Susanne Igler's Carlota de México

Carlota de México, Dr Susanne Igler's excellent biography of Mexico's Empress Carlota was published in Spanish by Planeta in 2002 as part of the Grandes protagonistas de la historia Mexicana series edited by Mexican historian José Manuel Villalpando. It offers a complete overview of Carlota's life, from her childhood as the princess of Belgium; her marriage to the Austrian Archduke Maximilian; brief reign as Empress of Mexico; psychotic breakdown in the Vatican; and the long years of her widowhood as a mad yet coddled recluse in Belgium. Igler's biography opens thus (my translation):

A Fairytale Princess

Mexican history is rich in surprising, dramatic, and even grotesque personalities, yet few have so excited the imagination, both collective and artistic, as the woman who, for a fleeting moment, was the Empress of Mexico. Today, more than 130 years after the Mexican State's struggle to define itself, there is abundance of films, soap operas, artistic testimonies, novels, plays, historical debates and -- yes!--- even restaurants named apropos of Maximilian's empire; more than the fleeting and superficial nature of this historical episode would suggest...

The work is amply illustrated with reproductions of portraits (including a charming one of Carlota as an toddler by Winterhalther), and photographs, and includes a chronology and bibliography. This is an important addition to any collection on the Second Empire.

P.S. A bibliography for The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, my novel about the Second Empire, is here.

Michael Talbot's The Holographic Universe

One of the books that has most influenced my writing, and in particular, my ideas about narrative structure, is Michael Talbot's The Holographic Universe. When I came upon it a few years ago, I was already a fan of Canadian novelist Douglas Glover and his notion of the story as net. In other words, even without the scaffolding of a formal plot (ye olde Fichtean curve), a net of images can cohere and indeed so powerfully resonate in the reader's mind that the net is the story. A satisfying story. It was directly--- literally, less than an hour--- after reading Glover's essays on the story as net and the novel as poem (now collected in Notes Home from a Prodigal Son) that I sat down wrote the one that became the title story for my first collection, Sky Over El Nido. In this story the images, woven throughout, have to do with flight: birds, nests, eggs, airplanes. What's the "plot"? A fistful of air.

Later, before beginning to write my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, I happened upon Talbot's The Holographic Universe, an elegantly lucid and very accessible overview of some of the (then) most cutting-edge theories in quantum physics and in particular, those of David Bohm. If the universe itself is a hologram, or has holographic characteristics, then this could explain why nets of images--- the suggestion of the whole in each of its parts--- can resonate with such strange power in a reader's mind.

Does my novel have that power? You decide. But one of the several paradigms I worked with while writing it was, again, the story as a net and, to borrow the title of one of Douglas Glover's essays, "The Novel As Poem." Yes, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is a poem. And the main character is not a person but an idea--- the prince as living symbol of the future of the empire. Where does such an idea live? In many minds--- ergo, the novel has a crowd of characters, indeed, a net of characters, woven in among each other's minds and actions.

Just of few of the fleeting and repeating images: the Totonac bowl, Egypt, birds, sweets, twilights, composers, asparagus.

(Though indeed it does have a plot, and I worked with various paradigms--- Fichtean curve, Syd Field's three acts, and others--- while constructing it.)

Last night, I happened upon this video of pychologist Jeffrey Mishlove's interview with Talbot. It's well worth watching in its entirety. Sad to say, Talbot died of leukemia in 1992.

More anon.

The Groadiest News Du Jour

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Write On! Online

Debra Eckerling's interview with me about The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire and the writing process in general has just been posted at Write On! Online. More anon.

American Independent Writers: The Summer Membership Drive

For anyone (especially but not necessarily) in the Washington DC area who is serious about their writing, whether it be fiction, speechwriting, journalism, or freelancing of all stripes, here's a great offer: If you join American Independent Writers (previously Washington Independent Writers) in July or August, they'll waive the $45 initiation fee. I've been a member for several years now and highly recommend it. Read more about AIW and its many benefits here.

P.S. I'll be speaking at AIW's July 16 "PubSpeak" about The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. And ASAP, I'll be posting something here on this blog about the AIW conference in June, and the amazing panel I moderated, which featured novelists Frederick Reuss, Wayne Karlin, and Olga Grushin.

One Day Dialogue Intensive September 27 @ The Writers Center

Save the date: I'll be offering a new workshop, a one day only "Dialogue Intensive" at the Bethesda MD Writers Center this September 27 from 1- 4 pm. The link to register should be on-line shortly.

DIALOGUE INTENSIVE

One of the most powerfully vivid ways to show character, relationship, conflict and/or mood is through the use of dialogue. For both beginning and advanced nonfiction writers, this workshop focuses on the use and misuse of dialogue, with a series of mini-lectures interspersed with brief exercises. The goal is that by the end of the workshop, your dialogue will be of notably higher quality.

