Zelda The Queen of Paris

Let me tell you about Elsebeth Schoenberger.

Ten years ago she walked into a writing class in the Napa Valley and she was looking a little lost. She had minimal training in writing and really wasn’t sure why she had signed up for the class. She wasn’t sure where her life was heading either.

Well, today Elsebeth is a changed woman. She’s speaking to book clubs, women’s groups, school children, and she has been featured in her local newspaper in Napa and on TV and the local press in her native Denmark. She’s a star, reveling in the attention, and she looks and feels many years younger. “I’m a debutante at 82!” she laughs, with her newfound pride and self-confidence.

And indeed she is a debutante: Elsebeth has just published her first book, an autobiographical novel called “Birgitte’s War.” It’s the story of Birgitte Holm, a young woman coming of age during the Nazi Occupation of a small town in Denmark. The young woman sees and feels the Nazis grab her town by the throat. And when the Nazis murder her childhood pal Nathan Meyer and his family, Birgitte is moved to action: she joins the Danish Resistance and becomes a secret operative.

Writing Birgitte’s War has helped Elsebeth transform her life and her feeling about herself. It was not an easy process — she had to learn how to write narrative and dialogue, and she had to learn how to plot a story and develop her characters on the page — but mastering the craft of writing gave Elsebeth an enormous sense of accomplishment. Writing is an act of definition. Writing about your own life, even in fictional form, is an act of self-definition. The process forces you to look at yourself and your life in depth, with ruthless objectivity, and draw the disparate pieces into a coherent whole. It’s a clarifying experience, and often an illuminating experience as well. And Bravo for Elsebeth for having the courage and the persistence to do it.

A little while ago, I posted a blog entitled “Write Your Story, Transform Your Life.” My point was: Give this a try. Taste the magic of putting your life story on paper. Elsebeth is my “Exhibit A” for how marvelously the process can work. Stay tuned; I’ll bring you more such stories in the weeks ahead, including my own. And I’ll show you a proven path that will lead you on your way. Meantime, order a copy of “Birgitte’s War.” It’s a beautiful story.

I love radio. It’s intimate and personal. It’s a baseball game coming right into your den or office and straight into your imagination. Or its music or a political conversation coming right into your car as you go to work or the store. Radio, done right, is a private chat between the announcers or the hosts of the show and you — and never mind that tens of thousands of other people are also listening in.

And now I am having the joy of promoting my little Zelda book on the radio. I’ve been on stations in Detroit, Washington D.C., and on two shows syndicated around the country. “Zelda, The Queen of Paris,” I am happy to report, is adding an entirely new chapter to her magical odyssey. She started life as a wild, charming and thoroughly scruffy street dog in India, then she became the toast of Paris and Italy, and she spent her final days in California Wine Country. And now Zelda is becoming a hit on American radio. What a girl! What great karma she has! And in one recent radio appearance, I got a good chuckle when I told the story of how Zelda began life eating garbage in New Delhi and wound up eating croissants in Paris — but only if the croissants were from her favorite bakery and came straight out of the oven. Yes, in Paris Zelda the foul little Indian street dog turned into a food snob! How perfect is that?

In this marvelous high-tech era of ours, a lot of us are prone to what I think of as “tool envy.” Your neighbor, your office mate, and maybe even your kids have fancier, more powerful phones or computers or game consoles than you have. Poor you! Poor me! How will we endure? How can we show our faces in public with our pathetic, antiquated little cell phones?

Well, folks, I bring you a powerful morale booster from none other than Woody Allen. Here he is, one of the world’s greatest filmmakers, a true comedic genius, and guess what? Woody types his scripts on the same old beat-up portable typewriter he has used since he started writing jokes and scripts more than half a century ago. A profile of Woody on PBS’s American Masters series showed Woody “in the raw,” typing away on his old portable. Yes, Woody wasn’t using some fancy Mac or PC, he wasn’t dictating into a recorder for some secretary to transcribe. Instead, Woody was creating, fixing, and polishing with that same trusty, reliable tool that has always served him so well. And if he didn’t like the way a page of script was evolving, he would salvage the passages he did like by cutting them out with a scissors and stapling them onto a fresh piece of paper. It got the job done.

For me, this was delicious to see: The Master at Work, reminding us that for the most gifted writers and artists, the only tools that really matter are their vision, their intelligence, their heart, their persistence, and the creative richness they carry inside. That, my friends, is a lesson to cherish, and I offer The Maestro a grateful bow.

I have devoted my life to writing, to using the power of words to report the news, to introduce readers to people and places far beyond our shores, and to explain the lives and passions of some of the most compelling artists and creators of our time. George Lucas. Robert Mondavi. Gerard Depardieu. Tom Cruise. The geniuses behind Pixar’s legendary movies, even the visionaries who created the Visa card and the global credit card revolution. I love the work, and it has brought me immense fulfillment and joy.

