“There’s no place like home…There’s no place like home…”

In the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz, these magic words returned Dorothy to her home in Kansas. She awakens with her family around her, and attempts to recount the fantastic events of her travels to Oz, complete with new friends and menacing villains. Her family nods and smiles, content in the knowledge that nothing ever changed for them. Whatever happened to Dorothy “out there” doesn’t matter at home. Never did. Never will.

Countless songwriters, novelists and philosophers have discussed the issue of “going home again.” Heraclitus asserts that “no man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” Recently, I was invited to return to the neighborhood of my childhood. Forty years passed since I roamed the streets selling Girl Scout cookies, trick-or-treating, or riding my bicycle to the neighborhood grocery store, yet the map was indelibly etched in my memory. Why did I wait so long to return?

Later that day, I met a cherished friend at a local restaurant, and viewed photographs I had never seen. As she requested, I signed and discussed my novels at the neighborhood library. The audience evoked a gamut of surprising emotions. I stared into the faces of the people from my past: the people who bought my Girl Scout cookies, the parents who filled Halloween pumpkins with trick-or-treat candy, the kind and generous souls that attended my mother’s funeral. Even after forty years, the ashes of my past smoldered in the hearts of these friends and mentors. Their genuine smiles, gilded with the gold of true friendship, glowed with the affluence of shared memories. Time could not dissolve this bond.

The legendary Hero’s Journey cannot exist without the passage of time. Time is our universal constant. The road to self-discovery is hard won and genuine; the heroes, villains and angels of our dreams travel the same roads. Until one returns home as a weary traveler of fortune, the Hero’s Journey is not complete. Though I was undoubtedly not the same person, I dipped my toe into the river and a piece of “self” emerged. Like Dorothy, I returned to my “Kansas.” As I discovered, there’s no place like home.

See my latest interview with Catherine Rankovic on the “About Claire” page

I had never been a guest on a live television show. Of course, I had spoken in public, (who hasn’t from time to time?), but this time was different. The makeup, the cameras, the microphone, the lights, and most conspicuously, the absence of a prepared script, all announced that it was time to “sit up straight and act like I knew what I was doing.”

How did it go? I think the best way for me to answer that question is to present the live interview. Let me know what you think! Now, it’s time for the countdown.

Five, four, three, two, one– “You’re on….!”

He means, it turns out, that winners don’t win matches–if you hit a shot that you will make one out of five times, it is an exception, not a long term game plan–and winners don’t build long term plans around exceptions. They play steadily, moving the ball around, looking for openings, and then seize them. It means being consistent.  Consistency, dependability and solid performance arising from long term practice sessions  “let it happen.”

But, as any writer knows, “Consistent” and “Long term plan” are listed under “No Fun” in the Writers’ Mental Reference. Add to this the “10-year rule,” the case that even the most talented need those years of hard work before achieving top performance, no matter what the endeavor, and the answer still remains the same: winning means hard work on a sustained basis. And, of course, competitions, like life in general, offer no guarantees.  Only the opportunity to give it your best shot.

Yesterday, the mail was kind. I received a contract for The Nearness of You, a suspenseful romantic satire. Projected release date: April, 2010.  The results of the international creative writing competition, the 2009 Faulkner Words and Music Competition, released its results–Unchain My Heart, my romantic suspense novel, was on the list. Please see www.wordsandmusic.org for details of the competition and the November festival in New Orleans. This year, the festival will be celebrating the Noir Novel, which is, pardon the pun, right up my alley.  Take a look and consider a weekend in the Hotel Monteleone. Noir in New Orleans–unchain your heart!!

Cheers,

Claire

For one thing, they were both “thrillers.” The sight of Michael (or not), or Farrah or her hair, was sensational.  They both had “it”, that magical quality that made them an overnight success.  They maintained their celebrity status in stunning looks for years, too–until they didn’t.

Their lives were haunted by personal tragedy–divorce, drugs, scandal and disease.  The details were highly public and pertinent.  Why did we care so much?  Media such as photos and videos and radios brought them into our homes.  It made them real, it made us care.  We never met them (most of us anyway), but we cared when they left us.

Although I am not Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett or any type of celebrity, I want to invite you to share in my personal thrill of my novel debut.  Please visit my photo gallery, where you will see photos of my book signings, readings and the launch party.  It was quite a thrill.

Shore ‘nuf,

The Wrong Side of Memphis by Claire Applewhite

ISBN Number:
978-1-60318-116-7
Word Count: 67,164
Page Count: 240
Trade Paperback: $16.95
Publisher: L&L Dreamspell, P.O.Box 1984, Friendswood, TX 77549-1984
Publisher Contact: Linda Houle, linda@lldreamspell.com
Editor: Cindy Davis

Signings:

Davis-Kidd Booksellers
www.daviskidd.com
Saturday, September 19 • 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
387 Perkins Extended
Memphis TN 38117
(901) 683-9801

What they are saying about The Wrong Side of Memphis…

“Get ready to meet some of the most intriguing characters ever. There are secrets and surprises galore to be found among the tenants of the Jewel Arms Apartments – and Claire Applewhite brings them all to life in THE WRONG SIDE OF MEMPHIS.”

