Artist and writer Shirley Sacks, along with local publisher, BooksEndependent LLC will celebrate the release of “ The Fabliss Life of Bella Mellman,” this weekend at Culver City’s legendary Culver Hotel, with an afternoon tea reception and book signing event (by invitation only).
“The Fabliss Life of Bella Mellman,” written by artist and first-time novelist, Shirley Sacks, will be released in print and e-book Nov. 17.
The publisher describes the tale as a “bold tale of a savvy woman of the world who gives a rollicking social commentary on life in the flats of Beverly Hills, men, “mature” dating habits, and the odd complexities of love, sociopaths, marriage, divorce, and living a creative life.”
According to the author, “The book looks at the role of the older woman, her place in the sexual panoply, which has been so horribly simplified.”
Bella Mellman, a transplanted South African artist and writer, lives a ‘fabliss’ life (as her 8-year-old grand-daughter tells it) in the flats of Beverly Hills. A long-time divorcee nearing the seventh decade of a very full life, Bella is constantly annoyed when friends, and even strangers, ask the impertinent question of “Why, don’t you have a partner?” Followed by the hated phrase: “You look quite good for a woman your age.” The only thing to do, Bella realizes, is to write a book that explains once and for all, her satisfaction with being older and single.
About the author
Shirley Sacks, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, has a degree in Fine Arts and has shown her work in galleries all over the world. She has also worked in advertising as a copywriter, and wrote a column for The Sun, a South African magazine. Ms. Sacks lived in London for many years before moving to Los Angeles in 1987. The Fabliss Life of Bella Mellman, which includes the author’s original artwork, is Shirley’s first published novel.
BooksEndependent interview with Sacks
When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
Shirley Sacks: My initial desire, seeing I was born with some artistic talent, was to become an artist, which I did. I went to art school and obtained a degree in Fine Arts. I exhibited my work. I wrote the odd thing, which I think most young people do, but I had no idea that I wanted to write anything like a book.
When I got divorced and went to live in London with my two small children I began to write about my life in rhyming couplets. It started when I wasn’t invited to a big event that everyone else was going to. The words came easily. And then I began to chronicle my life in that way. I didn’t care to be good.
After 4 years in London I returned to South Africa. I got a job as a receptionist in a small ad agency. One day a hand- some young man came in and I asked my boss what he was doing there. He said he was being interviewed for the job of assistant copywriter. I said, “Can’t I be that?” I barely knew what a copywriter was. In fact, I would correct the boss’s copy for his ads, as they weren’t good English. With that, I became a copywriter and learned the value of words. I think being an advertising copywriter is a great way to learn to write.
At one point I was invited to write a social column for Sun Magazine. I would go to events, take photographs, and write about it all with a barbed tongue. It was fun for a while. I also helped Linda Stafford, one of South Africa’s best- known journalists, write a food column for a while. When I began a love affair with a mad man, I was inspired to write a novel with madness as its subject.
I came to live in America and for a nanosecond had someone interested in the book.
I edited some of my rhyming couplets and sent those off. One agent thought they were too scatological.
I decided to write short stories. I sent those off to various agents, but the general response was that nobody was inter- ested in South Africa, and if they were, there was Nadine Gordimer. I had a dab at screen writing. After all I was living in LA and everyone does that. I didn’t like that medium at all.
Then I found Jill Robinson’s writing workshop – The Wimpole Street Writers. I can’t begin to state how important that was for me. I began a memoir, just for my family. It was more short stories, than a memoir, and inspired by the thought that I would have loved to know more about my grandmother’s life, my great grandmother’s life and those that came before her. It was a memoir for my descendants.
I more or less finished it when I got an inspiration to write about the character called Bella Mellman. No more mem- oir. It was to be a novel and I fell into writing it as if it was waiting for me.
BE: In a nutshell, what is your novel about? Shirley: The book looks at the role of the older woman, her place in the sexual panoply, which has been so horribly simplified, amongst other things that I have been interested in. BE: How long did it take you to write your book from start to finish?
