Eating My Words-Marcia

One of my good and very literate friends told me I had to read this book by Jodi Picoult. She made sure, despite her insane schedule, to drop "Change of Heart" off at my house the other night.

She read the book in a day.

I like the book. I think I'll stay up late and finish it off tonight, but . . . But.

I have noticed that Ms. Picoult is doing something we at the Lithia Writers have warned our colleague Ms. Raedeke against. "Change of Heart" is a long discussion: religious, moral, medical etc. about the death penalty. The author has obviously done tons of interesting reading, interviewing, and general kibbutzing about her subject.

Christy's wickedly observant work is often interspersed with well-researched discussions that take place around dinner tables in Scotland, on the Eurail through France, or, most currently, in a Buddhist Monastery in Southern Oregon. We always tell her, okay, maybe I always tell her, when we get to the talky parts--more action, more detail, more body (meaning let's see the heroine scratch her nose or something.)"

And I'm only thinking of this, because it was one of the last comments we/I made last Wednesday. Fluff it out, action it up, spread it out.

And here is Ms. P running on about religion while a priest sits in front of a death row inmate, an atheist attorney sits in front of a handsome Christian doctor, or in her rabbi-father's office. Sometimes the priest and the attorney sit together and discuss their motives for bonding with the inmate. There is a lof of "telling" versus "showing".

Maybe the writer realizes at times she is doing that which is forbidden, because there will be breaks from the debate --the death row inmate will perform a miracle resonant of S. King's inmate in "The Green Mile", or the chubby attorney will go home and feed her rabbit, (shades of Stephanie Plum and her hamster). Or maybe she knows something we don't. Maybe in order to get her message across this is the only way. Barbara Kingsolver has been known to wax on a bit too.

So, maybe I'm wrong. If J. Picoult and B. Kingsolver can have characters who talk away without action, C. Raedeke can too. I would much rather listen to Christy's Lemonhead-eating Rinpoche than Jodi's rabbit-feeding attorney (although I do hope the pudgy woman gets the British doctor). Seriously. Christy's characters are much better drawn and their conversation, even if it's all conversation, is always interesting and very zippy. We've learned about zero-point energy, safe cracking, tulpas, the Mayan Calendar--all kinds of goodies.

It just goes to show . . . I don't know what . . . that if you're a best selling author you can get away with a thinly veiled debate on the death penalty, or that you should not take the comments of your writers group too seriously.

Go ahead and write. Get all good and wordy, and you too shall appear air-brushed and beautiful in a moss green shrug on the back of a hardback book. What are you going to wear anyway? Turquoise. A summer shot, good tan, highlights, swimming pool and cabana in the background. I like it.