– Tess Gerritsen, author of The Keepsake

“In The Wrong Side of Memphis, Claire Applewhite creates a story as memorable as the classic Clue board game we all used to play as kids. Reminiscent of the eccentric cast of characters in that murder-mystery game, Applewhite’s characters move from room to room in a South St. Louis apartment building known as the Jewel Arms, leaving murder in their wake and clues that only the most clever of the bunch will discover. If you enjoy an old-fashioned mystery that keeps you guessing to the end, you’ll love The Wrong Side of Memphis.”

– Julie Compton, author of Tell No Lies

“Claire Applewhite’s debut mystery The Wrong Side of Memphis is a polished story wrapped in layers of intrigue, sharpened by unexpected twists, and warmed by heartfelt emotions. A grisly murder in a South St. Louis apartment baffles police and residents alike, and sets in motion an intricate plot that careens to a satisfying ending you’ll never see coming. The characters are compelling, with their human frailties and strengths expertly drawn. You’ll be racing toward the end of this book but wanting it not to end just yet, so you can hang out with the characters a while longer. I’m ready for the next book so I can rejoin Dimond, Elvin, Vanna, and Cobra, who have each other’s backs, even though one of them walks on four legs.”

– Shirley Kennett, author of the PJ Gray mysteries

“This is an old-fashioned who-dunnit, and don’t let the title fool you. It’s set in St. Louis, a hard-scrabble apartment building where all the tenants have dreams and secrets, and some have motive and opportunity. It’s a place I might not want to live, but I sure enjoyed my visit.”

– Bill McClellan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Claire Applewhite shows a good feel for local color.”

– Harry Levins, Special to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A Crystal of Hope - March 25,2009

Would you like to have a crystal ball? What if you could predict your future? Would you want to know your fate? These are tricky, deceptive questions. You might want to consider a few things before you respond.

In his essay, Would You Like to Know Your Future?, Alfred Hitchcock reflects on the proverbial crystal ball. After all, he says, a movie director can predict the future in a film. He speculates on a hypothesis: why is it that, if we try too hard to control the future, we get a rude shock? Hitchcock suffered humiliation and despair when his first film was rejected, only to have it rise to critical acclaim at a later date. He believes that, in his personal situation, God deliberately delayed success to show him that his efforts at controlling the future “were not in His scheme of things.”

He also believes that when God hides the future from us, He is saying that things would be very dull without suspense. If the outcome of a certain event was already known, why bother in the execution? Where is the joie de vivre? The fever of anticipation stokes a soul with the flames of Hope. It is that Hope that nurtures the Faith that drives our every thought and action, yet binds us to what we cannot see—our future, our wildest dreams, an intangible love, even a distant God. In the words of the Master of Suspense, “The unknown has its appeal precisely because it is mysterious.”

Speaking of mysterious, I am pleased to announce the debut of my first mystery novel, The Wrong Side of Memphis, published by L&L Dreamspell, Friendswood, Texas. This novel formerly known as Satin Doll, and a short story, Moonlight Becomes You So, will be available after May 1. Like Hitchcock, my initial work faced rejection and sat on a shelf while I reconsidered, reinvented, and most of all, rewrote. At the time, I didn’t see the joie de vivre in the rewrite, or the hope that stemmed from a workshop critique—but, it must have been alive, because for some incomprehensible reason, I kept writing. What was it? Ah, there it is! The gift of a blind future, suspended by faith, hope, and hard work, lurked in the shadows.

Without the shiny gift-wrapping and glitzy bow, I didn’t recognize the Hand of Fate. Like the events of our lives, the future unfolds one day at a time. And so it is with the attainment of a dream. The daily rewrites, my non-negotiable “five page a day” production goal, and the scourge of the workshop critiques were, in essence, my crystal ball. Along the way, I met people who are indelibly etched in my memory. As we’ve all heard before, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey—one day at a time. So, toss the crystal ball, and know what it is to not know the future. Everyone loves a mystery!

Author Joyce Carol Oates was the keynote speaker at Washington University’s Fall Literary Event. It was an honor to meet Ms. Oates, as well as Professor Gerald Early, Director of the Center for the Humanities. Ms. Oates recent novels include Blonde, The Gravedigger’s Daughter, and We Were the Mulvaneys.

Finally—I get the chance to meet the face behind those insightful essays! Dr. Jian Leng, Associate Director of The Center for the Humanities, and editor of the Figure in the Carpet, the department’s newsletter.

Check out wordsandmusic.org – under Bulletin, Claire Applewhite’s novel, Night and Day is on the Short List of Finalists for the 2007 Faulkner Writing Competition.

Here’s the wrap-up on Night and Day…

A case of mistaken identity or delicious deception?

Barbara Lacey, a sultry blonde, saunters into the Night and Day, a St.Louis bar owned by Alfie Greenblatt. She waits with an envelope for a Somebody who never arrives. Minutes after entrusting it to Alfie, she is gunned down in the street. If only Somebody had told Alfie that sexy blondes mean trouble; if only Somebody had told him an envelope would kill him. But, Alfie wouldn’t have listened to Somebody. Besides, the blonde’s name isn’t really Barbara Lacey…

Night and Day is the third book in the detective series featuring the Vietnam vets of the Grapevine Detective Agency. Facing bankruptcy, Elvin Suggs, Dimond “Di” Redding, and ex-sniper Cobra Glynes struggle to uncover identities, unravel lies, deliver an envelope, night and day…before another Somebody dies.