I've become a daily visitor of Meg Tilly's blog. It's too soon to tell if her website will go the way of many other author websites, which lay stagnant between publications, but so far she's been blogging almost daily for the last six months. She writes with great candor and generosity on a range of topics, from memories of childhood to the stock market to her favorite home recipes. And, of course, she also writes a great deal about the writing life, and some of my favorite posts in this category recount her experiences on reading tours. The feedback and compliments she received on a recent tour for the novel Gemma inspired her to record audio versions of her books. I've never listened to an audiobook before, but for Tilly I made an exception and downloaded Gemma.
See, before she wrote novels, Meg Tilly was one of my favorite actresses. She starred in films like The Big Chill, Psycho II, The Two Jakes, and Valmont--and even had a small part in Fame! But the one I continue to watch, the film that remains just as good now as it was when I first saw it in 1985, is Agnes of God. In this film, Tilly plays a novitiate who is accused of murdering her newborn child. For much of the film she is silent, but when she does speak, her voice hovers just above a whisper. Tilly had--and still has--a distinct, beautiful voice, and it makes listening to Gemma such a satisfying experience, though the story itself is pretty harrowing.
The novel tells the story of a pedophile and the young woman he's abducted and switches back and forth between their perspectives. Tilly gives each protagonist a different voice, and though initially I worried that this would shape my experience of the book too much, in the end it helped me to focus and sustain my attention. Though I used to read a lot to my siblings, I never had much patience for being read to. I was always a fast reader and wanted to rush through stories, to get the end as quickly as possible so I could move to the next book on my nightstand. This has changed; I've slowed down, in large part because now I study and write about literature, which requires a lot more careful reading. But I still struggle with being a good listener and staying focused when someone is reading out loud, whether its an academic lecture, a poem, or, in this case, an audiobook. An engaging delivery style helps. This is what Tilly brings to her recording (and to her public readings) and it's the secret to most successful readings. To "engage" can be as simple as giving a word a slight emphasis or looking up momentarily at your audience. These moments ease the distance between the audience and the podium. They are signs of presence, and they are crucial to creating a sense of shared participation. I'm more conscious of this now that I've started to read some of my own work in public.
Tilly pursued acting after an accident cut short her ballet career. After several successful films, her focus turned increasingly to her family and to writing. A lot of her early work was based on her childhood experiences, both good and bad. These stories became the novel Singing Songs, which was published in 1994. In a recent, stunning post on the recurrence of "dancing dreams," Tilly writes:
Beautiful lines. A knowledge and wonder that my body, not only remembered how to do these things but there was a stableness and a sure and simple ease. My extensions went on forever. There was none of that shakiness or fear that I would screw up or fall off my pointe and land on my butt. Everything felt absolutely right. Female, yet not in a showy way. It was so beautiful. And I wondered in the dream why I had never been able to dance like this before. And I realized that it must be all those centering, balancing exercises that I’ve been doing in life. And I didn’t realize that they would effect my dancing so much. And I was filled with gratitude. I woke up feeling blessed.
A couple of years ago, when I came across an interview with Tilly on Bookslut, I was surprised to learn that she had become a writer. Now I can't imagine her otherwise.
MORE GOOD LINKS:
*An interview with Tilly on The Debutante Ball
*Some unpublished "bits and pieces" on Tilly's blog
*Live blogging her sister's participation in the LA Poker Classic
Incredible! She's a favorite actress of mine too. Love her - I can't wait to check this book out.
Posted by: ginevra | March 02, 2008 at 11:45 AM