Backcast (42 page)

Appendix

IN SEARCH OF PISCES

Lives in Transition

A Commemoration of Women's History Month

An Installation by

Barbara Davis

(1955-2016)

Presented by The Rolston-Devere Gallery

Major funding provided by a grant from

The National Endowment for the Arts

Figure 1

Rabbits

Essay by Quinn Glatfelter

Figure 2

Found Objects

Essay by Montana Jackson

Figure 3

An Obscure Object of Desire

Essay by Kate Winston

Figure 4

Bologna Sandwiches

Essay by Gwen Carlisle

Figure 5

First Blood

Essay by Shawn Harris

Figure 6

Happy Hour

Essay by Linda Evans

Figure 7

Borrowed Robes

Essay by Vivien K. O'Reilly

Figure 8

Big Girls Don't Cry

Essay by Mavis Pants

Figure 9

Following Signs

Essay by Darien Black

Figure 10

Heal Thyself

Essay by V. Jay-Jay Singh

Figure 11

Sometimes a Great Notion

Essay by Cricket MacBean

Figure 12

Ghost of a Chance

Essay by Towanda

Figure 13

The Swashbuckler

Essay by Barbara Davis

Acknowledgments

“Write what you know” is the mantra pounded into the head of every aspiring author.

Many of us take a circuitous route to get there.

Backcast
is a book about the differences between perception and reality—and the ways we straddle the lines that divide truth from fiction. Bits and pieces of
Backcast
are drawn from my own life experiences. So, in a sense, this book is my closest attempt to date at writing about things I know—or have, at least, experienced. Knowledge stubbornly links arms with understanding, and these two can follow a meandering path to self-awareness. What I have attempted to do with the telling of these tales is shine a light on a few of the things I've come to know. The journey to understanding what is revealed will come, if it comes at all, in its own time. And that, if I have very great luck and live long enough to tell it, will be a story for another day.

I would be remiss if I didn't make mention of the comic fodder provided by my paternal grandmother, Lillian V. Stephens. She had, without exception, the sharpest sense of humor I've ever encountered. Inspiration for the wisecracking bass, Phoebe, derives entirely from her tales of an iconic carp by the same name. Rumor has it that my grandmother caught the legendary fish in one of the many streams that ran past her home in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. She is said to have kept the fish alive and given it a home in her rain barrel because “she had beautiful eyes.”

Special thanks are due to my self-styled Vermont family. For the past fifteen summers, I have been blessed to spend the best days of my life with you on the shores of Lake Champlain. Shore Acres Inn will forever be known as the place where I felt the most welcomed, and the most at home. Susan and Mike Tranby deserve most of the credit for that. The rest of us—your staff, your neighbors, and your “regulars”—owe you debts of gratitude that can never be repaid.

Shirley Sibenhorn Page taught me to love the stories of the Inland Sea. I miss you, and I dearly wish you were here to read this book.

I am bound by love to make mention of my other family of choice. Father Frank and Flora? Thank you for your goodness and constancy. The heavens surely smiled upon me the day our paths crossed.

Great thanks are due to Dale Brown, the Dean of Bass Fishing on Lake Champlain. It would have been impossible for me to write this book without your insight and guidance. Thank you for all the time you spent, politely answering my ridiculous questions. And thanks, too, for authoring the book that became my primary resource,
Bass Fishing 101
.

As always, I am indebted to my beloved cast of usual suspects—Dee Dee, Cloudie, Skippy, Short Stack, Moran-Tek, and my dear Lodge Sister, Nurse Barrett. Thank you all for putting up with my epic rants and fits of ennui.

Thanks, too, to Louise and Christine, for your great gifts of friendship, support—and really rare steaks. Meeting you two has been better than finding out that the biggest box under the Christmas tree has my name on it.

I offer special thanks to the uncommonly talented voice actor, Christine Williams, for bringing my books to life in audio format. Bruno? You truly are The Voice That Launched a Thousand Subarus.

