Freewriters, hang onto your freewrites!

While writing a novel, "a big, fat comic novel" with "10 points of view in it," Maria Kuznetsova also composed short stories on the side. She had many vignettes with a variety of protagonists.

Does this sound like you, fellow @freewrite junkies?

(Please. Please do not get offended by my careless use of the slang "junkies." It's just more colorful than "members," and "addicts" or "regulars" or "users" do not offer a big improvement.)

As book reviewer and novelist Rob Cline writes in his weekly Author Profile, Kuznetsova (may I just refer to her as Maria? No?)

... found herself with a series of vignettes, some dating back years... They featured a variety of protagonists. One day, walking home from her job at the University of Iowa Press, she had an epiphany while crossing the Iowa River.

“Nothing was gained in not having them be the same character,” she realized.

That character, Oksana, narrates her life in Kuznetsova’s debut novel, “Oksana, Behave!”

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Each chapter finds Oksana, who immigrated from Kiev to the United States as a child (just as Kuznetsova did), in a new locale, stirring up trouble for herself and others as she tries to find her own path. These chapters could largely stand alone, but they also deeply inform one another.

And what of the other project? There was interest in it. In fact, when different agents showed interest in different projects, Kuznetsova had a decision to make.

“I sat on my porch,” she remembered, “and read both. In the end, I went with my gut.”

She described “Oksana, Behave!” as a more “typical debut — sort of autobiographical, and sort of like short stories. I knew how to write this book.”

Her time at the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop reminds me of #Freewritehouse in terms of community:

“It was such a warm supportive group. We were sharing hundreds of pages with each other, so it felt really intimate right away,” she said.

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A warm and supportive writing group!

Who's feeling the warm fuzzies?

Freewritehouse, @freewrite, @mariannewest,

you are doing great things for writers. Even professional, already published authors need beta readers, editors, feedback, inspiration, and community.

And those freewrites? Keep them safe! Some that began here have already morphed into books and anthologies.
Thanks to Indie Author outlets, more and more Steemit and #freewritehouse writers have their work in print. I look forward to more and more of us finding homes like this:

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Read the whole article about the author who turned her assorted stories into a debut novel from Penguin here:

Author profile | Maria Kuznetsova Writers' Workshop grad's debut novel explores misbehaving with a dose of humor

by Rob Cline, correspondent

If you like Rob Cline's author interviews,

you might like his debut novel as well. I did!

source

Ideally, you would click this link to my review and read it at Goodreads.

Ideally, the dozens of authors who have asked me to review their books would upvote my reviews and share them via social media. Elizabeth Letts and Dave Berry amazed me when they did that. Then Amazon purged all my book reviews, so the "Like" and "Share" from famous authors got dumped from my Twitter and Faceboook walls. (Punishment doesn't fit the crime, Amazon, and you never did tell me what my crime was.)

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How was Amazon able to delete this author's tweet?

Apparently they have gone to Twitter and deleted everything I ever tweeted a book with amazon.com linked to the Tweet. On the bright side, they can't delete her RT of my Tweet linking to a Steemit review:

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I know a writer who paid $3,000 for a lawyer to get her reviews restored at Amazon. I can think of better uses for that kind of money. And I can review books at other venues. If I continue to write book reviews at all.

Forgive me for "knowing" you don't have time to click this link to my review

and read it at Goodreads. (Who has time?) So, in case you're interested, here is one of the reviews I still have access to (despite Amazon's purge) because I had remembered to post it here as well.

Normally, I don't read thrillers, whodunnits or tales of citizens who solve crimes because the police cannot or will not.

Normally, I don't come across writers who can make me laugh out loud (literally, not just a cliched #LOL).

My Kindle kept running out of power because I shared so many Highlights. If it looks like I copied the whole book onto the Kindle Share page, nope, you're not even seeing the tip of the iceberg, and I swear upon my honor I give NO SPOILERS.

This is the debut novel of a newspaper reviewer, and his book reviews are first-rate, so I'm not surprised his first novel is also first-rate. I am surprised that in spite of certain plot holes, I love it so whole-heartedly.

What plot holes? The TV show Dexter has more than any work of fiction I've ever seen, but I was still addicted to the show season after season. In "Murder by the Slice," terms like "tropes" and sketchy premise are irrelevant. Yes, the sweet little old church lady may be a trope (a character we've seen in other novels or movies), but we love her so much, she's a character we can't tire of. Yes, she's wise and sweet and generous, to the point that she might be more of a fantasy character than a real-life lady, but again, the author brings her to life so vividly, I'm willing to suspend any disbelief.

The baseball scene is so funny, I'm reminded of the classic Leslie Nielson movie "Naked Gun 2-1/2." Oddly, I don't even like slapstick, but I laugh every single time I see that movie, and I laughed (OUT LOUD) at the ballpark scenes in "Murder by the Slice."

If you follow my Twitter or Facebook accounts or my Amazon Highlights, you'd see dozens of great lines I shared with potential new fans.

.... More to come when I read the other 2/3 of the "Writing Lads" triumverate - which reminds me - a fun facet of this novel is Rob Cline's mention of Lennox Randon and Dennis Green. (Note: I am very sad to report that Lennox Randon has since died.) They were The Writing Lads of Cedar Rapids

ANTI-DISCLAIMER: I did NOT receive a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I bought the book after downloading the sample chapters. For only $3, it's more fun than a ride at the State Fair, and the fun lasts a lot longer than the Ferris Wheel ride.

Thank you for reading!

More Book Reviews by Keangaroo

Rave Review! by Keangaroo: A Traveler from an Antique Land by Harvey Click

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Sidequest: In Realms Ungoogled by Frank J. Fleming #Keangrooview

The Cat's Page by @GuyTMartland

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There's more, lots more, at @carolkean

if you care to slog through scroll through all those posts listed under my name.

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"Keangaroo,"

because Kean sounds like Kane (not keen, hint, hint)

Find me at Twitter:
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