I went to the Minnesota Book Awards last night to support a most awesomely talented writer in my writer's group, Kirstin Cronn-Mills, who was a finalist in the young adult category for THE SKY ALWAYS HEARS ME AND THE HILLS DON'T MIND. Most of our writer's group was there. As one woman put it, "it was like our Oscar night." So true! I'm so proud of Minnesota's literary community. It's filled with so much talent, yet it's not too huge--everyone knows everyone, it seems, and if you don't know someone, someone will introduce you!
Catherine Friend introduced the general nonfiction finalists with a great way of thinking about nonfiction. She said that Fred Astaire got all the credit for being a great dancer, but Ginger Rogers was just as great and not only that, she danced backwards and in high heels. Friend compared nonfiction writers to Ginger Rogers--they have to create a story and structure just as fiction writers, but they have to add the extra detail of working with the facts. In essence, they're dancing backwards and in high heels. I loved it! I love working with the facts, thinking about how I can arrange them for greatest impact. But it certainly is difficult. Thank goodness I've never tried to write fiction (nor have I had any desire to), because I've never been tempted to say, "hey, maybe I should just fictionalize this"!
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Congrats to Kirstin on her placement as a finalist! The Minnesota literary community is indeed a large, talented one. I'm a transplant from the East coast but meeting the literary folks here really helped me feel "at home."
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