Today I have an honoured guest on my blog. Adele Elliott is the author of FRIENDSHIP CEMETERY, which was published last month by Crooked Cat Publishing. I had the privilege of working with Adele as editor of this truly fascinating novel. Here is what she has to say about it:
Friendship Cemetery is a real
place. It is a lovely burial ground that dates from before the Civil War. There
is something about it that is not at all creepy. It is beautiful and, in many
ways, a very comforting place to visit.
That is not to say that
it is not haunted. Many ghosts walk along the shadowy paths, both at night and
sometimes during the day. This is a place that is so inspiring that even the
most unimaginative person would be moved to create a story or a poem or a
painting. It is magical.
For several years I had
a snippet of conversation between two girls floating around in my head.
However, I had no idea how to turn that small bit into a novel. I had some
success with short stories when I was in college, winning several awards.
Something kept telling me that this should not be another short story, but I
was not sure how it would become a full-length novel. So, it sat dormant for a
very long time.
When I finally
began to write, I thought it had promise. I sent the first three chapters to a
friend who teaches teachers how to teach writing. Complicated, but I needed
some feedback. His response was that he did not understand if this novel was
about Emma Grace, or about the city of Columbus, Mississippi. He also said that
I had big problems with syntax. I ran to look up “syntax”.
I was quite devastated
and did not show it to anyone again. By the time Friendship Cemetery was finished (about seven months later), no one,
not even my husband, had read it. At that time, I told my writer/teacher friend
that I was finished. He said, “Now it’s time to re-write.”
Well, if I knew what
was wrong with it, I would have fixed it the first time. I had no concept of
how to begin a re-write. So, I just started sending it out.
I was astounded when I
received an acceptance from Crooked Cat Publishing. I called my husband to read
the email, still not sure if this was a real offer.
Laurence, at Crooked
Cat, connected me with you, as an editor. I expected huge re-writes, and major
changes. As it turned out, the process was quite painless. You caught many
small problems that had slipped by me, but would probably have been discovered if
I had let my editor-husband read it. I will not make that mistake again.
Friendship
Cemetery is a work of fiction,
set in the real city of Columbus, Mississippi. It is the story of Emma Grace
Leigh, an 18-year-old, who wants to become a ghost hunter. When the novel
begins, her father has been dead for eight months. She goes into Friendship
looking for ghosts in general, and specifically for her father’s ghost.
The cast of quirky
characters include a young Afro-American boy, a healer-woman, and Princess Kamara
(nicknamed Pea), a dwarf-girl who makes folk-art sculptures from the detritus
found in the cemetery.
It is a story about
secrets, family curses, and hubris, all of which can be destructive.
The places in and
around Columbus are real; the characters are fiction. I don’t want local
readers to try to figure out who they are. They are not existent people.
Although the cover looks spooky, the book
is quite funny. This is no Stephen King novel.
It is appropriate for adults & mature teens. There is no sex, or
graphic violence, or explosions.
The main theme of Friendship Cemetery is that
truth is limited by perception and experience. In the beginning of the novel,
Emma believes Pea to be a leprechaun, which, of course, she is not.
It is also about acceptance. Pea’s defects are
obvious: physical deformities. Others’ defects are more subtle. Flaws such as superficiality, blind judgment
and hubris are less apparent, but still corrosive. The sins of our parents,
although sometimes just as hereditary as the shapes of our features or the
color of our hair, can be erased.
Friendship Cemetery is an
easy read. There are no confusing words like “syntax”.
Thank you Adele!