INSTRUCTOR BIO

C.M. Mayo is the author of the novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (Unbridled Books); Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico (Milkweed Editions), and Sky Over El Nido (University of Georgia Press), which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. For more about C.M. Mayo and her work, visit www.cmmayo.com.

Translating Bhima (Francisco I. Madero)

New ongoing project: click here to read.

Guest-Blogger Lucina Kathmann, Author of a Forest of Mathematics / Un bosque de matemáticas

This week's guest-blogger, writer Lucina Kathmann, is a long-time resident of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She works hard for the International PEN San Miguel Center's many programs, including a reading series, and in fact, just this morning, I received her e-mail announcing the San Miguel PEN 30th Anniversary Celebration this Saturday July 18 at Bellas Artes. 5 pm: Film, Breaking the Maya Code, with film maker David Lebrun present, 100 pesos and 8 pm: (even if you haven't gone to the film) Wine and cheese fiesta in the patio with reminiscences of San Miguel PEN, 1979-2009. (Want to join San Miguel PEN? Check it out here.)

Kathmann has recently published a most unusual book for tweens, teens and, as she puts it, "imaginative adults": A Forest of Mathematics/Un bosque de matemáticas. In this novel / math book, with illustrations by Fabian Nanni, animal characters in a forest present negative numbers, Cartesian coordinates, exponents, fractions, decimals and percents through "real-life" (of the forest) situations, worksheets included, and a young dragon whose wrongdoings are redeemed through math. Apropos of its publication, I asked Lucina to contribute five relevant links. Over to you, Lucina!

Hello Madam Mayo and Madam Mayo readers. Here are some recommended websites that come from my recent history.

#1. Bear-Tracker.com
When I was writing A Forest of Mathematics, I wanted to emphasize important steps recommended by the mathematician, who is the Bear, as “Bear Steps.” I did not want an artist's conception of a bear's paw print; I wanted accurate paw prints. This site has nice accurate black and white schematic prints from most mammals, both forepaws and rear paws. It will fill most “paw print needs.”

#2. Microsoft's Equation Toolbar
A Forest of Mathematics is a math book. It has a lot of special requirements, in particular in representing fractions and decimals. When I got to long division I was really stumped. How do you write say, 55 divided by 22? I finally had to learn to use an equation toolbar. If you don't have one and need one, I think this will help you.

#3. Decimales
The family of my editor in Argentina protested because they use commas instead of periods for decimal points. My kids in Mexico said they used periods. I investigated and found sites supporting both conventions, but I think the movement of history in Latin American mathematics is toward periods. I sent some website citations supporting my decision. Here is one.

#4. Chiron Books
Chiron Books has republished my bilingual story book Payshapes and the Bear, originally published in 2000 in Salta, Argentina, copies unavailable for years. The book has new stories and Spanish/English text on facing pages, better for language teaching. Chiron publishers Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin have recently won two prizes for their own children's novel Anna's World. Their website is spectacular and I know they have more technical feats in mind, so I recommend following their doings.

#5. How to List Your Book on Amazon.com
Chiron Books is already on the job with online distribution for Payshapes and the Bear, but my publisher for A Forest of Mathematics, Biblioteca de Textos Universitarios of the Catholic University of Salta, Argentina, does not have any way to distribute books. So I have gone through the rigamarole to put A Forest of Mathematics on Amazon.com myself. Pat Perrin from Chiron Books told me how. Here's where you start.

-- Lucina Kathmann

---> For the archive of Madam Mayo guest-blog posts, click here.

Blogs Noted

Apifera Farm (artist and farmer Katherine Dunn);
Araceli Ardon (Mexican writer based in Queretaro);
LuluLand (Lulu Torbet, artist and writer based in San Miguel de Allende);
Smitroverse (J.D. Smith, poet and writer based in Washington DC area. His guest-blog post about mariachis is coming soon...)
Teaching in Thimpu (Bhutan!)
More anon.

Last Prince of the Mexican Empire named a June 2009 Indie Bound Notable

So, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire made the Indie Bound Notable list for June. More anon.

Time Shadows: City Life

From poet Kim Roberts, news of what looks like a very fine Washington DC event:

Monday, June 29, 6:30 pm "Time Shadows: City Life" reading in English, German, and Mandarin. Kim Roberts reads with Grace Cavalieri and Davi Walders, along with translators Lane Jennings, Heribert Uschtrin, and Karl Zhang. Part of an international project to place poems about urban life by eighteen authors from the US, Germany, China, Taiwan, and Austria on posters on display in Washington, DC. Free admission. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, Auditorium, 901 G St. NW, Gallery Place neighborhood, DC. (202) 289-1200, ext. 167. View the poster, which will be on display in the Gallery Place neighborhood throughout the month of August.
More anon.

E'el Certified Organic Eggs in Mexico City

So glad to see E'el. I've been meaning to write an essay about chickens, but with the book tour, it just isn't happening. Oh well! Here's my 2008 post on the top 5 chicken cams. More anon.