Links Mentioned in This Episode:

She Writes Press

Jeanne Blasberg’s Books:

• Daughter of a Promise Book
• The Nine
• Eden

How to reach Jeanne Blasberg:

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Substack

Intro:

Well, hey there, Writer. Welcome to The Resilient Writers Radio Show. I'm your host, Rhonda Douglas. And this is the podcast for writers who want to create and sustain a writing life they love. 

Because let's face it, the writing life has its ups and downs, and we want to not just write, but also to be able to enjoy the process so that we'll spend more time with our butt-in-chair getting those words on the page. 

This podcast is for writers who love books and everything that goes into the making of them. For writers who want to learn and grow in their craft and improve their writing skills. Writers who want to finish their books and get them out into the world so their ideal readers can enjoy them. Writers who want to spend more time in that flow state. 

Writers who want to connect with other writers to celebrate and be in community, in this crazy roller coaster ride, we call the writing life. We are resilient writers. We're writing for the rest of our lives and we're having a good time doing it. So welcome, Writer. I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump right into today's show.

Rhonda:

I'm here today with Jeanne Blasberg. She is the award winning and bestselling author and essayist. Her novel, The Nine, which came out in 2019, was honoured with the 2019 Forward Indies Gold Medal in Thriller and Suspense, and the Gold Medal in Juris Choice in the 2019 National Indie Excellence Awards. Eden, which came out in 2017 and was her debut, won the Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for Best New Voice in Fiction, and was a finalist for the Sarton Women's Award for Historical Fiction. Her latest novel is called Daughter of a Promise, and it came out in April of 2024. And it's a modern retelling of the legend of David and Bathsheba, which completes kind of a thematic trilogy that she began with both Eden and the Nine. So welcome, Jeanne. 

Jeanne:

Hi Rhonda, thanks for having me. 

Rhonda:

So Jeanne, I'd love to hear you talk about the inspiration for Daughter of a Promise. And yeah, how that book came to you and how you ended up doing a retelling. 

Jeanne:

Well, actually, my first two novels also have references to the Bible. Eden is way more metaphor and has symbols from the Bible and names. And it's kind of my way of saying. What's gone on for thousands of years continues to go on. We as humans haven't perfected this journey in any way. I'm not necessarily in it to kind of emphasize my religious beliefs at all. It's just more referencing, like one of our earliest and greatest pieces of literature. 

The Nine also makes a launching point from a story in the Book of Samuel. And then I continue with Daughter of a Promise with David's life as he meets and falls in love or meets and is extremely attracted to a beautiful woman he sees from afar. And when I was studying this story in a class, it was the height of the Me Too movement. And I just thought that this is such a modern, contemporary story, things just have not changed. 

I really love taking something that feels so timeless. I mean, our world is so different, but when it comes to consent and attraction and disappointment and trust and chemistry and desire and all these things, I would make the argument that things haven't changed that much. And I really do love writing as a way of kind of figuring out this thing we called being human. 

And so, making a reference to an age old story that dealt with the very same topics that we were, we are still, you know, struggling with as human and as women, I found it very interesting. 

Rhonda:

So, but it's a retelling, a contemporary retelling, right? So it's set in New York City, relatively contemporary. What's the challenge of taking something that is, you know, inspired by another piece of literature? Set in a completely different time and translating it into a contemporary world. 

Jeanne:

Well, there are challenges, obviously, and my retelling is pretty true in terms of the direction in which the plot goes. But I made a couple of liberties, for example, in the original Bathsheba is married and has a husband that David sort of does away with in order to insert himself. Well. not in order to insert himself, but in order to protect his reputation. In my novel, Betsabé Ruiz does not have a husband, but there's a more age-appropriate love interest that she could end up with. Anyway, I do make some liberties and I kind of need to or I wanted to, but people who all the similarities and people who don't know the original story will also enjoy this amazing coming of age story set in New York and set in 2019-2020. 

