Beauty in Brevity

I couldn't resist going to Fountain Books to hear a blogger (The Book Lady, aka Rebecca Joines Schinsky) interview author Susan Gregg Gilmore ( a journalist turned novelist). Writing geeks talking about books; what a great way to kick off a Monday evening.

Gilmore's new book was born out of a return to her hometown of Nashville after thirty years away. While house hunting, she looked at a house in which she had played as a child, a place that brought back happy childhood memories. But unbeknownst to her back then, the basement housed the servants' quarters, which she described as "Concrete walls, no windows, a dark, dank place." A seed was planted.

Then she met a woman named Bezillia, moved to a place called the Grove and after much researching of society pages and obituaries from old newspapers, began the book that became The Improper Life of Bezillia Grove, the subject of tonight's reading.

Gilmore said that many of the book's themes developed from her own youth in the 60s and 70s: the Southern Freedom Movement, the beginnings of feminism, wanting to take a stand but fearful of falling short, even wanting to date a black guy in high school, but afraid of her father's reaction.

When The Book Lady asked her about her influences, Gilmore cited Southern icons like Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor. When she added contemporary Southern writers such as Lee Smith, Fountain owner Kelly Justice reminded the audience that Smith had been a speaker at the book store in the past. For the first-timers in the audience, Kelly informed them that, "This is where you come to hear writers before they're famous."

As to what the author is reading these days, Gilmore cited short story collections and, due to her reading speed, being a huge fan of flash fiction. At 1,000 words or less, it's ideal for the slow reader or attention-challenged, but still provides the arc of a story and an ending.

When an audience member asked about the unfamiliar genre, Gilmore explained it eloquently. "I think of it as elongated poetry."

That was the takeaway. I needed to go to that reading just to learn that beautiful way to describe a short piece of writing. Nerd quotient satisfied.