Dana Chamblee Carpenter, an Ole Miss alumna and professor at Lipscomb University, recently completed her award-winning paranormal thriller series, “The Bohemian Trilogy,” with the publication of “Book of the Just.” Carpenter will present the series’ final installation tonight at Off Square Books.
The trilogy mixes mysticism, suspense and historical fiction inspired by 13th century Bohemia and chronicles the journey of the main character, Mouse, to discover who she is. The journey for self-discovery leads Mouse on a quest of guilt, temptation and redemption.
Behind these works of magic and mystery is the author, Carpenter. Although now an accomplished author and professor of creative writing and American literature in Nashville, Carpenter was once a graduate student at Ole Miss.
“When I was at the university, I was newly married, working on a Ph.D. in American literature and teaching two classes a semester as a grad student living on a stipend,” Carpenter said. “Life was voraciously busy and ridiculously poor. But it was also full of riches, some of which I was able to appreciate back then, some I only later came to value.”
She described fond memories of Square Books, the authors she met there and the teachings passed down from her English professors.
“Square Books was an oasis for me and many of the English grad students. … For the first time, I came face-to-face with authors who would talk about their process, their struggles, the twists and turns they took on their way to publishing,” she said. “Real people. Real writers. Right in front of me. That’s when I started to dream again.”
When discussing how she balances her passion for creative writing and her career in academia, all while being a mother of two, she humorously explained that the process is a bit more complicated than focusing on one thing at a time.
“Because life is so full …, every minute counts. I’ll intentionally leave a part of a scene dangling at the end of a writing day so I can play with it the next day when I’m driving home from campus or cooking supper,” she said. “I build playlists that align with characters—listening to them eases me back into a book when I’ve been away. … All of these ‘tricks’ let me hit the ground running when it’s writing time.”
To those students aspiring to become writers themselves, Carpenter urges them — despite the cliche — to not give up.
“Some days the blank screen will mock you. Or your day, eaten by all the other obligations in your life, will taunt you,” she said. “You’ll think about how easy it would be to give it up. Don’t do it. Don’t quit. Breathe a bit. Fill your well with something childlike and fun. Then turn back to your characters and let them whisper their stories to you.”
Carpenter has returned to Oxford and will be at Off Square Books tonight to sign and present the final book in “The Bohemian Trilogy.” The event starts at 5 p.m.
