"DOUBLE DEMAS" GIVEAWAY - PART TWO: THE WRITING CIRCLE: REVISITED REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

 GIVEAWAY ENDED
THE WRITING CIRCLE

NOW IN PAPERBACK

"Selected by Indie Booksellers for the 
July 2010 Indi Notables". 

BY CORINNE DEMAS

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A tale of love, betrayal, and literature: the story of six members of an elite writing circle who share much more than their works-in-progress.

When Nancy, whose most recently published work is a medical newsletter, is asked to join the writing group made up of the local literati, she accepts, warily. She’s not at all certain that her novel is good enough for the company she’ll be keeping. But Nancy soon finds herself as caught up in the group’s personal lives as she is with their writing.

They call themselves The Leopardi Circle. There’s Gillian, a beautiful, scheming, world-famous poet; Bernard, a pompous but lovable biographer; Virginia, a respected historian and the peacemaker of the group, who is also Bernard’s ex-wife; Chris, a divorced father and successful thriller writer; and Adam, the youngest of the group, an aspiring novelist who is infatuated with Gillian. Through their complicated relationships, these eccentric characters share their families (some have been married to and divorced from each other), their beds, and their histories (buried secrets have a way of coming to light).

Listen to Corinne reading a selection from The Writing Circle at WritersCast.com.

FROM AUTHOR CORINNE DEMAS:

Corinne Demas is a talented and accomplished writer – she’s written adult novels, short stories, children’s picture books and chapter books, a play and she writes poetry as well.  In addition, she teaches full time at Mt. Holyoke.

MY REVISITED REVIEW:

                 HARDBACK COVER...
Discovering Corinne Demas first through her fabulous memoir, ELEVEN STORIES HIGH, and then being charmed with her poetry and many children’s books, such as the delightful holiday tale about finding new friends in TWO CHRISTMAS MICE, Corinne Demas never fails to please her readers. THE WRITING CIRCLE, her newest novel, is no exception. Drawing from her own experience in writers’ groups, teaching her craft, and writing so many wonderful books, Corinne Demas gives readers a fascinating look at the literary world that “outsiders” are normally not privy to. THE WRITING CIRCLE leads readers through an interesting character study of a group of writers and from there expands to include their families and shows how their complex personal lives intertwine to produce complications, romance, mystery, and betrayal.

Set in western Massachusetts, Demas’s familiar home base, the narrative is told using a different point of view in each chapter, alternating between the various characters. I found this to be the perfect way to follow the story by looking at all sides of the issues and intricacies of the characters. The Leopardi Circle is the name of the writing group that meets to share parts of their current work, be it fiction, poetry, or non-fiction. The purpose being to gain constructive feedback that might improve each writer’s work.

The main character, Nancy Markopolis is the newest member of the group who is asked to join when one of their members dies. Nancy is tentative at first as she listens to the more experienced writers, but she soon overcomes that as she learns more about each member. Hers is a novel of fiction which is drawn from an early memory of her beloved father and is based on his early life and in a way, pays homage to him. Her personal life is in a good place right now and little does she suspect what this new association will do to tear her dreams to shreds.

Researching George Frederic Handel, is Bernard, an overweight, unrestrained biographer who actually introduces Nancy to the group. Bernard is so wrapped up in himself that he is rather oblivious to the complicated emotions and feelings of other around him. Bernard’s ex-wife, Virginia, is a novelist and the comforting maternal figure of the group. She is always there to offer sympathy and compassion to the group when friction occurs.

In the two single males, we find Adam, the youngest of the group, and one that Virginia has taken under her wing, who has been working on a new novel for so long as he tries to draw from his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts project. Adam is a melancholy and naive character suffering from unrequited love. Chris, the older of the two, is the author of successful thrillers that he writes on a regular basis. He restrains himself as he tries to maintain his relationship with his two young sons that are being played as pawns by his self-centered ex-wife in a custody battle.

Finally, there is the poet, Gillian, a possible Pulitzer Prize candidate, who is the famous writer in the group, and whom everyone values for her work. However, some have had other relationships with Gillian while another yearns for more. Gillian’s condescending personality and inexhaustible egotism drives the group mad as well as steers the plot toward disaster.

THE WRITING CIRCLE draws the reader into the lives of the characters, and twists and turn just enough to make one suspect where things are heading only to be shocked by such a startling and stunning conclusion. Corinne Demas totally had me for the entire novel and then absolutely knocked me off my feet with the ending. DO NOT look at the last page, PLEASE, as the pleasurable build up to the climax of the book is a journey you will take, in my opinion, in one sitting, as you are so drawn in and you can’t put down THE WRITING CIRCLE!

MORE FROM CORINNE...For those of you who ever thought about writing, here is a wonderful article Corinne wrote about HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF A WRITING GROUP.  Just click HERE to read it.

GIVEAWAY
IF YOU MISSED PART ONE TODAY, FOR THE
EVERYTHING I WAS GIVEAWAY, GO HERE
THANKS TO MEGAN AND ALL THE GOOD
FOLKS AT HYPERION BOOKS, I HAVE ONE
BRAND NEW PAPER BACK COPY OF 
THE WRITING CIRCLE TO GIVE AWAY

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE DESCRIPTION AND REVIEW OF "THE WRITING CIRCLE" AND WHY YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ANOTHER GIVEAWAY OF MINE YOU ARE CURRENTLY ENTERED IN. YOU CAN COMMENT ON EACH ONE YOU ENTERED BUT MUST DO IT SEPARATELY TO COUNT

+1 MORE ENTRY: VISIT MY EARLIER INTERVIEW WITH CORINNE DEMAS AND READ IT TO SEE THE "CONNECTION" I HAVE WITH HER. COMMENT ON SOMETHING INTERESTING YOU FOUND OUT IN THAT INTERVIEW BY GOING HERE

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, MAY 18