Dangerous Ideas - The Burden of Expectation by Jennifer S. Alderson

I'm continuing my series of guest posts around Dangerous Ideas and this week, I'm pleased to welcome travel writer and author Jennifer S. Alderson to take the reins of my blog. Jennifer is a travel mystery writer whose novels visit exotic locations and conjure wonderful visuals and descriptions whilst entertaining readers with cracking mysteries that really involve you. Today, Jennifer has offered to explore the idea of fulfilling - or not fulfilling - the expectations of readers.

Is it dangerous not to fulfill reader’s expectations?

A social media conversation I had with Dean Mayes about reader’s expectations – in his case a man writing romance –made me think about my latest release and the unrealistic expectations my setting and plot may be creating for prospective readers.

Jennifer S. Alderson (image credit Fototeam.nl)

My latest novel, Rituals of the Dead: An Artifact Mystery, is set in the Asmat region of Papua in the 1962 – when it was a colony of the Netherlands known as Dutch New Guinea. For virtually everyone who knows about the Asmat, headhunting is the first thing that comes to mind. Though it is true, this is only one aspect of their intricate culture.

While conducting research for an exhibition of Asmat art in the Tropenmuseum, I read many first-hand accounts written by missionaries, explorers and anthropologists working in the region when it was still a colony. The area was known as a sort Wild West – untamed wilderness and people whose spiritual beliefs were vastly different than western ones. Though several of these travel diaries describe the ferocity of tribal skirmishes and headhunting raids, what stayed with me most were the constant references to the Asmat’s shyness. These striped, feathered, bone-wearing headhunters were shy? It seemed hard to fathom, based on the usual descriptions I come across of the Asmat and the island of Papua New Guinea in general.

In my novel, you won’t find descriptions of headhunting raids or cannibalism. This wasn’t a conscious decision to be politically correct or anything like that. When I began writing Rituals of the Dead, the idea of these fierce warriors being shy kept flitting to the forefront of my thoughts. Perhaps I over compensated by not including a single passage about these practices, but they are not essential to my story. There was no reason to include such information in my book, except sensationalism. Or perhaps, to stay true to readers expectations and assumptions about the region.

I hope my portrayal of the Asmat in the early 1960s is not off-putting, and that readers come away with a broader view of the Asmat, colonial relations and the work of missionaries in the region.

I am truly curious to see how readers react to the story and my descriptions!

Authors, do you think it is dangerous to not fulfill reader’s expectations? Readers, do you enjoy reading books that challenge your assumptions about other cultures and countries?


About Jennifer:

Jennifer S. Alderson was born in San Francisco, raised in Seattle, and currently lives in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). Her love of travel, art, and culture inspires her ongoing mystery series, the Adventures of Zelda Richardson. Her background in journalism, multimedia development, and art history enriches her novels. When not writing, she can be found in a museum, biking around Amsterdam, or enjoying a coffee along the canal while planning her next research trip.

In Down and Out in Kathmandu, Zelda gets entangled with a gang of smugglers whose Thai leader believes she’s stolen his diamonds. The Lover’s Portrait is a suspenseful “whodunit?” about Nazi-looted artwork that transports readers to wartime and present-day Amsterdam. Art, religion, and anthropology collide in Rituals of the Dead, a thrilling artifact mystery set in Dutch New Guinea (Papua) and the Netherlands.

The Lover’s Portrait was Chill With A Book’s January 2018 Book of the Month and won the Silver Cup in Rosie’s Book Review Team 2017 Awards, Mystery category. It also won a Chill With A Book Readers’ Award, Readers’ Favorite 5 star medal, was one of The Displaced Nation magazine’s Top 36 Expat Fiction Picks of 2016, and came in at 14 in BookLife’s 2016 Prize for Fiction in the Mystery category. The Lover’s Portrait was also one of Women Writers, Women’s Books magazine’s Recommended Reads for April 2017.

Her travelogue, Notes of a Naive Traveler, is a must-read for those interested in learning more about – or wishing to travel to – Nepal and Thailand. It was also awarded a Readers’ Favorite 5 star medal.

Visit Jennifer S. Alderson here. 

Purchase Jennifer S. Alderson's books here.

Connect with Jennifer S. Alderson here. 

Tweet with Jennifer S. Alderson here.

