Dishing it up with Pam Jenoff

Today I have the pleasure of dishing it up with Pam Jenoff. Pam was born in Maryland and raised outside Philadelphia. She attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Cambridge University in England. Upon receiving her master’s in history from Cambridge, she accepted an appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The position provided a unique opportunity to witness and participate in operations at the most senior levels of government, including helping the families of the Pan Am Flight 103 victims secure their memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, observing recovery efforts at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing and attending ceremonies to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of World War II at sites such as Bastogne and Corregidor.


Following her work at the Pentagon, Jenoff moved to the State Department. In 1996 she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland. It was during this period that Pam developed her expertise in Polish-Jewish relations and the Holocaust. Working on matters such as preservation of Auschwitz and the restitution of Jewish property in Poland, Jenoff developed close relations with the surviving Jewish community.

Pam is the author of The Kommandant's Girl, which was an international bestseller and nominated for a Quill award, as well as The Diplomat's Wife, Almost Home and A Hidden Affair.

JET: Welcome to my blog Pam, your book is georgeous!. Can you tell us about The Things We Cherished?

Pam: An accused Nazi collaborator, a forbidden love affair, and the missing antique clock that holds the truth about what really happened during the war. These are the mysteries that Charlotte Gold seeks to unravel as she races against time to defend elderly financier Roger Dykmans from allegations that he sold out his own brother, Hans, and the group of innocent children he was trying to save to the Germans. And she has to do it all while confronting her feelings for her co-counsel Jack Warrington, who just happens to be the brother of the man who once broke her heart.

The inspiration for The Things We Cherished came from a unique timepiece, known as an anniversary clock, which my husband gave me for our first wedding anniversary. I was captivated by the question of where the hundredyear-old clock had beenand the lives it had touched. As I imagined its history a tale unfolded of a couple at the turn of the century in Bavaria yearning for a better life, two brothers in Weimar Berlin wrestling issues of with Zionism and assimilation, the desperate quest of a young girl trapped behind the Iron Curtain, and of course Roger’s own story of love and sacrifice during the war. The clock became a metaphor for the experience of the Jewish people and others in in 20th century Europe.

JET: What drew you to writing historical fiction?

Pam: I’ve always loved reading historical fiction. And I spent several years in Europe working on Holocaust issues and that had greatly influenced my work.

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

Pam: All of it – finding an agent, the 39 publisher rejections before my first book came out, trying to understand the changing book market. But I’m very grateful to be here.

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?

Pam: I think for every author seeing his or her book in print and in the bookstore for the first time are both huge. Also learning that my first novel, The Kommandant’s Girl, was nominated for a Quill award while at Book Expo a few years ago and getting to go to the Quill award ceremony (even though I didn’t win 

JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?

Pam:. I read a lot of historical fiction growing up: Leon Uris, Herman Wouk, Isaac Bashevis Singer. And for lessons on the writing craft, Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg, was huge.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

Pam: I always wanted to be a novelist. As a child, I was forever scribbling stories and showing them to anyone willing to look. But all through my years in school and abroad, I could never quite get off the ground. I became an attorney and one week later 9/11 happened and for me it was this huge life epiphany that I didn’t necessarily have forever so if I wanted to realize my dream of being a novelist, I needed to get started right away. I took a night course called “Write Your Novel This Year” and I did just that, writing from 5-7am in the morning then going off to my day job as an associate in a big law firm.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

Pam: After I came back from living in Krakow, I knew I wanted to write a book set during the war there. I met a Holocaust survivor who told me the story of the resistance which had taken place in Krakow, on the very streets where I’d lived and worked for years – and I’d never even heard about it! I went back to Poland and walked the streets with a whole new point of view.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite? Why?

