Long Island 53

Book, by Nina Solomon, We Are All Crew by Bill Landauer, and Little Beasts by Matthew McGevna. Jones’ next novel she penned herself, The Anger Meridian, will be published by Akashic in June 2015.

was world-famous by then, but wasn’t part of the literary scene. “WeliveddownthestreetfromGeorgePlimpton, WilliamMorris, JohnKnowles, Kurt Vonnegut and

an imprint,” says Jones. The imprint, with tagline: DedicatedWriters Taking a Stand, is a collaborative effort, writers helping writers with jacket copy, reviews, social media and moral support. Jones tries to mirror the older paradigm of author, agent, and editor relationship that spans an entire career. “It used to be a leisurely commitment. Agents would take on a writer for life, not just for one book. Now, MFA programs are offering a chance for that closer bond, ” says Jones. It was during the 2006-07 Wilkes University low-residency program out of Pennsylvania when student Laurie Loewenstein met Jones. “She was one of my very first professors. She’s so encouraging and a devoted teacher,” says Loewenstein. After Loewenstein graduated with a Master of Arts, she began to attend Jones’ private workshops and wrote a second novel about a little-known dress reform advocate from the 1920s. The novel, set in 1917 in rural Illinois, on the verge of US involvement in WWI, touches upon hot-button issues of race and women’s suffrage, oppression and bigotry. “With Kaylie, you come to understand that writing is collaborative. You need other people who are knowledgeable in writing. Kaylie is a wonderful teacher to learn from,” says Loewenstein. “I’m a Midwesterner like her father. My first writing was quiet without a lot of tension. Kaylie has a gift of spotting what’s missing in the story or manuscript as well as pinpointing what doesn’t work on the page.” Loewenstein’s novel became the imprint’s flagship release in January 2014 and became a best pick for summer reading. “There’s no ego. She feels that writers need someone on their side. She has intense passion and will fight if she thinks it’s worthwhile. She goes in there like a soldier—a warrior of literature.” Kaylie Jones is no stranger to the literary world. Her father is James Jones, world- renowned author most notably praised for From Here to Eternity and TheThin Red Line. She remembers reading her first novel at 12 years old while living in Paris. “I pulled a book off the shelf and read in French, The Flight Crew, by French journalist and novelist Joseph Kessel. My father saw what I was reading and we discussed the novel. Then, I read Kessel’s The Lion. I was hooked and amazed that you could do that with language.” Raised in Paris in an ex-pat life, the Jones family came to live in Sagaponack when Jones was a teen. Many artists had settled in eastern Long Island during the late 1970s, where she says it was peaceful. Her father, whom she adored,

Peter Matthiessen. But, it was quiet. A good place for them to work.“ She attended East Hampton High School as James Jones’ health declined. While attendingWesleyan and struggling with coming to terms with his death, she began to pursue her own writing career. After graduation, she studied in Russia, then earned an MFA at Columbia University with many emerging writers like longtime friend, Beverly Donofrio, author of Riding in Cars with Boys. Soon after, Jones published her first novel, As Soon As It Rains (Doubleday, 1986) and a string of others, including A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries (Bantam Books, 1990) which, in 1998, was adapted into a Merchant and Ivory movie, starring Kris Kristofferson. Being a writer-in-residence in New York City public schools through the Teachers and Writers collaborative and workshops at The Writer’s Voice ignited her passion for teaching. In 1997, writer Roger Rosenblatt invited Jones to help develop the MFA program at Long Island University, now headed by Stony Brook University.

When asked what advice Jones would give to budding authors today, she says it comes down to discipline. “My father worked hard writing everyday of his life until the day he died in 1977. Don’t judge. Sit down and write and never, ever give up.” Mary Ellen Walsh from Syosset is an award-winning journalist and fiction writer who teaches creative writing at various universities in the New York area. *

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:

JOHNNY TEMPLE, FOUNDER OF AKASHIC

“After decades of working with students to cultivate the story inside, the one they just have to tell, I’ve seen glitches in the creative process. The idea for this imprint came organically from watching their struggles.” Jones continues to oversee the annual James Jones First Novel Fellowship, which awards $10,000 to an American author of a first fiction novel-in-progress, by the James Jones Literary Society. FromHere to Eternity, the musical opened in London in spring 2014 to rave reviews. When she’s not writing, editing, or advising, Jones is likely to be found practicing mixed martial arts with her daughter, Eyrna, which keeps her focused on what’s important. The next books from KJB are: The Love

BOOKS, BARBARA J. TAYLOR, AUTHOR OF

SING IN THE MORNING,

CRY AT NIGHT

AND KAYLIE JONES AT TAYLOR’S BOOK SIGNING

AT BLUESTOCKINGS BOOKSTORE ON NEW YORK CITY’S ALLEN

STREET. TAYLOR’S BOOK HAS JUST GONE INTO SECOND

PRINTING AFTER ONLY ONE MONTH.

BOOKS BY KAYLIE JONES Edited: Long Island Noir (Akashic, 2012) Author: As Soon As It Rains (Doubleday, 1986) Quite the Other Way (Doubleday, 1989) A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries (Bantam Books, 1990/Merchant-Ivory movie 1998) Celeste Ascending (HarperCollins, 2000) Speak Now (Akashic, 2003) Lies My Mother Never Told Me (HarperCollins/William Morrow, 2009).

WESTONMAGAZINEGROUP.COM 39

Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker