Persistence as resistance: A pitching masterclass and escapist (but dark) book recommendations for November

When in doubt: keep writing and reading, friends.

Nov 05, 2024

∙ Paid

A heads up to my readers, I recorded this video introduction on Monday November 4th knowing that if I post as I normally do on Wednesday, we might—or more likely might not—know who our 48th president is going to be. I don’t know how you have been handling the stress, vitriol, angst and desperation of the last weeks/months/years/century, but one of the ways I cope is by writing, and thinking about my writing, and teaching others how to write. We are going to need writers—good, powerful writers—in the years ahead no matter who or what is in office, so I’m proud to be a writer and a teacher of writing. Teaching writing matters.

Accordingly, I’m going to talk a bit about the pitching class I’m teaching next week—a class that will help writers of fiction and nonfiction alike to identify the themes and angles they can pull out of their work in progress (or work in query purgatory) to build essays and op-eds around. My cat makes a cameo in this video, sort of. (Sorry if you are allergic to cats.)

Update: I just realized that as the master of my own universe I can post this video tomorrow, Tuesday, instead of Wednesday. As a Virgo it’s very hard for me to digress from established patterns such as posting on a Tuesday instead of a Wednesday, but I’m trying to grow!

About my pitching masterclass on November 13th:

I regret that Chester never actually appeared! Here’s a little flyer for the pitching class, for which you can sign yourself (or a friend) up for here. Note that after the paywall, there is a discount code paid subscribers can use for this and all Turning Points classes. (Thank you for your support!)

Sign up via my website and join us next Wednesday (or after the fact— video of the class will go out to everyone enrolled.)

Otherworldly reads for an otherworldly November

Something odd has happened to me in recent years. I’ve gone from being someone who can’t watch or read horror films/novels to someone who actively seeks them out as a coping mechanism for stress. For example, I’m a nervous flyer, but if I watch “Silence of the Lambs” in the airplane, I forget about the turbulence, and focus, instead, on the horrors of cannibalism and serial murder. During the lead-up to the election season, instead of listening to meditation apps and watching Bob Ross re-runs as my therapist would like to see me doing, I’ve been reading Tana French?

If you also have a twisted way of handling stress, here are some spooky-ass reads that I’ve enjoyed that would make excellent titles for a (potentially) dark November:1

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister (Counterpoint)

Oh, how I wish I were a producer or simply had bags of cash so that I could option this book for a limited series or film! I was absolutely and totally swept up in this imaginative, gothic tale of a sprawling family in the Appalachias who learn that the origin story they’ve been raised with might be spored with lies. It’s lush, moldy, gorgeously written and oh-so atmospheric— a more lyrical, mossier version of MEXICAN GOTHIC.

Writers should pay special attention to: How does the author make the landscape and setting a main character?

Broken Harbor by Tana French (Penguin Books)

Many of French’s books involve violence to children, and this one is no exception, so consider yourself warned. I’m not ready to call this my favorite French novel because I haven’t read all her books yet (I’m working on it)—but this one is definitely tied for first place with THE LIKENESS. To me, “Broken Harbor” feels economically timely because it features a seemingly perfect family whose quest to keep up with the Joneses’ and live beyond their means has deadly consequences. I read this novel during my Turning Points writing workshop in New Mexico and as the participants can tell you, I ran around yelping “I still don’t know who did it!” up until nearly the last page.

Writers should pay special attention to: What false paths does the author send you down? Where is she forcing you to look so that you miss other details?

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward (Tor Nightfire)

This book was my first Catriona Ward title (I’m actively reading everything else she wrote.) What makes this a particularly great read for writers is that it involves the horror of other people stealing your writing, plus an actual horror narrative. Combine YELLOWFACE with a Celtic version of Cormac McCarthy and you get the vibe of “Looking Glass Sound.” (Kids are also harmed in this book— none of these books are easy or light. Just like November of 2024!)

Writers should pay special attention to: Where is the author giving you clues that you can’t trust what your gut wants you to trust?

I’m thinking of ending things by Iain Read (Gallery/Scout Press)

With this slim novel— it’s essential that you read the book first and then immediately chase it with the Charlie Kaufman film adaptation. The book itself is mind blowing but when you see what Kaufman was capable of achieving in his adaptation, any remaining brain cells you have will go off like fireworks. I can’t reveal what the book is about because there are too many spoilers. Let’s just say that whatever “unreliable narrators” you’ve read up until this point have NOTHING on this book.

Writers should pay special attention to: The balance the author strikes between orienting and disorientating you as a reader.

Under the Skin by Michel Faber (Mariner)

Same as above: Read the book first, then watch the movie. A trigger warning here: this book is hard to read as its plot centers on human gavage. Somehow, though, given that the novel is also about isolation and the yearning for connection, it also manages to be a gorgeous read. The movie is outstanding and so beautifully shot (it’s the same director as “The Zone of Interest”— but you wouldn’t know that from the way the film is structured!) Bonus info: The author of this book, Michael Faber, wrote the 2003 blockbuster “The Crimson Petal and the White.”

Pay special attention to: How the author makes us feel compassion for a monsterly character.

A shout-out to my pal

M. L. Rio

whose bestselling GRAVEYARD SHIFT about five night-shift workers whose discovery of a mysterious hole unites them in unexpected ways is a title that absolutely fits into this “Dark November” list. I just have not read it yet because I’m been working so hard to revise my novel!

And on that note? I turned my revisions into my agent last week. HUZZAH. I worked my a** off on this book, literally. I have never worked so hard on a book before. You’d think it would be the opposite, right? The more you publish, the easier it becomes? NOT FOR ME! I really put my all into this because on November 19th, I have to go under the knife again for breathing issues and according to a delightful pre-op visit I just had with my nasal surgeon, this revision surgery is going to be more painful and harder to recover from. (Yikes.) Hopefully I’ll have good news to recover toward on the book front…here’s hoping!

In conclusion…

In the comments, let me know if you have read any of these books— did you like them? Did you not? Did you see the film adaptations? Is it totally wild of me to read horror as a coping mechanism or do you do this, too? Share away in the comments.