something meaningful with her life.  If we believe in the concept of redemption, we must believe the possibility for it extends to Casey Anthony.  She will certainly be found guilty of something, but I hope she can find some sort of peace and reconciliation with herself.

The Most Romantic Movie….Ever!

Elizabeth Camden Ramblings about Romance 1 Comment

This is an unconventional choice for a romantic movie, but I adore Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again.  It is a slick, stylish romantic thriller that follows two fantastic love stories.  One takes place in the 1950’s between Roman Straus, a brilliant composer, and a beautiful pianist named Margaret. They have a whirlwind courtship, fall in love, marry, but then things sour quickly.  Roman is ultimately accused of murdering Margaret, and he is executed for the deed.  This is the first scene of the movie, so I’m not giving anything away.

The second storyline is set in contemporary times, and features the same actors (Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson.) Emma Thompson’s character is haunted by troubling dreams and she becomes convinced that she is the reincarnation of Margaret Strauss.   A series of flashbacks recount the doomed love affair between Margaret and Roman, while the contemporary lovers follow an ominously similar path.  Is history repeating itself? 

This movie has style.  A mix of old Hollywood glamor with undertones of Hitchcock, it is a fast-moving story that pulses with wonderful evocative scenes.  I adore a good turbulent love story, and this one has two!  The writing is fresh, the soundtrack is gorgeous, and the chemistry between the two main actors leaps off the screen. 

Now, you know I am a dyed-in-the-wool romantic, so I would not recommend this movie if the ending wasn’t utterly wonderful and completely satisfying. This is the perfect movie for a rainy afternoon.

 

Best First Lines of Novels

Elizabeth Camden Musings on Life, Recommended Reading Leave a Comment

Do you have a favorite first line of a novel?  I certainly do.  I am afraid it is not terribly original, it has been overly quoted, but it still grabs me whenever I hear it.  I can’t even read these words out loud without getting choked up. (Yeah, I’m a nerd).

My favorite first line from a novel, courtesy of Charles Dickens: 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”

The folks over at The American Book Review have compiled their picks for the 100 best first lines from novels.  The quote above ranked #9.  Check out the complete list here.

The Law Library at the University of Michigan

Elizabeth Camden Splendid Libraries Leave a Comment

Okay, so this one is going to be hard for me to admit, because I grew up in Ohio and spent a considerable portion of my working career at Ohio State University, but the U of Michigan campus is gorgeous, and their Law library is staggering.  In terms of library architecture, Michigan has OSU trounced.  (Football is still thankfully another story!)

 

I was at a library conference last week where the keynote speaker bemoaned this type of gothic, sacred space in libraries.  His attitude was that libraries should be a place of laughter, public performances, coffee, and community-building.  I actually agree with him on all those points…..but I am convinced libraries must retain a substantial portion of their buildings as quiet places for reading and reflection.  If librarians don’t fight for these spectacular spaces, who will?

 

Many of the great libraries that were built in the late 19th and early 20th century contained these immense reading rooms.  Such spaces naturally inspire a quiet awe which is not condusive to coffee shops or group study, which is why they are seldom built in new libraries.  Community building has evolved to become an important part of modern librarianship, so I heartily concur with the inclusion of coffee shops and informal space, but I hope there will always be room for such spectacular reading rooms in at least some of our major libraries.

 

Photos courtesy of Dan Germony and Julie Falk.

Never, never, never, never give up

Elizabeth Camden Musings on Life, What Inspires You? Leave a Comment

I have no interest in wrestling, but a few weeks ago as I was doing yard work, my husband ran outside and grabbed me. He insisted I had to come inside to watch an amazing wrestling match in progress. You can imagine my unbridled joy, but I can tell when Bill is really keyed up about something, so I was willing to play along. 

What I saw was so staggering, so life-affirming, I am asking the rest of you non-wrestling fans to watch. Anthony Robles was born with only one leg. Refusing to let that stand in the way of his ambitions, he proceeded to become a world-class athlete and chose to compete in mainstream sporting leagues. Ignored by many of the powerhouse wrestling schools, he enrolled at Arizona State University where he embarked on a rigorous training regimen. In order to compensate for his lower body weakness, he focused on what he could do well, which was grapple, develop amazing upper body strength, and simply refuse to quit.

Last month he won first place in the nation. As I watch the video as he wins the NCAA title, I cannot help but think of Winston Churchill’s famous line, “Never, never, never give up.” This kid is awe-inspiring. Here are some clips of Anthony in action on the road to the championship.

On Conquering Anxiety

Elizabeth Camden All about Me!, The Lady of Bolton Hill 2 Comments

Somehow, the book-signing has evolved into a right of passage for authors.  Frankly, I’d rather have a tooth pulled than talk about myself, hawk my books, or in any other way draw attention to myself.  When I first landed the contract for The Lady of Bolton Hill, I assumed I would be one of those writers who quietly published her books without telling friends, co-workers, or neighbors.  I simply dread the attention or the perception that I might be trying to foist my books on them.  Revealing myself online is easy for me, but in real life? 