In recent years, though, I have found another source of even deeper satisfaction: helping other writers tell their own stories, write their own books, and transform their lives in the process. The act of writing about your life has a palpable power and magic inside of it. When you sit down and collect your thoughts and life experiences, and when you find the right words to draw those thoughts and experiences into a coherent whole, you can tap into the deepest essence of who you are and what you have lived. It is a clarifying and empowering experience, and for many of us it is even liberating. Last year, four of the writers I work with brought out books of their own, and we all saw first-hand the profound and lasting impact it made on their lives. In the days and weeks ahead, I will tell you their stories, so you can see for yourself the magic waiting inside this process.

In the 45 years that I have been writing professionally, almost never have I written about myself or my family. Recently, though, I drew back that curtain and brought out “Zelda, The Queen of Paris,” a little book I wrote about a wild and charming dog we rescued from the streets of India. On the surface, this is a delightful little dog story, but behind it is the closest I will ever come to writing a memoir. Was it a satisfying experience, writing about Zelda and my family? Yes. Very. Check out the reviews on Amazon.com and you’ll begin to understand why.

My message to you is this: If you have ever been tempted to write about your own life, either in a blog or a book, or if you have just been tempted to write about your family, your dog, your cat, or just your crazy Uncle Fred, my advice is, JUST DO IT! Don’t worry about sales or marketing, or about finding an agent or publisher. Do it, first and foremost, for yourself, then for your friends and family. And as you go, stay plugged into this blog. I know you will find inspiration and guidance from the stories of my fellow writers who have examined their lives and put them down on paper. If they can do it, you can too. And you will find enormous pleasure along the way. I promise. And whatever grains of wisdom I have gleaned along the way, I will feel privileged and happy to share.

I’m no doctor. And I am certainly not here to dispense medical advice or recommend any medications, vitamins, supplements or treatments. But over the years I have discovered an almost miraculous cure for many different forms of headache, stomach ache, sleeplessness, anxiety and even depression. That cure is Gratitude.

So many people spend so much time and energy dwelling on what they don’t have, on what’s missing from their lives. If only I had a spouse who was more caring, if only I had that new iPad, if only I had a better retirement account, if only my kids were more this or more that — you know the list of complaints and lamentations. I may be wrong, but dwelling on what’s missing from your life is no formula for happiness or success. Nothing external can fill the emptiness that many people feel inside.

In the course of my 45 years as a writer and journalist, I have had the privilege of meeting and interviewing some extraordinary men and women, individuals who had accomplished great things in their lives. And you know what? Many of them started with nothing. Many were born poor or with abusive parents or almost no education. But here’s the key: Almost all of these men and women found a way to turn their negatives into positives. Instead of dwelling on what life or their parents had failed to give them, they focused on the positive and were grateful for what they had. Being grateful, appreciating whatever blessings you do have in life, well, that changes your mindset and fills you with positive energy, oftentimes even joy.

With all that in mind, I want to start 2012 with a huge, grateful “Thank You!” When I started this blog last September, I did so with no great expectations. My only aim was to stir up a little interest for my new book, “Zelda, The Queen of Paris.” But every morning now I wake up to a computer mailbox rich with comments from readers from all over the world. People who connected to me through this blog. I love it. Keep those comments coming! And when this crazy world gets you down, when our political class makes you want to vomit, and when your spouse or your kids or your boss turn you purple with rage, well, pause a moment, count your blessings, watch a sunrise or sunset, or enjoy a movie or a very fine meal. And if all that fails, well, let me prescribe the best medicine there is on Earth: Find yourself a dog to adopt and love. A good dog will always cheer you up and NEVER let you down.

As 2011 draws to a close, I say, in the main, “Good Riddance!”

Almost everywhere I look I see evidence of decline. Dramatic decline. Too many people across this nation are hurting — and feeling hopeless. There is too much unemployment, too much corruption, too many worthless, spirit-killing schools, too much bickering, too much polarization, too much incompetence, and far too many mindless bureaucrats eager to intrude themselves into the most private aspects of our daily lives: how we raise our children, how we care for our aging parents, even what medical tests we can and cannot take in support of our own health and well-being. For God’s sake, we can’t even get on an airplane without being thoroughly inspected or even groped. This in “The Land of the Free and the Home of The Brave.”

At the same time, how many people or institutions do we see who are truly committed to merit and the relentless pursuit of excellence? Fifty years ago we as a nation were in a race to the moon; too often now we seem to be in a race to the bottom of the sewer. Our TV shows, our movies, the Internet, and our popular culture as a whole offer us and our children a daily descent into violence, vulgarity and a relentless, soul-numbing mediocrity. Yes, there are enclaves of dynamism and innovation, and yes, there are bastions of integrity and inspiration — and more waiting to be ignited — but where is the leadership? What has become of the shared values on which this nation was built? And where is the respect, caring and admiration for the young men and women who have gone to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, to serve their country, to put their butts and their families on the line for you and me? Many of these young men and women don’t come back. And many who do come back come back wounded, missing limbs, and thoroughly traumatized. The medical care and support they receive are mediocre at best, and the respect and honor we accord them are even worse. They serve us and our country for years and when they come back, we can’t even muster them a parade. It’s a national disgrace, a shameful emblem of our moral failure.