Pam: I especially enjoyed writing The Things We Cherished because it enabled me to return not only to the topics of Jewish life in Europe and the Holocaust. These are such compelling subjects for me, not only because of my experiences working on these issues as a diplomat in Poland, but also because the era provides such fertile ground for exploring complex themes such guilt, redemption and sacrifice, the gray areas in our lives and the consequences of the choices we make. I consider this book to be, first and foremost, an elegy, love poem and tribute to those who lived through those tumultuous times.

JET: Any advice (from a writer’s standpoint) for the novices out there?

Pam: I would tell aspiring writers three things. First, you have to be tenacious. For a long time it didn’t look as if The Kommandant’s Girl was going to get picked up. But with the help of my agent, I developed the attitude that if this one doesn’t sell, the next one will. You just have to keep on knocking at the door until it opens.

Second, you have to be disciplined. Writing takes a lot of time, and I’m not just talking about the first draft. There are the revisions, and then there’s the business marketing side of it. You have to make choices in order to consistently carve out the time for your writing, if it is going to be important to you.

Finally, the single biggest skill that has helped me as a writer is having the ability to revise. My books have gone through dozens of rewrites from first draft to publication. Many times I had to take broad, conceptual suggestions from my agent or editor and incorporate them into the work. Often I wasn’t sure if I liked or agreed with the changes. Sometimes I would take the leap of faith and see if the changes worked (they almost always did). Other times I would go back to whoever was making the suggestion and say, “Whoa, let’s slow down here and revisit” in order to negotiate changes that made the story better without destroying my gut-level instinct about the spirit of the book. But ultimately, I truly believe my ability to integrate those changes made all the difference.

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten. . . starting with: Paper or Plastic?

Pam: Am I still allowed to answer this? I thought we were all supposed to say reusable…

JET: Steak or Tofu?

Pam: Steak but not so much, more pasta and pesto and veggies and cheese and olives…

JET: Beach or Mountains?

Pam: I grew up an hour from the beach (or the shore as we call it in Jersey) and I met my husband there, so I’d have to say beach. But mountains are a close second (at least in summer, I’m not a skier). I’ve loved hiking in the Lake District in England and the High Tatras in Poland and campling in Shenandoah and went on a fabulous writing retreat in Banff.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll?

Pam: I’m pretty musically illiterate so I defer to those with better taste.

JET: Leather or Lace?

Pam: Neither. Sadly I’m so unfashionable I was once rejected from one of those wardrobe makeover reality shows for bring too boring.

JET: Angels or Demons?

Pam: Angels. I have three kids under three and I need all of the otherwordly help I can get.

JET: Paper or Digital?

Pam: Depends. I write on a laptop but I still read the old fashioned way.

JET: Silent Film Classics or Cheesy B Rated Horror?

Pam: Classics. It’s not silent, I know but my all-time fave is Casablanca.

JET: Top 10 best seller or Unknown Back Shelf Find?

Pam: I tend to find authors and read them exhaustively whether bestselling or obscure.

JET: Coffee or Tea?

Pam: Definitely coffee. Like I said, I have three little kids.

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What's next?

Pam: I’m working on another book related to the war, it centers on some human bones found at a development site in Poland and the story toggles back and forth between present day and the past. Like The Things We Cherished, there are rich romantic relationships in it, but also themes of sisterhood and friendship.

JET: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog.


Folks, you can find out more about Pam Jenoff and her work at her website: http://www.pamjenoff.com/

Join me next week when I’ve got Kiki Howell on tap!

Until then,

Ciao

JET

Happy July 1st!

Welcome to July. I love July. Fireworks. My Birthday. Thriller Fest. Dark Reckoning and Survival Games came out in July of 2010.


All things considered, July is by far my favorite month of the year.

Everything uber-cool happens in July and this year is no different.

I’ve got a kick-ass line up of guests including, Tim Ellis, J. Carson Black, Katie Salidas, Pam Jennoff, Kiki Howell and closing up the month, I’ll be dishing it up with Robert Browne.

In the meantime, check out these sizzling summer reads…

J.E. Taylor – The Raising – June 1, 2011

What would you do to bring your soul mate back from the dead? Would you give up your soul? Your talents? Your life?