Shirley: 2 years. BE: What is your editing process like?
Shirley: I write without thought of how it reads, just get the words down. I type fast and make huge mistakes, but who cares with the computer. I have always written on the computer. When I got a job as copywriter, our client was Commodore Computers. This was the first personal computer. The accountant asked me if I wanted her to show me what it did. That was that. I was hooked. Eventually she got so mad I used her computer so often, they gave me a com- puter without a screen, if you can believe that. And it was not simple like today’s computers. I had a page filled with instructions: command click, etc. etc. Seeing as my handwriting is so bad, that I can barely read it myself, a computer is essential. I think fast, and write fast and then correct and correct and change and correct and change. It’s endless.
BE: How many hours per week do you spend writing? Shirley: Probably about 3-4 hours, but that’s with some days more and some less. Sometimes all day and into the
night. Then a day or so, with nothing. I am quite disciplined in my own way. BE: What was the most challenging part about writing your book?
Shirley: Once I began, the writing came so easily I said it was a gift from God. When my publisher asked for a major change, I just about sank. But what do you know, the gift just continued. Know that I am not religious, just a seeker of a Higher Power. I think if you have something you want to say, the words come.
BE: Can you tell us more about what you’re working on right now? Shirley: I am already on The Fabliss Life of Bella Mellman, Book Two. There is so much happening in the world. It’s daily inspiration. I hope that Bella finds her life, with all its paths, still fabliss.
BE: If you could meet three authors, which authors would you choose? Shirley: I would rather meet scientists.
I love reading about science, biology and cosmology, even though I barely understand a lot of it. In my next life I want to be a scientist of sorts, but in this life I’ve been given that kind of brain that doesn’t get numbers.
I would like to meet Eugene Marais who was a South African. He wrote The Soul of The White Ant, whose premise was plagiarized by Nobel laureate Maurice Maeterlinck as The Life of The White Ant. He (Marais) is acknowledged as the father of the scientific study of animals known as Ethology. He was a morphine addict and committed suicide. He also wrote excellent poetry in his native tongue, Afrikaans, and managed to make that rather unattractive language sound beautiful. He was apparently very attractive to women, too.
And then, South Africans J.M.Coetzee whose book Disgrace is so memorably dark and My Traitor’s Heart by Rian Malan. I love books about Africa, North, Middle and South and am always on the lookout for books that might help me understand more.
American novelists: I would like to meet Tom Wolfe. He writes important books and I admire the affectation of his style. Looks and books. I also think Jonathan Franzen is marvelous. I’d also love to meet Erica Jong and Germaine Greer. I love that women writers have paved the way for writers like me.
I adore Bill Bryson. If I could write like him I’d be in heaven. I like John Reader who writes about the big picture. His book The Biology of a Continent, which is about Africa, is a must for anyone interested in that huge continent. I think the book by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, is one of the saddest books ever. It made a huge impression on me when I read it, as did every book I have mentioned.
BE: How has writing changed your life?
Shirley: Being creative is a gift. It makes life so much more interesting to be able to notice things and from those observations always thinking how to use them as part of a creation. As far as writing goes, I am always wondering … is that something for my book? I love it. It turns every day into creative possibility. I become so much more observant and aware, and also thoughtful.
Even though I am not doing much art at the moment, I see things and think … aha, those colors, or that pattern. I The Fabliss Life of Bella adore Pinterest. It’s a treasure trove of inspiration and fascinating to see what people find interesting, what they do and share. I absolutely love the Internet. On it, I learn, discover and also share things I am passionate about, like animal rights.
There are many kinds of creativity — music, math, cooking and so on. I have been blessed by art and writing. This present writing period has really changed that way I see everything, as everything is now a possible writing opportunity. I can do more than just think something or observe. I can write it down and turn it into something else. That’s creativity. Turning something into something else.