DFA.

Preparing To Front The Media.

So, things behind the scenes here are beginning to ramp up as my publisher Central Avenue and I look towards the May release date for my long awaited new novel "The Recipient".

As we do so, I've been updating my site here to begin showcasing the novel while we approach media outlets both here in Australia and in the United States in the hope we can gain some important pre-release exposure for the novel. The following content in this post is replicated from the media section of my site but I thought it was worth showing off here as well in this one off post. Most notable of the new additions is our press kit (see below) which provides the most comprehensive introduction to the The Recipient. If you're in the media - or connected to someone in the media - and you think they'd be interested, please do invite them to take a look at the press kit.

So...here goes...

Central Avenue Publishing is proud to present the forthcoming new novel "The Recipient" from Australian author Dean Mayes (The Hambledown Dream, Gifts Of The Peramangk).

A tense and pulse pounding psychological thriller, in the tradition of "Girl On A Train" & "Dark Places", The Recipient follows a young, troubled heart transplant recipient who, upon discovering a terrifying secret about her donor, is drawn into a deadly conspiracy that threatens her life all over again.

"The Recipient" by Dean Mayes will be released by Central Avenue Publishing and distributed globally by Independent Publishers Group in print and digital formats on May 1, 2016. 

Press Materials.

The Recipient official press kit here.

Dean Mayes author image (hi-res) here.

The Recipient cover image (hi-res) here.

"A riveting read! 

All you can think 

about is turning 

the next page!"

Georgina Penney, Author "Fly In, Fly Out", "Summer Harvest'.

Author Dean Mayes talks with ABC Adelaide's Sonya Feldhoff about his upcoming novel "The Recipient" (click image to download).

Listen to "Ride This Feeling" by Kate Miller-Heidke, the song that inspired the novel.

DFA.

The Recipient - Update No. 3: Contract Day.

No matter how many times I've done it, putting the ink on a publishing contract remains a special moment for me.

It's a recognition of the work you have done so far, a nod that says "everything you have done is worth it." 

I wrote recently that we writers work in isolation. It's easy to lose perspective on what you are trying to achieve. You don't see things objectively. You often doubt yourself and the project. You fret that your effort is not enough.

Penning your signature on a document like this, gives so much reinforcement. It spurs you on.

While the hardest part of willing a story to life has been achieved, there is still more to do...

But you do it with a fresh sense of confidence.

DFA. 

The Recipient - Update No. 1: Submission - The Recipient Is With My Publisher.

I've neglected the site here for a while and, for regular visitors here, I am sorry. 

In the couple of months since my last post, I have been hard at work, putting the final chapters on my new novel "The Recipient" together, before diving head-long into a series of arduous edits on the manuscript.

So what is The Recipient exactly? 

Well, without revealing too much at this point, I can say that The Recipient is a wholesale departure from my previous works. I can best describe it as a murder/mystery with a twist. It is most definitely a thriller which features action and suspense. It also features quite a nasty conspiracy which was quite a challenge putting together. As we go forward, I'll trickle out plenty of information, so just sit tight for now and know that you'll get plenty to whet your appetite.

   

Just after Christmas, I assembled a group of trusted friends and asked them if they would review the very - Very - rough draft and offer up their thoughts on it. Having slaved away in isolation for so many long months, I was losing my objectivity and desperately needed fresh sets of eyes on the project - if for nothing else than to reassure me that I hadn't gone completely off the rails with this story. 

Thankfully, the feedback was hugely constructive and helpful and I approached the editing phase eager to incorporate as much of it as I could. From a rather bloated and repetitious first draft, I have made the story much leaner and have eliminated a lot of superfluous exposition. I received some really great plot ideas that I hadn't previously considered and which enabled me to address some difficulties I had in making sense of a few points. The most important feedback I received was that the story works. Having struggled with self doubt over that very question for so long, that was the greatest relief. 

Today, as I write this, I have submitted the manuscript to my publisher Central Avenue Publishing, where we will now work together on the next phase of editing. Having completed four passes so far, I imagine there will be at least another four, though they will be a lot more focused on specific aspects of the story.

In the meantime, check back here for more frequent updates as the final stages of my journey with The Recipient unfold (subscribe to my blog in the left hand sidebar to receive updates).

The Recipient Is Coming.

DFA.