Anxiety is a strange thing.  The logical portion of my brain, normally so dominate in my life, collapses in the face of mild provocations like meeting someone new or attending a book signing.  I can marshal a dozen perfectly logical reasons to quell the anxiety, but I’ve been living with this long enough to know that these techniques will be useless in the face of a social interaction. 

So along comes an opportunity to participate in a book signing at a nearby LifeWay Christian Store.  My instinctive reaction was to run and hide.  I know that unless you are a superstar (hello, Tim Tebow, Nora Roberts, Ken Follett), the likelihood of sitting alone at a table while listening to crickets chirp in the background is pretty high.  Still, LifeWay has been generous in helping me promote my debut novel, and I simply could not repay that sort of kindness by letting anxiety get the better of me and refusing to come.

How fortunate I was to have two other seasoned authors sitting at the table with me.  Mark Mynheir is a homicide detective who writes suspense novels, and Dan Walsh is a pastor and author of historical novels.  Not only were these guys terrific company who helped show me the ropes, they both had plenty of experience in dealing with the public and book signings.  There was also a lovely young lady named Rebekah who did a wonderful job as a greeter for the event.

As is often the case with these irrational anxieties, within about five minutes of entering the store I was perfectly fine.  I have learned the only thing that works to defeat an attack of The Nerves is to meet it head on in a frontal assault.  I am always fine once I get to an event (a party, business meeting, etc.) but the run-up is awful.

So my first book signing turned out to be a thrilling event.  I moved a respectable number of books, met some terrific fellow-authors, and felt much better about not letting my amorphous anxieties get the better of me.

Still… to this day not a single one of my neighbors or co-workers know that I’ve written a novel, nor are they likely to in the near future.  I suppose I need to take this sort of thing one day at a time!

C.S. Lewis and Sehnsucht

Elizabeth Camden Musings on Life 3 Comments

One of the things I adore about C.S. Lewis is his ability to express concepts for which the English language has no words.  “Sehnsucht” is a German word that roughly translates as longing….but Lewis does a brilliant job of fleshing this rather bland translation out in a way that I think most people of faith can relate to.   

Lewis described Sehnsucht as an inconsolable longing in the human heart “for which we know not what.”  It is a haunting sense of longing which Lewis said touched him throughout his life.  It has elements of nostalgia and joy, but also an intense awareness of missing something.  “A golden echo.”  These stabs of joy and longing were pointing us toward something, and Lewis posits that this sense of longing is harkening toward a deeper spiritual world. 

My favorite novel by C.S. Lewis has always been Till We Have Faces, a gorgeously bleak book in which the heroine wages a lifelong struggle with faith and has glimpses of joy that were never really fulfilled:

“It almost hurt me . . . like a bird in a cage when the other birds of its kind are flying home . . . to find the place where all the beauty came from—my country, the place where I ought to have been born. The longing for home.”

I spent decades feeling the same way, and still enjoy a good occasional bout of sehnsucht.  In an odd sort of way, I almost feel like Lewis’s writings on this topic give me permission to simply accept sehnsucht, rather than try to chase it down and pinpoint the source of this longing.  This is just one of the hundreds of reasons I will always adore the writings of C.S. Lewis.

Photo courtesy of Joisey Showa

Become Someone Else

Elizabeth Camden Musings on Life Leave a Comment

It has often been said that part of the appeal of reading fiction is the opportunity to become someone else. One day you can be a soldier in Napoleon’s army, and the next you are Jane Eyre.  Or Bridget Jones.  Or a hobbit. The ability to escape into another world is one of the many joys of reading, and I believe reading to be an endangered activity in this world of sound bites, video games, and 400 channels on cable TV.

I think this Lithuanian ad campaign is a wonderful expression of “becoming someone else.” In order to avoid copyright troubles, I’m just showing one picture, but there are many more at their website. Pass it on!

Splendid Libraries: Vassar

Elizabeth Camden Splendid Libraries Leave a Comment

Today’s entry is going to be a love letter to the Vassar College library, known as the Thompson Memorial Library.

The Thompson Memorial Library.  Was there ever a more commonplace name for such utter loveliness?  I think this may be the world’s most perfect library. 

I love the mix of natural light with warm wood.  I love the gothic splendor that has just the right mix of majesty and functionality.  It seems almost like a holy place.  Every line of the building, the shape of the windows, even the wrought-iron railings have a graceful, reverent tone.  Although I love a library that has comfort and coziness, there is room for those that have majesty, splendor, and awe.  This is it!

Photos are courtesy of Joseph A. and Laura Crossett