One of the beautiful things, to flip your question, on doing a retelling is that in the original it was entirely in the third person with regard to its impact. It was, the story was told with the voice of how it impacted like David's life. This was really his story. But what I've done as a modern writer is write it entirely in the first person from Betsabé's point of view. And in so doing, you are in someone's head who does not get a voice in the original story. And so what I also really love doing is as an author, I'm making a commentary on whose story I'm actually more interested in. Because if you read the original, and as I said, I was sitting there studying this during the height of Me Too and the ups and downs and the trials and tribulations that this young woman is forced to go through because of David's desire. In my mind, I was like, whoa, hold the phone. What's going on with her? What's in her head? This is so interesting. And I want to know her story. 

So the retelling really allows the author. to do a similar plot but have a twist. Either it's being told from a different character's point of view, it's in a completely different time. Even in theater, we're now seeing all these plays that refer either to Greek mythology or American history. And it's an unexpected cast of characters and an unexpected point of view that we're hearing from. Really, it's the same story, but it changes the story. 

Rhonda:

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. I love that whole idea. Do you think you will go back again to the same source material? Like, are you like on a streak here now, and you're going to continue to do kind of biblical retellings, but make them contemporary? Or are you intrigued by something else? 

Jeanne:

Well, I have this. The answer is yes and. So I'm currently very obsessed with agriculture and farming. My husband and I have taken on a new passion. That's not a passion project. It's a commercial venture in a farm. And I- 

Rhonda:

You're in Wisconsin, right? 

Jeanne:

Yes, it's in Wisconsin that brought us to Wisconsin. So, and in addition, although I don't necessarily think like my only my only fictional avenue are these biblical retellings. I have become quite obsessed with the Book of Samuel and in this life of David, there are two very controversial and problematic situations he finds himself in towards the end of his life. The first is this liaison with Bathsheba and the consequences of that love affair. And the second is he's got a daughter named Tamar and she has quite a unfortunate experience and David doesn't handle that very well. So in my novel, Daughter of a Promise, Tamar is represented as young Tamara. And if... If one thing I do in my three novels is not just have like this thematic arc that makes them a trilogy, I've also borrowed minor characters from previous novels and made them major characters in other novels. So for example, in Daughter of a Promise, you actually revisit the house of Eden and the town in Rhode Island and Betsabé is roommates with the daughter of a family that was in a previous book. 

Going forward, I like the idea of borrowing a minor character in Tamera from Daughter of a Promise and giving her own story. And I think she may find a place of healing on a farm or a ranch or take that new setting that I'm a little obsessed with and put a character there. So, yes, it might be another 2024 kind of contemporary timeline. But. 

Rhonda:

How long have you been on the farm? Is this a recent thing? 

Jeanne:

It's very recent. We've only been there two years. 

Rhonda:

Okay. So how is that? I mean, you've sort of mentioned one way in which this is affecting your writing life. Are there other ways in which being on a farm is affecting your writing life? 

Jeanne:

Absolutely. There's no quiet like the quiet on a 500 acre farm when you don't have is this connection with nature and kind of this connection with just like the rhythm of growing food and wildlife migrating through and the life cycle of animals and the collaboration with a team that makes me feel in touch with kind of, this is going to sound very strange, but I think it's relevant as a writer. We're always trying to like... open up and find a real spaciousness in our brains and in our minds. Absolutely. A certain peace and a certain stillness. And so on the one hand, I have that stillness and peace in my mornings and during my writing time and a good part of my day. And I'm in a new place trying something new and I'm awestruck. I guess that's the best word in this landscape that I find myself. 

So I am... If you think of your body and your mind as your instrument as a writer, my instrument is being extremely well cared for. And then I am opening up with those observing writer eyes, this new setting and the details of the setting, just like a beginner does in any new situation. So both for like material, but also for feeling well cared for and feeling a lot of self-love and love for kind of the place I am. It's very nurturing and helpful for the writing life. 

Rhonda:

Yeah, I can imagine that. Yeah, I've got a friend who has a farm near here, well, about an hour and a half from here and from where I am. And whenever I visit, it's, yeah, that stillness, that kind of ability to go deep, you know, when you're outside of the city where you're crowded on all sides with people in concrete and so on. Yeah, absolutely get that. 

Jeanne:

I think as I've gotten older, I'm more sensitive to noise. It brings a lot of noise, creates a certain anxiety inside of me. 

Rhonda:

Right, right. 

Jeanne:

Anyway, it's a luxury. 

