Summary: From Crazy Quilt: "I used to wonder if God was really up there the way the preacher said he was. But I couldn't grasp the concept of a God-king in the sky then any more than I can now. Back then I thought that I was the only one who knew God was really the stars. God the Universe. "There ain't nothing like it," Mac says, drawing on his cigarette, his eyes still on the sky. "No," I say. "Nothing." "I met a old Indian in Oklahoma that told me all them stars is the spirits of dead ancestors. You reckon that's true?" "Captain Kirk wouldn't think so." "You think Star Trek is true?" "No," I say, my earlier wariness stirring. I am wondering if he's crazy. Crazy enough to think Star Trek is real. Crazy enough to kill me. He laughs. "Well, I'll tell you something. They're both true. That old Indian and Star Trek. Both of 'em. There's enough stars up there to accommodate more than one way of looking at 'em." "That makes sense," I say. "You think it does?" "More sense than anything I've heard in a long time," I say and mean it. "Then you're a damned smart woman," he says. He points to something high on the horizon, a streak of light. "Look," he says," one of 'em's falling." Continuing our fiction binge (who can ever get enough?), we talk novel writing with Paula Paul, author of 23 novels spanning a variety of genres: mystery, the historical novel, children's stories, and "the novel." Author Paula Griffith Paul is an award-winning novelist who usually writes mysteries, but her current novel, Crazy Quilt, is a literary novel. The main character is a woman whose body, marriage, and spirit have been ravaged by cancer treatment, but who fights her way back in a most unconventional way. Paula is donating one third of the royalities to cancer research. Paula was born on her grandparents' cotton farm near Shallowater, Texas, and graduated from a country high school near Maple, Texas. She earned a B.A. in journalism and has worked as a reporter for newspapers in both Texas and New Mexico. She's been the recipient of state and national awards for her work as a journalist. In this fascinating interview, Paula explains: * What is common to all the books she's written, despite their being in different genres * Why she sometimes writes under a pseudonym * How she approaches characterization and plot * Why and how the reader is so important to her * How she analyzes other authors' books and draws inspiration from them * What she does to hold the reader's attention * What her writing process looks like * How landscape and setting mold personality * How she deals with beginnings and endings * What the hardest part of writing is for her. Don't miss this exciting show featuring two Paulas, Paula Paul and Writing Show host Paula B., as they explore the fertile world of novel writing!
