The Crystal Ballroom

Connected short stories

~ Libby Sommer ~ 10 Comments
exterior State Library of NSW
State Library of New South Wales Sydney

I had a five minute spot last Wednesday at the Society of Women Writers monthly lunch meeting at the State Library of NSW in Sydney. I was given the opportunity to stand up in front of a microphone and speak about my two books. It was a chance to confront my fear of public speaking and tell everyone ‘The Crystal Ballroom’ (Ginninderra Press) had been launched the previous week in Melbourne. I’d only spoken in public twice before, at the two launches. It was a very scary experience. Apparently, most of us fear speaking in front of an audience more than death. So, even though I appeared confident, my hands kept up their shaking for some time after I sat down again. But very pleased with myself for doing it. Those more experienced than me tell me it gets easier every time.

Anyway, the thrust of what I said was that I am transitioning from short story writer to novelist. My debut novel, ‘My Year With Sammy’ (Ginninderra Press) is really a novella and ‘The Crystal Ballroom’ a collection of short stories that I’ve linked together with an “I” narrator and the narrator’s friend, Ingrid. The two women get together over a coffee to talk about the dances they go to, who they see there, and who is sleeping with who, and who’s paying the rent 🙂

It was a device I used to turn a collection of short stories into a novel.

What about you? Have you been able to successfully change the form you write in?

 

A Fabulous Celebration

~ Libby Sommer ~ 7 Comments

Libby Sommer reading from her book while Stephen Matthews listensNicholas Building, Melbourne

A big thank you to my publisher Stephen Matthews, Ginninderra Press for a wonderful afternoon of celebration last Saturday at Collected Works Bookshop in the historic Nicholas Building, Melbourne.

Ginninderra Press celebrated 21 years of independent publishing and Stephen Matthews launched my second book, ‘The Crystal Ballroom’. That’s him looking on as I read the first couple of pages of the story. The room was jam-packed full of people. Hopefully, the audience were enthralled and wanted to read the rest of my book.

Other Ginninderra Press writers from all over Australia attended the event and many read a poem or a story including my new friend, the award-winning Melissa Bruce.

We all enjoyed ourselves drinking wine and eating cheese and other tasty bits and telling each other about our work.

There was a long queue at the cash register at the end of the day 🙂

 

 

A novel-in-stories

~ Libby Sommer ~ 11 Comments

The Crystal Ballroom red and black book cover

Three weeks till launch of my second novel ‘The Crystal Ballroom’, a novel-in-stories.

So what is a novel-in-stories? One famous example  is Elizabeth Strout’s Pullitzer Prize-winning ‘Olive Kitteridge’.

‘A penetrating, vibrant exploration of the human soul, the story of Olive Kitteridge will make you laugh, nod in recognition, wince in pain, and shed a tear or two.’ – Goodreads

‘In a voice more powerful and compassionate than ever before, New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Strout binds together thirteen rich, luminous narratives into a book with the heft of a novel, through the presence of one larger-than-life, unforgettable character: Olive Kitteridge.’

yellow Olive Kitteridge book cover

A novel-in-stories, or connected short stories that together become more than the sum of their parts,  is also known as a short story cycle.

‘A short story cycle (sometimes referred to as a story sequence or compositenovel) is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when reading the group as a whole as opposed to its individual parts.’ – Wikipedia
The Canterbury Tales book cover
‘A novel-in-stories is a book-length collection of short stories that are interconnected. (One of the very first examples of this genre is The Canterbury Tales; a more recent example is The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank.) A novel-in-stories overcomes two key challenges for writers: the challenge of writing a novel-length work, and the challenge of publishing a book-length work of unrelated short stories. (Few publishers are willing to publish a short-story collection from an unknown writer.) So, the novel-in-stories helps you sell a story collection like you would a novel—as long as the interconnected nature of the stories is strong and acts as a compelling hook. Another advantage to novels-in-stories is that they afford you the opportunity to publish pieces of your novel in a variety of literary magazines, which might attract the attention of an editor or agent.’ – Writer’s Digest

‘The Crystal Ballroom’ is connected by place and by a first person narrator and her friend who exchange stories about the characters they meet at the singles dances as they search for a regular dance partner.

The book will be launched by Stephen Matthews on 1 July in downtown Melbourne at Collected Works Bookshop at an afternoon of launches and book reading to celebrate Ginninderra Press’s 21 years of independent publishing.

Counting down. Can hardly wait.

Launch Event

~ Libby Sommer ~ 4 Comments

red and black The Crystal Ballroom book cover

Save the date! Help me celebrate the launch of my new book on Saturday 1 July. My second novel The Crystal Ballroom – stories of love and loss in the singles dance scene – will be launched by Stephen Matthews at Collected Works Bookshop, Level 1, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne at an afternoon of book launches and readings to celebrate award-winning Ginninderra Press’s  21 years of independent publishing.

Hope to see you then 🙂

 

 

Publication day!

~ Libby Sommer ~ 17 Comments

 

The Crystal Ballroom red and black book cover

My second novel, The Crystal Ballroom is released today! If you’re in Australia you can order a copy from your favourite bricks and mortar bookseller or directly from Ginninderra Press. Print and ebook editions are also available from Amazon, Book Depository and other online booksellers.