Rhonda:

So this book came out in 2024. When was it written, Daughter of a Promise? Well, I was writing scenes really when I was on book tour with The Nine. The Nine came out in August of 2019. And just as I was in my funky groove all over the place talking about it, we got shut down with COVID and marketing my book that was at that point five or six months old felt extremely tone deaf and not on point. So I... spent a lot of time reworking the scenes that I had already written and deciding that my structure of my days was going to keep me sane and that was writing. 

Rhonda:

Yeah, I did the same in the pandemic. Absolutely. 

Jeanne:

Yeah. So interestingly enough, well, let me finish answering your first question. I wrote it fast and furiously for about a year and then I was accepted. I I submitted an application in February of 21 to a writing fellowship put on by Stonybrook State University of New York at Stonybrook called Bookends. It's part of the Southampton Writers Conference. And I was accepted and that began in the spring of 2022. I'm getting my years mixed up. 

It was 2021 or 2022. But the point is I took the year in that fellowship to get a lot of really good, great, priceless tutelage mentorship and completely rewrote it. So when I came out of that, it was probably... came out of that in July and the November of 2023, I signed a contract with SheWrites Press for a publication date in April of 2024. So yeah, it was somewhat in the can when this whole farming journey began. And I've been able to focus on both of those things at the time they needed me most. doing most of my book talks with radio shows like this one and kind of getting the word out with digital means more than in person because I really wanted to be on the farm as much as possible. 

Rhonda:

Yeah, I imagine especially for sort of spring, summer, early fall, the harvest season must be yeah, you would want to be on the farm. Yeah, yeah, middle of winter. It's a different story. Right. 

Jeanne:

Yeah. But with the book coming out in April, I was like, hmm, how am I going to do this? And right. This has been an amazing, you know, so many things now have gone digital and virtual. And these radio shows and podcasts and different things they live on, they live on. And and hopefully I'll connect with writers and readers and other creators this way as well. Mm hmm. 

Rhonda:

Yeah, absolutely. So when you're writing it during the pandemic, did the pandemic seep into it in any way? 

Jeanne:

Absolutely. So it seeped in because I needed a plot device to make it really plausible that a younger woman and an older man would develop a strong kind of psychic relationship that transcended a sexual relationship. I had my two characters quarantined together or sequestered together in David's New York City apartment. Rhonda:

Right. Forced togetherness. Yeah. 

Jeanne:

Also, in the original story of David and Bathsheba, there's a war. And in my retelling, COVID sort of serves as the war in which this young man, Grant, gets sent off to... satellite office and is endangered by COVID. And, and then of course, all the social unrest and the, and the murder of George Floyd finds its way into my book as well. So I was writing during COVID. 

Rhonda:

And you were letting it into the book. Like I think a lot of people writing during the pandemic were like, Oh, I can't write about the pandemic. 

Jeanne:

Well, so many people, yeah, so many people in the I had to take a lot of, like it almost started to read like a daily journal of what those early months were like during the pandemic. And so I completely took out everything that was gratuitous and not just really important for the plot. But you can, you read it and you go back to those details in of March of 2020. And you're like, Oh my gosh, remember when we used to do that? 

Rhonda:

Especially New York, New York was terrifying. 

Jeanne:

Yeah. So a lot of my book is about falling in love with New York as well as this love story between a man and a woman. It's all about different types of love, loving yourself, loving a best friend, loving this city and the idea of your future. And my character comes to terms with the fact that New York really did a bait and switch on her with, you know, the way it shut down and all the tragedy and the death. Right. 

It was this downfall in so many ways that is represented by COVID, but then also other things that happened between her and David that breaks her open to this like inner wisdom and this knowing and this knowing of where her life should go. She thought New York held all the answers, but what she really comes upon is that she held all the answers all along and she was taught the most important lessons of all by her family back in Miami. New York was superficial and she has what it takes. So again, in comparison to the original story, she does stay with David in the original story and she has another son who becomes the king of Israel after David's death. But the story is really about her as a footnote to David's life. And in my book, there is a conclusion where she could be and do anything she wants to do. And yeah, she's discovered the key to what who she is and her power. 

