I was not exactly excited as I entered the door into the Lillian Vernon Creative Writer’s House on Thursday; I had plans for a movie right after this ended, Alexander Chee was not yet there, and I was impatiently playing rounds of Brickbreaker between sending annoyed texts. Finally, he arrived, and I straightened up, glad that the reading was finally about to begin, only to watch him mouth a “Sorry I’m late” and be ushered straight off for refreshments prior to beginning the event. Needless to say, this annoyed me even more, and so, once a lengthy introduction was made, and Mr. Chee took the mic, I was so irritated that he had a high hurdle to jump if he was going to make me appreciate his work. And jump it he did…in fact, he flew straight over it so high that I was left breathless by the end. But I’m jumping ahead of myself – Mr. Chee read to us an excerpt from his upcoming novel, Queen of the Night. Historical fiction – a genre I enjoy and read when nothing in the fantasy isle catches my eye. I mentally made my hurdle just a little taller – I’ve read many amazing historical fiction novels. But from the very beginning, his voice captivated me, and as I listened to him build a rich and vibrant setting in just a chapter of his work, my opinion definitely changed. Hearing an author read his own work is mesmerizing, it draws a soul into the heart of the story. I became the mute young girl he spoke of. As he narrated, I experienced, through her eyes, the “loose but carefully wild” hair of the Contesse (one of my favorite lines from his reading). The many colloquial French additions to the piece brought his setting and era alive, and I craved to visit the Paris that he spoke of. The story is historical in nature, yes, but that doesn’t stop it from maintaining an element of whimsy. The main character is a girl, and because he chose this point of view, the story is so much more captivating than it would be otherwise.
And after he had finished reading his novel, when he was a human being once more, not the grand omniscient narrator he had been just a few moments prior, I was overcome with the magnitude of what I had heard. I needed a few moments to come to peace with the fact that this peek into his story was over. The impact of desire hit me hard after that, and I really wanted nothing more than to snatch his manuscript and make a run for it. Find somewhere quiet and read the rest in peace. Revel in every word until I had sucked from the pages all that I possibly could. We had a question and answer session following the reading, and I realized that published authors are not that much different than us. He had spent years getting to know this Parisian world – it was only then that he was able to capture the scene so confidently. He had spent weekends downing Bourbon – only then was he able to finish his novel without losing his sanity. He doubted himself, he received harsh critiques, and he, too, found motivation to keep writing despite all of this. In fact, he even keeps a blog! I liked Mr. Chee more and more. And I definitely liked the excerpt from his book – I will be sure to purchase a copy when it is released. In fact, I’m going to read his first novel, Edinburgh, as soon as my final examinations for this semester are over…and I can’t wait.
Controlled Derangement 