& Book Giveaway Comments Contest!
If you've been following The Muffin for a while, you probably remember Sybil Baker's first tour with WOW for The Life Plan. We had such a fantastic time that we were thrilled when Sybil decided to tour with us again for her latest book Talismans, a compelling collection of linked stories that's been described as a contemporary Heart of Darkness. I'm particularly excited about this tour because I love short story collections, and the idea of having linked short stories in one book is something I'm really interested in as an aspiring author.
Sybil Baker spent twelve years teaching in South Korea prior to accepting a position as an assistant professor of English at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga after earning her MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. During her extensive travels throughout Asia, she became increasingly interested in the allure and alienation of American travelers and expatriates, and this has heavily influenced her writing. She is the author of Talismans (C&R Press, 2010) and The Life Plan (Casperian Books, 2009). Her short stories and essays have appeared in Transnational Literature, Upstreet, The Writer's Chronicle, and elsewhere.
Learn more about Sybil by visiting her website www.sybilbaker.com, and her blog An Ex-patriate's Musings on Writing, Teaching, and Travel.
Talismans
by Sybil Baker
Elise understands her father--a Vietnam vet who abandoned her when she was an infant--about as much as she does her church organist mother and the rest of their suburban Virginian town. When even that thin thread of connection is suddenly severed, Elise is flung across the world, to Southeast Asia. Tracing the steps her father took through the war, Elise searches for a connection--with his ghost, with other travelers, with the foreign culture and environment she experiences. In a series of linked short stories, Talismans follows Elise's journey to learn what she must hold onto, and what she must leave behind.
Genre: Literary Fiction, Short Story Collection
Trade Paperback: 181 pages
Publisher: C&R Press (D
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By: Wow!,
on 12/6/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: Wow!,
on 12/6/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: book giveaway, travel writing, Short Story Collection, The Life Plan, interview with Sybil Baker, Sybil Baker, author blog tour, expat, Talismans, Add a tag
9 Comments on Sybil Baker, author of Talismans, Launches her Blog Tour!, last added: 12/9/2010
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Thank you for the great interview. I love reading books that tell a story using a different type of format; diary entries, letters, etc. This book will be on my reading list.
Looking forward to hearing some of the readings!
I'm developing a collection of linked stories so very intriguied by Talisman. Looking forward to reading and to other interviews on the blog tour.
Thanks for your comments! I will try to check in today from time to time to answer any questions you might have.
What are some different ways that authors can link short stories in a collection? Do they need to be in chronological order? Have the same main character? I'm sure there are different ways to approach this--just wondering your take on it, Sybil.
Margo
http://margodill.com/blog/
Hi Margo,
There are many different ways to "link" a collection. Some stories just have characters living in the same town, and that is the only real link between them. Other collections follow several characters. Others like mine follow one character chronologically.
You do not have to arrange the stories in chronological order, and in fact for a long time I'd "book-ended" the collection with the two stories that take place in Korea, which occur later in Elise's life.
I think the term linked collection is a pretty loose term that allows experimentation and interpretation, so have fun with it.
It would be so wonderful to be able to travel for research. I have been to the settings I've used in my novels, but they are all in the US.
Your collection sounds interesting.
I've written some flash fiction based on my Peace Corps experience in Morocco and have ideas for several more stories, so I found your interview about Talismans encouraging. I love to read fictional accounts of other cultures or the immigrant experience in America (like Unaccustomed Earth :) Thanks for sharing.
i would like to read this work!
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