Rhonda:

Do you Jeanne, do you do you find are there ever readers of your work who object to messing around with the Bible? Like, can you is that a reaction you've ever gotten? 

Jeanne:

That's a great question. I think. the readers that I have, and they are a small percentage who are learned and have enough of a footing in the Bible to recognize what I'm doing, I think people are excited that I'm taking the Bible and making it accessible in a different way. I actually, when I talk about the class I took in which I studied this story, it was led by the head rabbi of a major temple in Boston that I belong to. And the idea of taking biblical story and biblical tradition and reinterpreting it and making it your own is a long, there's a long tradition of doing that. It's called Midrash, the rabbis do it. The imagining and answering questions that aren't answered. 

The story that I've retold is only a couple of paragraphs. There's so many questions it leaves open. And the idea of actually interacting with the story and interacting with the Bible is a good thing. I'm not saying this is ridiculous, like, it's such a short story and it's so misogynist and David was an abuser and blah, blah. I'm actually diving deep into a relationship and trying to figure out how could that have worked? And what did he offer her? And then what did she really offer him? And what were his needs? And why was he like that? What was his wound? And what was her wound? What was she missing that made her stay in this? I mean, I know back thousands of years ago, women didn't have a lot of choices. So to stay was a matter of survival. And I've taken a liberty with this modern day retelling and given her more agency and more desire and other reasons to stay. But I don't know. I have not had any pushback. The only pushback I think I've gotten a review where people are like, she shouldn't have stayed with him. But again, I was trying to hold somewhat true to the original story in which they do stay together. No, I haven't. And I anyway, no, I haven't. 

Rhonda:

No, I love that. Actually, I think that's, that's a really great answer. I just I really love that. permission to really engage deeply with the story, you know, and adapt and make it your own. And that's what we've always done. This is, this is what we do, right? 

Jeanne:

This is what humans do. We can say there are only 10 plots that are out there. We're all re-imagining them in our own setting with our own characters. I actually taught a class at a conference this spring about retellings because there's such a resurgence of people taking mythology or even classic works of literature and making them their own. Think of all of the retellings of Jane Eyre and then think of this most recent retelling of Huckleberry Finn by Percival Everett called James. It's the same story but now we completely have compassion in a way that... was only academic before, but reading this story from the point of view of Jim, the slave, it opens your eyes to exactly how and why the original may have been problematic for some folks. I mean, I'm not saying, I'm not a canceler. I'm not saying it was not well- 

Rhonda:

Right, right. No, I understand. 

Jeanne:

But what I'm saying is to actually retell it makes it hit home and makes you feel- how different this story is from another telling. And so yes, we should all have permission. Retelling is part of the human experience. 

Rhonda:

Yeah, yeah, I strongly agree with that. My first book was a retelling of the Cassandra myth in poetry. So I'm there, I love it. And it's such an amazing source of inspiration. So rich, you know, myth, legend, the Bible, you know, previous works of literature. the classic 

Jeanne:

I even in this novel daughter of a promise. It's a little bit more subtle and nuanced but it's a retelling of the little red writing hood fairy tale as well. 

Rhonda:

Okay, wow, mashup love that. Yeah. 

Jeanne:

Jeanne, you've you are in the indie world. Can you say a little bit about why you chose to be in the indie world and what you think it offers a writer who's you know if you're there's someone listening to this today kind of wondering like, am I going to go traditional? Am I going to go indie? Can you talk about a little bit about your experience and just some of the gifts that it offered you? 

Jeanne:

Sure. Well, with my first novel, Eden, I worked on it for, I say 10 years, but to be honest, it was probably longer than that. The story was kind of burning inside of me. By the time I had it ready with an editor and kind of found out I had to totally rewrite it. I was getting up to 51, 52 years old. And I had been introduced to She Writes Press by my agent. And She Writes Press was amazing and they offered me this editorial support in where I did rewrite my book. And when it was rewritten, I think I could have gone traditional or indie, or at least, you know, that was what I was told, who knows. 

But I was somewhat feeling really appreciative if She Writes Press and also the idea that I would sign a contract with them and know when my book would come out was comforting because again, at my age of 52 back then, I was like, I have another book actually that I want to get out. Being under kind of the publishing industry's timeline and their idea for me. felt like putting my life in someone else's hands yet again. Yeah. You know, it's funny, when I was writing Eden, I thought if a hundred people read this book, if five people read this book, if one person reads this book and I connect with them, I would be so happy. 

