Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

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Re-Reading Nora Ephron

November 10, 2015

Heartburn cover

I remember the first time I read Heartburn. It had just been published and the media was in a tizzy over the fact that Nora Ephron had written such a brutally honest account of her failed marriage to Carl Bernstein, albeit in a thinly fictionalized form. I also remember being less interested in whether Bernstein was or wasn’t the sort of guy who’d “have sex with a Venetian blind,” as Ephron wrote, and more interested in how she came up with such a funny line. It was her humor, her unique voice that drew me in.

Years later, Heartburn figures into a writing ritual of mine: I feel the need to go back to it before I start a new novel of my own. I re-read it hoping Ephron’s comic timing will be contagious and that I’ll catch it. I re-read it hoping I’ll be able to seize on just the right words and phrases and turn them into a laugh. I re-read it hoping I’ll take on her blend of hard-bitten cynicism and romantic sappiness. I don’t re-read Heartburn for her storytelling, in other words, which is negligible, as nothing much happens in the book and she’s clearly not interested in plot. I re-read it for her voice.

I’ve started the second book in my “Three Blonde Mice” series, the first of which, Three Blonde Mice, will be published in August or September 2016 (still waiting to hear from the publisher) and is a spinoff of Princess Charming. In this one, Elaine, Jackie and Pat, the three best friends who take vacations together every year only to become embroiled in romance and some sort of murder-and-mayhem, go to Rhinebeck, in New York state’s Hudson Valley region. But this vacation is very different from the others, as it’s Elaine’s destination wedding to Simon Purdys, the hottie she met on the cruise in Princess Charming and who figures prominently in Three Blonde Mice. Elaine had visions of a European villa for her destination wedding, but since Rhinebeck holds sentimental value for Simon and his family, she agrees to have the wedding at the village’s most enduring inn, the Beekman Arms.

I went to Rhinebeck and the “Beek,” as the inn is affectionately called by locals, to research my book and will post pictures of my trip there and to neighboring Hyde Park, where I visited the FDR library and museum, the Vanderbilt mansion and other historic sites. But in the meantime, I’m finding my way into the novel, into the plot and characters, into the head of Elaine, the narrator.

Which is why I’m re-reading Heartburn. Elaine is a neurotic New Yorker who’s every bit as romantic as she is embittered. She’s so much fun to write because she’s such a woman of contradictions. And she’s funny – at least I try to imbue her with funniness. She doesn’t tell jokes. She doesn’t attempt to crack people up. She’s funny by virtue of the situations in which she places herself, often tripped up by her own neuroses. By re-reading Ephron, I hope I can learn once again how to make Elaine sympathetic and relatable, sarcastic and self-deprecating, hapless and clever and, above all, a woman who makes us laugh.

Filed Under: Mainly Jane Tagged With: Beekman Arms, Heartburn, Jane Heller. Rhinebeck, Nora Ephron, Princess Charming, Three Blonde Mice

My Heart Is Breaking Over Nora Ephron's Death

June 26, 2012

I was on Twitter late this afternoon when I saw a tweet from the New York Times with the breaking news that Ephron, my idol, my heroine, the woman who inspired me to become a writer in the first place, had died of leukemia at age 71. I didn’t even know she was sick. I was devastated. The obituary by Charles McGrath was wonderful, and I have no doubt that Ephron herself would have applauded it. But still. I just can’t believe she’s gone.

How do I count the ways I loved her?

I’ll start with the books. From her early collection of columns and her autobiographical novel Heartburn to her more recent books about aging, I Feel Bad About My Neck and I Remember Nothing, her writing had a major influence on me. She taught me that women could be smart and funny and truthful – the heroines of their own stories, never the victim of them. She made writing look easy enough that I felt emboldened to try it, even as her short, simple sentences were the essence of perfect comic timing. She had a unique way of saying something caustic and cynical even as she allowed us to see what a romantic she was. I’ve re-read all of her books so many times that I can practically recite her words from memory.

And then there were her films. I admired how she came from the print world – the journalism world – and yet plunged headlong into screenwriting with Silkwood and, soon after, hit her stride with When Harry Met Sally. She became the queen of writer-directors, never failing to carry the torch for stories about women. Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail were as charming and sweet as they were witty and sly, and nobody’s written a romantic comedy since with her level of sophistication.

Even her opinion pieces in newspapers, magazines and blogs were knowing and clever. She had a gift, plain and simple. I’m so damn sad that there won’t be more coming from her fertile mind.

I think I’ll celebrate her life tonight by pulling out my dogeared copy of Heartburn – for the 7,000th time.

Filed Under: Humor, Mainly Jane, Movies, Popular culture, Screenplays Tagged With: Heartburn, Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally

This Article Really Depressed Me

June 14, 2011

And I’m still depressed, even though it’s been two days since I read the article.

It was in Sunday’s New York Times and it was film critic Manohla Dargis’ take on the fact that women are a disappearing breed in the movies nowadays and that they’ll be even more invisible this summer. Although I know Dargis is right and I spend way too much time bemoaning the scarcity of women on the big screen, it still bummed me out to read her piece.

For example, her first paragraph:

“If you’re a woman who roared, snorted or sniggered at “Bridesmaids,” if you like watching other women on screen, you should see it again. Because that hit comedy written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo and directed by Paul Feig, turns out to be one of the few occasions this summer when you can enjoy a movie about and with women released by a major studio.”