Dr. Holly Robbins lost her husband to a stray bullet and now she has another patient on the brink between life and death. A patient whose mother offers a unique opportunity, but only if Holly can save her son.

E.J. Findorff – Unhinged – July 1, 2011

Detective Decland Dupree arrives at the crime scene, where the recipient of his first childhood kiss lies in a pool of blood. Not fifteen minutes later, the body of a man is found next door. The most sadistic serial killer in New Orleans history is on the prowl. He selects both a man and a woman, raping and killing them on the same night. When another woman from Deck’s past is found and identified, the young detective is flooded with questions. How does this maniac know Deck? Why is the FBI deputy director sabotaging his efforts to capture the killer?And, most unsettling, who’s next? As the Absinthe Killer continues to evade arrest, Deck is relieved of duty. But he’s far from giving up—and, unfortunately for Deck, the FBI knows it.

Boyd Morrison – The Vault – July 5, 2011

Tyler Locke's routine commute on a Washington State ferry is interrupted by a chilling anonymous call claiming that his father has been kidnapped and that a truck bomb is set to detonate on board in twenty minutes. When Tyler, a former army combat engineer, reaches the bomb on the boat's car deck, he's stunned to find classical languages expert Stacy Benedict waiting for him. She's received the same threat and her sister has also been taken. In order to disarm the bomb, they must work together to solve an engineering puzzle--a puzzle written in ancient Greek. Preventing the explosion is only the first step. They soon learn the entire setup is a test created by a ruthless criminal who forces them to go on a seemingly impossible mission: uncover the legendary lost riches of King Midas.

Tyler and Stacy have just five days to track down the gold. Armed with an ancient manuscript penned by brilliant Greek inventor Archimedes, they begin a quest to unravel a 2,000-year-old mystery whose answer is hidden within the workings of a cryptic artifact: the Antikythera mechanism, a device designed by Archimedes himself.

To save their loved ones and prevent their captors from recovering a treasure that will finance unspeakable devastation, Tyler and Stacy head to Italy, Germany, Greece, and finally the streets of New York City in a race against the clock to find the truth behind the story of King Midas.

Lynne Griffin – Sea Escape – July 6, 2011

Acclaimed novelist and nationally recognized family expert Lynne Griffin returns with Sea Escape—an emotional, beautifully imagined story inspired by the author’s family letters about the ties that bind mothers and daughters.

Laura Martinez is wedged in the middle place, grappling with her busy life as a nurse, wife, and devoted mom to her two young children when her estranged mother, Helen, suffers a devastating stroke. In a desperate attempt to lure her mother into choosing life, Laura goes to Sea Escape, the pristine beach home that Helen took refuge in after the death of her beloved husband, Joseph. There, Laura hunts for the legendary love letters her father wrote to her mother when he served as a reporter for the Associated Press during wartime Vietnam.

Believing the beauty and sway of her father’s words will have the power to heal, Laura reads the letters bedside to her mother, a woman who once spoke the language of fabric—of Peony Sky in Jade and Paradise Garden Sage—but who can’t or won’t speak to her now. As Laura delves deeper into her tangled family history, she becomes increasingly determined to save her mother. As each letter reveals a patchwork detail of her parents’ marriage, she discovers a common thread: a secret that mother and daughter unknowingly share.

Weaving back and forth from Laura’s story to her mother’s, beginning in the idyllic 1950s with Helen’s love affair with Joseph through the tumultuous Vietnam War period on to the present, Sea Escape takes a gratifying look at what women face in their everyday lives—the balancing act of raising capable and happy children and being accomplished and steadfast wives while still being gracious and good daughters. It is a story that opens the door to family secrets so gripping, you won’t be able to put this book down until each is revealed.