Well, my dreams were answered and thousands upon thousands of people interacted with that book and I had the opportunity to connect with so many readers. So... After that experience, I felt, well, this indie thing is going great for me. I am kind of an authorpreneur. The promotion of the book really falls on the author in an indie experience. I did really well hustling and meeting independent bookstore owners and really understanding how the business worked. It went great. It went well, but there were things I wish I had known and done differently, slightly differently. So I thought I'm going to continue with the nine with the same model and make a few tweaks. 

And again, I had a great experience. And as I mentioned, COVID hit and that was out of my control. But I've had a lot of success and I measure success by connecting with readers. You know, some of the awards you mentioned in the beginning, the reviews, the people who I admire who enjoyed the book. That's everything. Sales have been good, but more importantly, I think that the books that the message I was trying to get across through these books was coming through based on my readers' feedback. Then I mentioned I went to this fellowship and I was kind of under the impression this could be my breakout moment. This might offer me introductions into the publishing world. So I did try to get a new agent and go traditional. 

And I'm 58, about to turn 59. I just don't think, well, for a number of reasons, I'm not what people wanted, who someone wanted to represent. And I, at that point, had already had this wonderful indie experience. I shared my manuscript with the She Writes Press publisher and she loved it. And I felt all the love. And I thought, I'm going to do this again with this great company. In the meantime, She Writes Press is now distributed through Simon and Schuster. So that's a huge bump and a validating relationship. And you know, I get out as much from this publishing journey as I put in. I know that, you know, if I don't make the effort, it's not going to happen. But in a way, that's kind of better than somewhat being disappointed by someone who might buy a book and not publish it the way I want or have .. 

Rhonda:

Or not market it the way you want. 

Jeanne:

Yeah, or just expectations that aren't met. So even though my ego might have wanted that traditional book deal in order to float in these literary circles that I do, I'm heavily involved in the Boston book and literary environment. Yeah, it would be nice because everyone says, who's your publisher? Who's your publisher? And so that would be nice. But to tell you the truth, the readers that I connect with and the people who buy my books, they don't know. They know they can where they go to buy it and they don't care. 

And so I would highly recommend this indie route. Now what I wouldn't recommend is someone saying, Oh, I'm exhausted. This book. You know people are telling me it's got this problem and that problem and the other thing and i'm so tired i'm just gonna publish it myself. Well publishing it yourself for going indy should not be with anything less than your absolute best manuscript i would never. Encourage it as like a short cut to getting out there or a way to get out there with a product that's less than that. to me is problematic regardless. Your name is on this thing and you do not want any part of that. But it's a great idea if you truly believe in your work, others who you respect have read it and believe in you. 

Green light yourself. There are so many great stories that the traditional world isn't going to touch either because you're an unknown entity, you're too old, you're writing about this or that and it's too risky. my main character is of a culture that's not my culture and I wanted to do that. It was important to me to put myself in another set of shoes. I think that may have been problematic for some agents and editors. I don't know. I don't ever really believe people tell you the real reason they don't want to connect with you. 

Anyway, for me, it's been an amazing experience. I highly respect the other authors and the people who work for my publishing company and they've done a lot of hard work for me. That was been great. 

Rhonda:

Thanks for sharing that. We'll put a link to and we'll put a link to the books, your books, but we'll also put a link to She Writes Press in the show notes so people can check them out if they're interested in having a similar experience. Jeanne, thanks so much for being with me today. I really appreciate you being here. 

Jeanne:

Well, thank you for your invitation. I really enjoy writing or talking about the writing process and about the book. And it's one of the most, writing is one of the most difficult things there is to do. It takes so much courage and so much perseverance. And again, I hope people make space in their brains and space in their lives to really kind of connect with the stories that are swirling around in the ether. 

Rhonda:

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much. 

Jeanne:

Thank you.

Outro:

Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show. While you're here, I would really appreciate it if you'd consider leaving a rating and review of the show. You can do that in whatever app you're using to listen to the show right now, and it just takes a few minutes. 

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