Thanks are due, too, to Susie and Aretha Bright—the dazzling wonder women at
audible.com
who were willing to take a chance on my little book about women and bass fishing. This decision surely will go down in the annals of literature as a true profile in courage.

What can I say about Lee Lynch? Just knowing she's out there makes me work harder to be a better writer, and a better steward of our literature. Thank you, dear friend. And thanks, too, for allowing me to quote from your seminal work,
The Swashbuckler.
You've touched so many lives with your impressive body of work, your personal integrity, and your great inner-goodness. I'm humbled and grateful to stand in your shadow.

Kelly Smith and Marianne K. Martin aren't just trailblazers; they're about as close to royalty as we can get in this business. Believe me when I say that getting to work with the two of them at their little company on the
G
reat
L
ake is more than a privilege—it's an honor. I love you both dearly.

And, Kells? I'll always remember your immortal question, “Do we need a verb here?”

At the beginning and end of everything, my greatest love and thanks are due to my beloved wife, Salem West. You are the best friend I've ever had. Every single day, I thank the mystical confluence of events that brought us together. Thank you for allowing me to share your life—even though it came packaged with a Siberian husky.

Ann McMan

Winston-Salem, NC

About the Author

ANN McMAN is the author of five novels,
Jericho, Dust, Aftermath, Hoosier Daddy,
and
June Magee, R.N., Festival Nurse,
and the short story collections
Sidecar
and
Three.
She is a recipient of the Alice B. Lavender Certificate for Outstanding Debut Novel, and a two-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award for short story collections. Her novel,
Hoosier Daddy,
was a 2014 Lambda Literary Award finalist. She resides in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with her wife, two dogs, two cats, and an exhaustive supply of vacuum cleaner bags.

Reading Group Discussion Guide

      
1
      
The differences between perception and reality are dueling themes in the central storyline and various subplots of this novel. How are these differences revealed or reconciled? Are any left unresolved at the end? Why? Why not? What is revealed about the characters that contradict what we thought we understood about them?

      
2
      
How does the lake function as a metaphor in the story? Do the characters behave or relate to each other differently on the water? How does Quinn's process of learning how to pilot the boat—and cast her fishing line—mirror her journey toward self-understanding?

      
3
      
What is the significance of the Pisces map Junior gives Quinn? How does it relate to the motif Barb Davis creates to represent the various tales of transition written by the 13 authors? Why does Barb choose to depict the women in the story as fish?

      
4
      
The great fish, Phoebe, is a creature of both myth and imagination. What role does she play in the central narrative of the book? Is she real, or is she a figment of Quinn's imagination? What does Quinn learn about her own motivations during her face-to-face encounters with Phoebe? Are these encounters real or imagined? Does it matter?

      
5
      
How does the Phoebe subplot function to tie the disparate storylines of the book together—much like the final series of sculptures are tied together with twine?

      
6
      
The 13 individual “transition” essays are presented without attribution. Why is that significant? What commonalities do the stories reveal? How do the essays the women write coalesce to create a unified picture at the end of the book? How are the themes they describe tied to each other and to Quinn's quest to catch the elusive fish?

      
7
      
How does the fishing tournament parallel the journeys the women make—individually and as a group—during their two-week retreat? How are their lives changed? How does the outcome of the fishing tournament change Quinn? Change others?

          
At Bywater Books we love good books about lesbians just like you do, and we're committed to bringing the best of contemporary lesbian writing to our avid readers. Our editorial team is dedicated to finding and developing outstanding writers who create books you won't want to put down.

          
We sponsor the Bywater Prize for Fiction to help with this quest. Each prize winner receives $1,000 and publication of their novel. We have already discovered amazing writers like Jill Malone, Sally Bellerose, and Hilary Sloin through the Bywater Prize. Which exciting new writer will we find next?

          
For more information about Bywater Books and the annual Bywater Prize for Fiction, please visit our website.

www.bywaterbooks.com