All that said, 2011 also offered us shining examples of what a single, inspired individual can achieve. Steve Jobs. A college dropout, a man with the guts and vision to blaze his own trail — and we are, all of us, the richer for it. But you don’t have to be a Steve Jobs to make your mark, to inspire those around you. Here in the Napa Valley, the year 2011 brought us some magnificent stories. Dr. Monroe Katz, a local dentist, brought us “Sparring with Rembrandt,” the story of Norman, a young boy facing the world with no mother, a deadbeat father, and an aunt determined to snuff out his dream of becoming a painter. Against all odds, and with the guiding hand of Rembrandt on his shoulder, Norman triumphs in the end — and we are all the richer for it.

Then came Elsebeth Schoenberger, a Danish woman living a happy life in Napa — but living too with the violence and virulent anti-Semitism she had witnessed as a young girl growing up in Denmark under Nazi Occupation. She could have averted her eyes, but when racial hatred once again surged forth in Europe, even in her peaceful Denmark, something stirred inside Elsebeth and she felt compelled to bring us “Birgitte’s War,” her novel of a young girl trying to rid her town of Nazi evil and trying come to terms with the darkest sides of the human experience. “Birgitte’s War” is an individual triumph for Elsebeth — it was nine years in the making — but it is also a triumph for human decency, for the very best that we all hold inside.

And there was Richard Mendelson, a Napa lawyer, winemaker, author and sculptor. Two years ago, Richard set out to do a simple portfolio of his work in sculpting metal, bringing it to life, but as he collected his work, a much larger story began to emerge, a story of artistic exploration, a story of faith and spirit. In 2011, Richard brought forth “Spirit in Metal,” a visual masterpiece welded into a poignant story of artistic awakening, a story of personal healing and deepened understanding, all catalyzed by the humble act of working in metal.

I had fun in 2011 bringing forth “Zelda, The Queen of Paris,” my little memoir of “The Luckiest Dog in The World.” But I got much deeper satisfaction from publishing the books of Monroe, Elsebeth and Richard, from bringing their work out into the light for others to read and appreciate. I also got deep satisfaction from watching the emergence of something new and exciting in the Napa Valley: a lively, free-wheeling group of writers, painters, photographers and web designers called NapaCreative. (www.napacreative.com) We’re a small band of kindred spirits, devoted to fine writing, exploratory art, great food and wine — and keeping the rising tides of our culture’s ugliness and mediocrity from overwhelming our cherished Napa Valley.

This morning, as I look out from my window, out across the valley’s contours to Mt. St. Helena, rising majestically in the distance above the early morning fog, I can see the potential truth in Victor Hugo’s warning: “Adversity makes men; prosperity makes monsters.”

My mission in 2012 is to do whatever I can to prove him wrong.

America may be in decline culturally, economically and spiritually, but there are still enclaves of intelligence and integrity, there are still institutions devoted to the relentless, uncompromising pursuit of excellence, and there are still men and women across America who remain determined to hold high the torch and inspire us to be the very best we can be. Imagine how brilliant our future would be, if only our leadership were as good as our people.

I have now written nine books and published them with houses that run the gamut from fabulous to, well, not so fabulous. And this much I’ve learned: No one is going to hand you success on a platter. Even the best houses no longer provide the best support systems for writers. So you need to TAKE CHARGE.

Do as much as you can for yourself. Once you finish writing, don’t expect to get first-rate editing from your publishing house; you may be disappointed. Hire your own editor to edit and polish before you submit the final ms. Likewise, come up with your own illustrations, photos, even your own ideas for the cover. Make sure to get first-rate blurbs for the cover and the press releases; don’t rely on the publisher to do it. Plan your own launch campaign, using traditional media, social media and even hire your own PR person, if you can afford it.

Work with your local bookstores as your foundation. Get your website and your blog into top shape well in advance of the publication date. Be your own best PR person: send press releases to your local papers and radio stations. Follow up with phone calls. Make sure you have an effective “Author’s Page” at Amazon; it is an invaluable PR and sales tool. Lamentably, in my view at least, this brave new world of book publishing requires authors to become shameless self-promoters. If you’re squeamish about that, I well understand — I’m with you! — but be prepared for disappointment. We live in a world driven by celebrity and the loudest screamers. Every author with a blog and a Facebook page is screaming for attention. Look at me, me, me! Sad but true…

Above all, I would say this: write for yourself and those closest to you. Whatever you have to say, write it pure and true and straight from the heart. Do that and you will connect with people, and even if you connect with only a few, you can touch them deeply and maybe even change their lives forever. What writer could ask for more?

Illustration, as always, courtesy of the inimitable J.C. Suares.

Would Hemingway tweet?
Would Shakespeare blog?
Would Simone de Beauvoir
be caught dead on Facebook?

Hemingway meets Tolstoy, much to Zelda’s amusement…
Illustration courtesy of J.C. Suares.

Hi Folks,

This is one of my favorite drawings from “Zelda, The Queen of Paris.” What do you think? Browse this site a bit and let me know which illustrations you like best. All of them come from the magical pen of J.C. Suares.