| Diversity in Literature Beth Kanell March 12th, 2011 |
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| Saturday March 12th, 2011 from 7p to 10p Diversity in Literature Featuring: Beth Kanell Well Read Bookstore 425 Lafayette Avenue Hawthorne, NJ 07506 This group meets on the second Saturday of each month and spotlights guest speakers from SF and genre related fields of interest. This month we welcome Beth Kanell who will discuss the ins and outs of diversity in publishing, addressing issues such as race, gender, religion, and all the things that make give us such a broad spectrum of characters in real life and in literature. Beth Kannell: Beth Kannell Lives in Vermont with a mountain behind her and a river at her feet. Her works include The Darkness Under the Water, The Hungry Place, The Long Shadow, and many poems and works of non-fiction. |
Face the Fiction Presents:
The Diversity Panel 03/11/2011
Weather and illness kept part of our panel from arriving (they will
be rescheduled soon), leaving Beth Kanell - coming to us all the
way from Vermont - to entertain us. Ms. Kanell was a treat! We
really had a hard time letting her go home. Please visit her
website to find out about this wonderful lady:
http://www.bethkanell.com/.
Beth spoke at length about her book, The Darkness Under the
Water and how it came to be. She told us about her upcoming
books The Hungry Place (an investigative adventure), The Long
Shadow (a story set during Underground Railroad days) and
Cold Midnight (1921 murder mystery).
Beth had an attentive audience as she read excerpts from her
work and answered any and all questions thrown her way. The
entire time Ms. Kanell was talking to us, she would tell us little
personal tidbits that were charming and funny (her husband and
the humming was too cute). It was these little asides that gave
you insight into the strong emotions Beth puts into her writing.
Beth uses historical facts in such a thought-provoking way you
can't help but be drawn in. She not only writes about issues she
feels strongly about, she is active in Vermont on issues she
champions (i.e preservation).
Beth's research for her books provided some interesting stories -
one of my favorites was a detailed account of how a town was
moved/relocated so the area could be flooded to become a lake.
Nothing was left, all hazardous materials (underground gas
tanks, etc.) - gone, buildings - usable parts were recycled and
reused. In other words - nothing was left. A group of school
children were being told the story of the history of the town and
having it patiently explained to them how things happened.
Beth asked if they all understood how everything was moved -
they respond yes. Only to have that one kid in the group claim
to be on a boat fishing and swear he looked over the side of the
boat and saw the town (at this Beth raises her hand excitedly like
a young child..ooo, ooo, I saw the town..and the whole group
flocks around him for details)! Too funny.
A delightful evening with a delightful guest. Thank you Beth!
(write-up by Ann-Marie Brown)
I really loved Beth's anecdote about ice diving, she had us in
stitches pretty much the entire way through. Before the meeting
I apologized to her and said, we are a pretty rambunctious
crowd, and her only response was, "Oh, really? I guess I will have
to tell more rowdy anecdotes, then."
Another nice thing about Beth is that she told some more
unusual stories of how to get oneself published. In her case,
instead of looking for an agent to represent her directly, she
instead found a book that she liked, whose author had thanked
their agent, then went to the author's book signing and asked
him to please introduce her to his agent.
I was also really impressed by Beth's energy. She adapted quite
well, and was very quick with smart answers to our questions.
There was never a dull moment as we laughed our way through
the evening. We even got a preview of the new work of
speculative fiction that Beth was working on! It was a pretty
awesome evening, and more thanks go to Bill and Maryanne
Skees for being such wonderful hosts, and AM and Jo for
coordinating all the things that went into making the evening a
success. (write-up by Todd Ehrenfels)
Our heartfelt thanks to Ms. Kanell for traveling all the way from
Vermont and being brave enough to go on with the panel after
being the only member to arrive! She gave a splendid overview
of herself and her work and treated us to wonderful readings of
her writing. From her presentation, we really got to know her
genuine motivation to speak to the issue of the intent of
Vermont's scientists and lawmakers in the 1930s and how
important that issue is and was.
(write-up by Gene McGrath)
The Diversity Panel 03/11/2011
Weather and illness kept part of our panel from arriving (they will
be rescheduled soon), leaving Beth Kanell - coming to us all the
way from Vermont - to entertain us. Ms. Kanell was a treat! We
really had a hard time letting her go home. Please visit her
website to find out about this wonderful lady:
http://www.bethkanell.com/.
Beth spoke at length about her book, The Darkness Under the
Water and how it came to be. She told us about her upcoming
books The Hungry Place (an investigative adventure), The Long
Shadow (a story set during Underground Railroad days) and
Cold Midnight (1921 murder mystery).
Beth had an attentive audience as she read excerpts from her
work and answered any and all questions thrown her way. The
entire time Ms. Kanell was talking to us, she would tell us little
personal tidbits that were charming and funny (her husband and
the humming was too cute). It was these little asides that gave
you insight into the strong emotions Beth puts into her writing.
Beth uses historical facts in such a thought-provoking way you
can't help but be drawn in. She not only writes about issues she
feels strongly about, she is active in Vermont on issues she
champions (i.e preservation).
Beth's research for her books provided some interesting stories -
one of my favorites was a detailed account of how a town was
moved/relocated so the area could be flooded to become a lake.
Nothing was left, all hazardous materials (underground gas
tanks, etc.) - gone, buildings - usable parts were recycled and
reused. In other words - nothing was left. A group of school
children were being told the story of the history of the town and
having it patiently explained to them how things happened.
Beth asked if they all understood how everything was moved -
they respond yes. Only to have that one kid in the group claim
to be on a boat fishing and swear he looked over the side of the
boat and saw the town (at this Beth raises her hand excitedly like
a young child..ooo, ooo, I saw the town..and the whole group
flocks around him for details)! Too funny.
A delightful evening with a delightful guest. Thank you Beth!
(write-up by Ann-Marie Brown)
I really loved Beth's anecdote about ice diving, she had us in
stitches pretty much the entire way through. Before the meeting
I apologized to her and said, we are a pretty rambunctious
crowd, and her only response was, "Oh, really? I guess I will have
to tell more rowdy anecdotes, then."
Another nice thing about Beth is that she told some more
unusual stories of how to get oneself published. In her case,
instead of looking for an agent to represent her directly, she
instead found a book that she liked, whose author had thanked
their agent, then went to the author's book signing and asked
him to please introduce her to his agent.
I was also really impressed by Beth's energy. She adapted quite
well, and was very quick with smart answers to our questions.
There was never a dull moment as we laughed our way through
the evening. We even got a preview of the new work of
speculative fiction that Beth was working on! It was a pretty
awesome evening, and more thanks go to Bill and Maryanne
Skees for being such wonderful hosts, and AM and Jo for
coordinating all the things that went into making the evening a
success. (write-up by Todd Ehrenfels)
Our heartfelt thanks to Ms. Kanell for traveling all the way from
Vermont and being brave enough to go on with the panel after
being the only member to arrive! She gave a splendid overview
of herself and her work and treated us to wonderful readings of
her writing. From her presentation, we really got to know her
genuine motivation to speak to the issue of the intent of
Vermont's scientists and lawmakers in the 1930s and how
important that issue is and was.
(write-up by Gene McGrath)