Pam Jenoff – The Things We Cherished – July 12

An ambitious novel that spans decades and continents, The Things We Cherished tells the story of Charlotte Gold and Jack Harrington, two fiercely independent attor¬neys who find themselves slowly falling for one another while working to defend the brother of a Holocaust hero against allegations of World War II–era war crimes.

The defendant, wealthy financier Roger Dykmans, mysteri¬ously refuses to help in his own defense, revealing only that proof of his innocence lies within an intricate timepiece last seen in Nazi Germany. As the narrative moves from Philadelphia to Germany, Poland, and Italy, we are given glimpses of the lives that the anniversary clock has touched over the past century, and learn about the love affair that turned a brother into a traitor.

Rich in historical detail, Jenoff’s astonishing new work is a testament to true love under the worst of circumstances.

Robert Browne – The Paradise Prophecy – July 21, 2011

A spectacular thriller inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost in which the final chapter of the War in Heaven is about to play out on Earth, with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance.

The Myth

When God cast the archangel Satan into Hell, ending the War in Heaven, peace prevailed on Earth. Until the fallen angels took revenge in the Garden of Eden. Ever since, mankind has been in a struggle between good and evil, paradise and apocalypse: the fall of Rome, The Crusades, World Wars, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East Crisis... The War in Heaven never really ended-it just changed venues. For millennia, God's angels have been fighting Satan's demons on Earth, all in hopes of bringing about Satan's greatest ambition, the Apocalypse.

The Reality

Satan has never been closer to his goal than right now.

Agent Bernadette Callahan is a talented investigator at a shadowy government organization known only as Section, on the trail of a serial killer with nearly supernatural abilities. Sebastian "Batty" LaLaurie is a religious historian who knows far too much about the other side- and that hard-earned knowledge is exactly what Callahan needs. This unlikely duo pair up for a race across the globe, decoding clues left in ancient texts from the Bible to Paradise Lost and beyond. In the process they stumble upon a vast conspiracy-one beyond the scope of mankind's darkest imagination.

Melanie Benjamin – The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb – July 26, 2011

In her national bestseller Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin imagined the life of the woman who inspired Alice in Wonderland. Now, in this jubilant new novel, Benjamin shines a dazzling spotlight on another fascinating female figure whose story has never fully been told: a woman who became a nineteenth century icon and inspiration—and whose most daunting limitation became her greatest strength.

“Never would I allow my size to define me. Instead, I would define it.”

She was only two-foot eight-inches tall, but her legend reaches out to us more than a century later. As a child, Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Bump was encouraged to live a life hidden away from the public. Instead, she reached out to the immortal impresario P. T. Barnum, married the tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and transformed into the world’s most unexpected celebrity.

Here, in Vinnie’s singular and spirited voice, is her amazing adventure—from a showboat “freak” revue where she endured jeering mobs to her fateful meeting with the two men who would change her life: P. T. Barnum and Charles Stratton, AKA Tom Thumb. Their wedding would captivate the nation, preempt coverage of the Civil War, and usher them into the White House and the company of presidents and queens. But Vinnie’s fame would also endanger the person she prized most: her similarly-sized sister, Minnie, a gentle soul unable to escape the glare of Vinnie’s spotlight.

A barnstorming novel of the Gilded Age, and of a woman’s public triumphs and personal tragedies, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is the irresistible epic of a heroine who conquered the country with a heart as big as her dreams—and whose story will surely win over yours.

Julie Kramer – Killing Kate – July 26, 2011

Not all angels are divine...

As TV reporter Riley Spartz discovers a serial killer drawing angel-shaped chalk outlines around the bodies of his victims, she unearths an eerie legend dating back nearly a century. Tracking the story to an Iowa cemetery, Riley finds an infamous Black Angel monument that may be connected to the string of homicides throughout the Midwest. Now she is up against a delusional young man who believes the statue is urging him to kill.



Grab a drink and your kindle, stretch out on the beach or by the pool and enjoy!

Next Friday I’ve got Tim Ellis on tap, swing in and say hi!

Until then,

Ciao.

JET