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SACRAMENTO,
Calif. — Since it started up in April, the San
Francisco digital publishing site www.byliner.com
has specialized in long-form narrative nonfiction. It
has compiled quite an archive — more than 60,000
pieces by more than 4,000 writers.
Now
Byliner has broadened its scope to include fiction, and
it drafted novelist Amy “Joy Luck Club” Tan to write
its inaugural offering, her 14,000-word “Rules for
Virgins.” This is the first piece of fiction Tan has
published in six years, after “Saving Fish From
Drowning.”
“Rules”
is described as “the sensual tale of an aging master
courtesan instructing her beautiful young protégé in
the ways of love and business in 1912 Shanghai.”
“Almost
from the day we launched, we had readers asking about
fiction,” said Byliner founder John Tayman. “Given
reader demand for stories that can be read in a single
sitting, we expect (the addition) to be very popular.”
Tan is an
award-winning writer who divides her time between the
San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Last week, she
was inducted into the California Museum’s California
Hall of Fame.
“Rules
for Virgins” is available online for $2.99 at Amazon,
Google, Barnes & Noble and Apple, downloadable to
most digital devices.
I talked
with Tan by phone from her home in Sausalito, Calif.
Q.
Congratulations on becoming a member of the California
Hall of Fame.
A. I was
most excited to see the other (inductees). I feel many
of them have done much more than I have, in terms of
serving people.
Q.
You’ve been busy the past six years.
A. I
helped raise money for (the San Francisco Opera) and
wrote a libretto (of “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”)
for it. The publicity and touring were a big
undertaking. Also, I went on research trips to China for
a novel, and wrote an article on China for National
Geographic magazine. It’s very hard to write (fiction)
when you’re involved in other major projects.
Q. You
say the idea for “Rules” came to you when you saw
some old pictures of your grandmother’s cousin.
A. Yes,
the photos were cumulatively persuasive that she was a
courtesan. I started (researching the story) by looking
at the novel “Singsong Girls of Shanghai,” written
in the 1890s. Mostly I talked with academic people and
read academic books. The historical research on the
period was fascinating and fun.
Q. How
did you like writing in digital format?
A. This
is the first story I’ve directly written for
e-publication, and I found the form liberating because
there was no word-length limitation. I likely will do
more.
Q.
You’ve said you had some angst over whether to publish
the story after you finished it.
A. I have
angst over everything. I am my worst critic. First, I
had to be encouraged to write it, then I wrote it and
was really happy. But then the angst came (partly) due
to the subject matter. I could imagine a lot of my
readers saying, “This is trash, where are the tender
mother-daughter stories?”
This is
about human nature in the same way, but the context is
different. In that era, courtesans were enviable and had
the most freedom of any class. They were
business-oriented women who were very strong and who
made their own ways in the world by using their smarts.
Q.
You’re finishing your next novel.
A. It’s
called “Valley of Amazement” and was inspired by a
painting I saw in Berlin. In the book, (I explore) what
the image means to three different people in different
generations. It won’t publish for another year, but
election time isn’t a great time to have a book coming
out.
(EDITORS:
STORY CAN END HERE)
———
LOOKING
AT DIGITAL WORLD
Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, Skype, the Internet, tablets,
smartphones, laptops, blogs, text messaging, electronic
mail, and electronic books and the e-readers that go
with them. It’s a digital world and we’re
super-connected. Or are we discombobulated with too much
meaningless information? Try a trio of related titles:
—“Blur”
by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel (Bloomsbury, $16, 240
pages): What poses as “news” on the Internet isn’t
necessarily so, say the veteran journalists. They detail
a step-by-step process that helps readers separate the
facts from the fabrications.
—“The
Digital Divide,” edited by Mark Bauerlein (Tarcher,
$17.95, 368 pages): These 27 essays examine the effects
of social media on our biology, personal lives and
culture. Some of the writers laud the digital landscape
and its potential, while others raise warnings of the
harm it is doing on multiple levels.
—“How
To Win Friends & Influence People in the Digital
Age,” by writers and editors at Dale Carnegie &
Associates (Simon & Schuster, $26, 245 pages):
Carnegie’s 1936 “How To Win Friends & Influence
People” sold 30 million copies, so the man knew
something about social interaction. Because
communication portals have multiplied, his advice has
been updated and rewritten, “while holding on to its
root message for success.”
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