What does this all mean for screen adaptations of my novels? Nothing good. I’ve been told by any number of “industry people” that rom coms are over, that movies for women must be raunchy like “Bridesmaids” or they won’t get made, that stories about women don’t sell overseas, that women will go to see men in films but men won’t go to see women.

How did we get here? And more importantly, how do we get out of here? I loved Nora Ephron’s movies and I could watch appealing actresses fall in and out of love with the men of their dreams every night of the week. Am I a disappearing breed too?

 

 

 

Filed Under: Mainly Jane, Movies Tagged With: Bridesmaids, Manohla Dargis, movies, New York Times, Nora Ephron, women

Lots Going On Around Here

January 20, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Remember when I used to write “Dear Readers” letters on my home page? Well, now I can stay more current – and interactive – by posting regularly on this new blog and responding to your comments. (Also on the site now is my long-running “Confessions of a She-Fan” blog, which I moved over from Major League Baseball’s blogging site and which, I’m pleased to report, has been the #1 fan blog there.)

Here at “Mainly Jane” I’ll be providing updates about my books and news of Hollywood-related deals, explaining why I loved Nora Ephron’s latest collection of essays but didn’t think Ricky Gervais was amusing at the Golden Globes, talking about whatever seems relevant at the moment. I’ll also be sharing my running dialogues with my husband Michael, who seems to trigger lots of ideas for my books and screenplays. (Don’t worry. He’s a good sport. He’s used to being “material.”)

The "Michael" in question

Let me me get things started by officially announcing the new book I’m working on.  No, it’s not a romantic comedy. (Sorry to those who’ve been waiting for me to go back to writing fiction. I have a novel in the computer, I promise, but it’s waiting its turn.) The nonfiction book is called (drum roll, please):

You’d Better Not Die Or I’ll Kill You:

A Caregiver’s Survival Guide to Keeping YOU in Good Health and Good Spirits

As Publishers Lunch reported it in their announcement today, it’s a “companion for caregivers, told in a mix of humorous vignettes and essential info, drawing on personal experience and outside expertise.”

Which is another way of saying it’s not going to be a depressing book about illness; there are plenty of them out there already. And it’s not going to be a dense reference full of resources; caregivers don’t have time for themselves, let alone for a heavy tome. If the perennial bestseller What To Expect When You’re Expecting is a pregnant woman’s best friend, I’d say You’d Better Not Die Or I’ll Kill You will be a caregiver’s best friend. There are an estimated 65 million caregivers in America right now, whether caring for a parent, a child, a spouse or a close friend. My hope is to reach out to every one of them with the book. Chronicle is the publisher and I anticipate that they’ll schedule release sometime in 2012. They do such great things with graphics and design, so I’m very excited to join their stable of authors.

www.chroniclebooks.com

And my editor is Leigh Haber, who acquired Confessions of a She-Fan for Rodale back in ’07. She’s one of the smartest people I know, so she’ll undoubtedly help to make the book the best it can be.

Leigh looking serious and editor-ish

Where does the title come from? Michael. He has Crohn’s disease, a chronic, auto-immune disease of the gastrointestinal tract that causes intestinal obstructions, severe abdominal pain, and other not-so-lovely symptoms. He’s been hospitalized nearly 100 times since he was diagnosed as a child – 5 times in the past year alone – and had many surgeries. Each time he’s on a gurney, about to be wheeled into the operating room, I lean over to kiss him and say, “You’d better not die or I’ll kill you,” and he’ll laugh and make us both feel better.

The book is intended to make other caregivers feel better too – physically and emotionally. It will include my funny stories about life with a chronically ill husband (yes, there are funny moments and it’s important that we celebrate them), as well as advice from experts in a variety of fields on a variety of subjects – from how caregivers can get a decent night’s sleep to how we can make a doctor answer our questions even when he/she has one foot out the door. I’ll also feature anecdotes and inspirational words from other caregivers, so if you have a story to tell or know someone else who does, please leave a comment here or contact me via the “Contact” page on the web site or the links to me on Twitter or Facebook.

Over the years I’ve had so much mail from readers who’ve said: “Your novels have gotten me through a tough time.” And: “In spite of my medical condition your stories made me laugh.” And, best of all, I once got a letter from a psychotherapist who wrote: “I prescribe your books to all my depressed patients. They’re better than Prozac.” I really hope You’d Better Not Die Or I’ll Kill You will have the same prescriptive effect.

P.S. Before I finish up with my inaugural “Mainly Jane” post, I need to give a huge shout out to Kristen, webmaster, web designer, web guru, and (most of all) friend. You may have noticed that the web site’s home page has been refreshed and enhanced with graphics and links and all the stuff I could never in a million years figure out how to do. (All that in addition to creating the two new blogs.) I met Kristen when I was living in Florida writing novels and she was in New York handling the Soap Opera Digest web site. Now she and I are both in California and, although she has a full time job in the web world, she continues to make time for me and this site – and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Kristen in mid-bite of her hot dog at my "Confessions" book party

Yes, she’s a Red Sox fan and, yes, I’m a Yankee fan, but we co-exist like civil Democrats and Republicans, which is to say we rarely discuss baseball.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: caregivers, Chronicle Books, Golden Globes, Leigh Haber, Nora Ephron, Publishers Lunch, Ricky Gervais, What To Expect When You're Expecting, You'd Better Not Die or I'll Kill You

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About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.

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