‘Libby Sommer lays bare the foibles of human nature in her finely observed stories of love and loss in the singles dance scene. Brilliantly drawn with wit, compassion and poignancy, the characters you meet in The Crystal Ballroom are sure to remind you of someone—maybe even yourself.’ – Jan Cornall, Writer’s Journey.

 ‘Libby Sommer exposes the secret lives of the singles who dance at The Crystal Ballroom. Authentic and powerful, this unique book will be loved by the dancers and readers.’ Frida Kotlyar, ballroom, Latin and Argentine tango dancer.

 ‘Libby Sommer’s fiction has wit but is essentially serious with a subtle but strong underlying pathos, a wry humour and accomplished satirical tone.’ – Amanda Lohrey, Australian writer, and novelist. Patrick White Award winner.

‘Sommer’s existentialism is one of the best and most articulate voices of middle age angst ever.’ –Richard English, novelist and Visiting Lecturer, Brunel University London.

The book will be launched at Collected Works Bookshop in Melbourne on 1 July. Details to follow. If you’re free, come along.

I hope you enjoy reading The Crystal Ballroom: stories of love and loss in the singles dance scene. I’m very excited that My Year With Sammy and The Crystal Ballroom are out there in the public arena – thrilled that my work has finally made it out into the world after all these years.

Have made it to the top of the mountain

~ Libby Sommer ~ 4 Comments

red and black book cover 'The Crystal Ballroom' by Libby Sommer

Have finally made it to the top of the second-book-publication mountain. Received pre-release copy of The Crystal Ballroom this week. Looking good. You can order copies now through the Ginninderra Press website . Also available as an ebook from Amazon, Book Depository and other online sellers.

‘Libby Sommer lays bare the foibles of human nature in her finely observed stories of love and loss in the singles dance scene. Brilliantly drawn with wit, compassion and poignancy, the characters you meet in The Crystal Ballroom are sure to remind you of someone—maybe even yourself.’ – Jan Cornall, Writer’s Journey.

 ‘Libby Sommer exposes the secret lives of the singles who dance at The Crystal Ballroom. Authentic and powerful, this unique book will be loved by the dancers and readers.’ Frida Kotlyar, ballroom, Latin and Argentine tango dancer.

 Happy happy me.

Book cover reveal

~ Libby Sommer ~ 12 Comments

'The Crystal Ballroom' book cover

The book cover at last! My second novel, ‘The Crystal Ballroom’ will be published by Ginninderra Press in May this year. Pre-launch copies available next month. A very exciting time for me.

Here are a couple of reviews from the back cover:

‘Libby Sommer lays bare the foibles of human nature in her finely observed stories of love and loss in the singles dance scene. Brilliantly drawn with wit, compassion and poignancy, the characters you meet in The Crystal Ballroom are sure to remind you of someone—maybe even yourself.’ – Jan Cornall, Writer’s Journey.

 ‘Libby Sommer exposes the secret lives of the single men and women who dance at The Crystal Ballroom. Authentic and powerful, this unique book will be loved by the dancers and readers.’ Frida Kotlyar, Ballroom, Latin and Argentine Tango dancer.

What do you think of the cover design? I love it 🙂

Update: The Crystal Ballroom

~ Libby Sommer ~ 9 Comments

the legs of a man and a woman dancing tango

I’ve posted the corrected first proofs of ‘The Crystal Ballroom’ back to Adelaide publisher, Ginninderra Press. Final proofs next step in the publication process. In the meantime, we are putting together reviews for the back cover.

 

I love this one received recently from Jan Cornall, Writer’s Journey:

“Libby Sommer lays bare the foibles of human nature in her finely observed stories of love and loss in the singles dance scene. Brilliantly drawn with wit, compassion and poignancy, the characters you meet in the Crystal Ballroom are sure to remind you of someone -maybe even yourself.”

Jan’s quote gives a good description of the contents of the book. Such a hard thing to do in just a couple of sentences.

Would you, or someone you know, be interested in reading a book about this topic? 

p.s. this picture is not the book cover.

Header image: Creative Commons

First Proofs

~ Libby Sommer ~ 14 Comments

book cover of Dancing Backwards in High Heels by Christine DarcasFirst proofs and mock-up of the cover of my second book, ‘The Crystal Ballroom’ have arrived. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t looking forward to rereading the manuscript. It had been rejected by publishers so many times I’d lost confidence in the story. That is, until Ginninderra Press, a small but prestigious Australian publisher said ‘yes’ in April, 2016. Anyway, I sat myself down yesterday to quietly reread the story and, surprisingly, I liked what I had written. I could see what I was trying to say and the themes I’d woven through it.

The mock-up cover looks great. As good as (or even better than) ‘Dancing Backwards in High Heels’ (pictured here) by Australian author, Christine Darcas published by Hachette in 2009.

La La Land movie poster

And now that the movie ‘La La Land’ has won so many awards, there is a renewed interest in dancing. So my new book may be timely:  the story of the hopes and dreams of the characters who dance at a fictional dance hall in western Sydney.

A couple more months till publication of ‘The Crystal Ballroom’.

Looking good 🙂