On the Writing of GRACELAND - Mark Spencer

Gabrielle and I have corresponded off and on for several years. What we have always had in common is a love of a well-told story in particular and of good literature in general, especially the classics.

We also discovered we shared a fascination and affection for the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley.

Gabrielle often shared her own fiction with me, and I always tried to be frank and constructive in my responses. In 2008, I witnessed Gabrielle come of age as a fiction writer. A young woman of tremendous intelligence and many talents that were already developed, she became in 2008 a true literary artist. If I had anything to do with that development, then I am very proud of my abilities as a teacher because I was truly moved and in awe of a story she wrote entitled "Adrift," not a story that simply was far superior to anything she had previously written but a story that was far superior to any story by any contemporary writer I had read in a long time.

In January 2009 I received an e-mail from Gabrielle telling me that she had an idea for a novel and that she was very excited about it. Her idea went something like this: A man and a woman, both of whom are Elvis fans, meet at Graceland and fall in love. The love affair of these two strangers is a kind of metaphorical extension of the profound, almost magical and certainly unprecedented effects that Elvis brought to the music industry, the youth culture, and American society in general, as well as an extension of the generosity and love that Elvis expressed to the many friends, family, fans, and strangers he came into contact with.

It would not be a romance novel but a main-stream novel of substance.

My response to Gabrielle's e-mail was that I wished I had come up with the idea. I had always been fascinated with the phenomenon of Elvis, with this one man who simply followed his instincts, allowed himself to express through music what he felt about life in mid-twentieth-century Southern America, and thereby changed the world as much as--if not more than--any political leader or industrialist could and certainly far more than any artist who preceded him. He definitely deserved the title of King, and the idea of a novel that told a compelling story about vivid characters who felt and understood and were impacted by that King appealed to me tremendously.

Then Gabrielle wrote back: "Why don't you write it with me?" She already knew the title would be GRACELAND. She already knew that the female character would be named Norma Jean.

We started bouncing ideas off each other. What were the two main characters' obstacles to being together? He was married. No. They were both married. No--we decided that it would be interesting if the man only pretended to be married to protect himself from committed relationships. "Kenny" seemed like the right name for Norma Jean's husband, a welder. Would he let her go to Graceland alone? Eventually, we decided he wouldn't have any say, that Norma Jean was strong and independent and was already well into the process of freeing herself from an unsatisfying marriage.

This bouncing back and forth of ideas went on for two or three weeks. We knew that somewhere toward the end Norma Jean, certain that he was "The One," would say to Paul--as he is leaving her forever--"You'll be back."

Other than that one line of dialogue, we had not written any of the novel. I had the idea that the characters should meet not at Graceland but at a wedding, thereby introducing the themes of love and commitment. I think Gabrielle liked the idea of a wedding, but she had her reservations when I suggested a Wiccan wedding. I felt that such a setting would be provocative and funny. Most importantly, it would introduce the theme of magic. I wanted this to be a novel full of magic. After all, it was a novel about Elvis and love.

I was unable to start the novel, though. I think that in a way, I was scared--scared of making a true commitment to the novel, kind of like Paul's fear of romantic commitment. Gabrielle had to nudge me--or rather shove me--into action. She wrote an opening scene. That got me started. I re-wrote the scene--and more.

And we were on our way, writing a page here, a scene there. All along, we were having tremendous fun discovering and telling this story of Paul, Norma Jean, and a mysterious elderly hitchhiker called T.C.B.

The process now seems somewhat nebulous and unreal to me. I read over the novel, and I say to myself, "Where did this come from?" And it seems so good.

Now here we are. Waiting for the world to discover GRACELAND, and hoping the world enjoys reading it half as much as we enjoyed creating it.

On the Writing of GRACELAND - Gabrielle Renoir-Large

I've been a voracious reader all my life, but the theatre was my first love - the theatre and all things French - so in college I naturally gravitated to the study of drama and the French language. I didn't begin my study of literature and creative writing until my early twenties.

In my opinion, I've had three writing mentors, three people who really made me see what the art and craft of creative writing was all about.

I studied screenwriting before I studied any other form of creative writing, and it was from Syd Field that I learned to structure a screenplay correctly and to make sure I maintained its focus. I eventually became a good screenwriter, a working screenwriter, but I wanted to try other forms of writing, and I didn't want to live in L.A.

In my screenplays, I'd been working with comedy, so when I felt ready to write a novel, I wrote a comedic crime caper. I knew I'd never sell something written in that genre, but selling wasn't my objective at the time, learning was. I worked very hard writing and rewriting my novel, first under the guidance of now-retired novelist, Robert Gover, then, more fully, under the guidance of Mark Spencer.

I've read and admired everything Mark's published, so when I wanted to perfect the short story form I turned to him, feeling I couldn't find a better teacher. I felt my first story contained some lovely passages, but I also felt it was sappy and sentimental. I asked Mark to criticize it as harshly as it deserved, and he did, something I really appreciated. I really learned a lot from that story, and in truth, it wasn't really dreadful. It simply wasn't "good enough." Mark knew I could do better, and I knew I could do better.

Mark doesn't have to tell me the same thing twice. The next story I wrote was "Adrift," a story I felt very happy with and one Mark praised as "a fantastic story," "beautifully textured." And I think, after some revisions, the next story I wrote surpassed "Adrift." Because of what Mark taught me, I now have confidence that with some good rewriting I'm able to produce first-rate stories.

Poetry and the short story have become my "preferred creative writing formats," but in January 2009, around the time of what would have been Elvis Presley's seventy-fourth birthday, I got the urge to write a novel again, a love story titled GRACELAND and centered around Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Elvis, I knew, wouldn't be a character in the story, but his presence would still be felt on every page.

I knew that Mark loved Elvis' music as much as I did, and I knew, like me, he'd visited Graceland, Elvis' beloved home in Memphis, Tennessee.

I emailed Mark about my desire to write a novel, and he replied that he wished he'd thought of it, so I wrote back and said, "Why don't you write it with me?"

Mark's reply was a little more cautious than my invitation had been. He said, "Okay. We'll see how it goes." Mark, I knew, wasn't used to writing with others, and he'd never written anything as commercial as GRACELAND. I, on the other hand, having started writing in Hollywood's screenwriting community, was used to writing with groups of people, and I was used to producing things designed to be very commercial. Once we really got into the project, though, I think Mark loved writing the novel and was surprised at how well it - and the screenplay - turned out. And while they are commercial, they've retained all their literary integrity. GRACELAND is simply a first rate novel and a first rate screenplay.

I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with Mark on GRACELAND. It was fun, and I think the result is excellent. GRACELAND is a romantic comedy that's truly funny, but it also possesses much depth. It's a project I know readers and movie-goers are going to enjoy every bit as much as Mark and I have enjoyed it.