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WORK TITLE: The Paris Writers Circle
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Brooklyn
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
https://njaegerhopcraft.blogspot.com/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:New York University, M.F.A. (magna cum laude).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked formerly as a newspaper and corporate journalist.
AWARDS:First prize for mystery short story, Deadly Ink.
WRITINGS
Contributor to South Dakota Review. Author of a blog, In Search of the American Dream.
SIDELIGHTS
Norma Hopcraft is a New York-based writer who has been writing stories for over thirty years. Hopcraft’s writing career began in journalism. She worked as a newspaper and corporate journalist before attending graduate school for creative writing. She was a magna cum laude graduate of New York University’s creative writing and literature program. Hopcraft travels for her writing and recently took a creative writing sabbatical year in Paris and Barcelona.
Hopcraft has been published in the South Dakota Review and won first prize in a mystery short story contest from Deadly Ink. A resident of Brooklyn, she writes the blog In Search of the American Dream. The Paris Writers Circle is her first book.
The Paris Writers Circle centers on four characters living in Paris. The individuals, all expats, come from different backgrounds and have different reasons for living in Paris. They have come together out of a mutual love of writing. Phillip, an American, starts the writing group hoping to create an inspiring and positive space for writers to critique and mentor one another. While his intention is for the group to help lift aspiring writers up to their dreams, the writing group ultimately transforms into a space in which four friends can turn to one another in difficult times.
Phillip is an American pastor who moved to Paris to lead a new church. Since arriving, he has married a Frenchwoman and settled into his life in Paris. His faith dominates his life, and it carries him forward when other elements in his life seem out of control. One such element, his daughter, is causing him much strain and sadness. The young woman is spiraling down the path of alcoholism, and Phillip feels powerless to do anything except watch and pray. For him, the writing circle is a source of much-needed community and support. Carol, another member of the writing circle, is a British film writer. She moved to Paris with her children to accept a prestigious film-writing job. Carol has struggles of her own; she is terrified that she will lose her job. Additionally, as a single mother in the City of Love, she yearns deeply for a romantic connection, which she fears she will never find. John is an American who owns a successful investment company. He has come to France to establish the company’s Paris office and has brought along his wife and daughter. Consumed by work, John’s relationship with his family is faltering. His relationship with his shopping-loving wife is essentially transactional, and he does not know how to connect with his somber, moody daughter. Anjali, an Indian woman in her early twenties, is in Paris to work for John. Anjali’s time in France is limited, however, as she must return home to marry a Hindu boy of her parent’s choosing. If it were up to her, there would be no marriage. While in Paris, she struggles with figuring out how to keep her parents happy while acknowledging her own desire to be independent. The four writers turn to one another through their conversations and their stories, hoping to find clarity and support through their various struggles.
A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted, “Hopcraft’s characters are hampered by hackneyed descriptions that often overstate their weaknesses,” adding nonetheless that “there are some insightful observations that capture the essence of writing as an art.” Danielle Bukowski in Indie Reader website wrote, “Each character is nuanced and fully realized, and the reader suffers with each of them equally.” Bukowski added: “Watching these flawed characters break down the walls of those around them is uplifting and inspiring.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, June 4, 2018, review of The Paris Writers Circle, p. 32.
ONLINE
Indie Reader, https://indiereader.com/ (September 20, 2018), Danielle Bukowski, review of The Paris Writers Circle.*
About Norma Hopcraft
"Quirky stories for writers and the people who love them"
Norma Jaeger Hopcraft has been writing stories for 30 years. She was a newspaper and corporate journalist, then a magna cum laude graduate of New York University's creative writing and literature program. She recently took a creative writing sabbatical year in Paris and Barcelona.
She's been published in the South Dakota Review and won first prize in a mystery short story contest from Deadly Ink.
She lives in Brooklyn and blogs at "In Search of the American Dream": njaegerhopcraft.blogspot.com. You can contact her by leaving a comment there. She would love to connect with you!
Norma Jaeger Hopcraft has been writing stories for 30 years. She was a newspaper and corporate journalist, then a magna cum laude graduate of New York University’s creative writing and literature program.
She's been published by the literary magazine South Dakota Review and won first prize from Deadly Ink for a mystery short story.
She recently took a creative writing sabbatical year in Paris, and lived in Barcelona. She now lives in Brooklyn and blogs at “In Search of the American Dream." You can reach her by leaving a comment on her blog's home page.
The Paris Writers Circle
Publishers Weekly. 265.21 (May 21, 2018): p42.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Paris Writers Circle
Norma Hopcraft. Jaguar Publishing,
$14.99 trade paper (296p) ISBN 978-0-9994089-1-9
Hopcraft's uneven novel reveals how four expatriates living in Paris find escape from their personal woes in a writing group. Anjali, in her early 20s, is trying to reconcile the expectations of her Indian parents with her own desire to be a free and independent woman. John is an American who devotes himself to his successful investment company located in Paris while his relationship with his wife and daughter withers. Carol, a single mother from Britain, struggles with her fear of losing a job and her anguish about finding love. And Philippe, an American pastor, clings to his faith as he watches alcoholism consume his daughter's life. All four find comfort in their creative writing and in the increasingly constructive and supportive discussions that positively affect their personal lives. Hopcraft's characters are hampered by hackneyed descriptions that often overstate their weaknesses, such as Carol's desperation to have a man in her life. Though grammatical errors are distracting, there are some insightful observations that capture the essence of writing as an art ("Fiction is the lie that tells the truth"). Numerous details about Paris interwoven throughout also capture the rich history and essence of the city. The novel will appeal most to those looking for a straightforward story set in Paris, but those seeking a memorable cast of characters should look elsewhere. (BookLife)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Paris Writers Circle." Publishers Weekly, 21 May 2018, p. 42. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541012570/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d875c74c. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541012570
The Paris Writers Circle
Publishers Weekly. 265.23 (June 4, 2018): p32.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Paris Writers Circle
Norma Hopcraft. Jaguar Publishing, $14.99 trade paper (296p) ISBN 978-0-9994089-1-9
Hopcraft's uneven novel reveals how four expatriates living in Paris find escape from their personal woes in a writing group. Anjali, in her early 20s, is trying to reconcile the expectations of her Indian parents with her own desire to be a free and independent woman. John is an American who devotes himself to his successful investment company located in Paris while his relationship with his wife and daughter withers. Carol, a single mother from Britain, struggles with her fear of losing a job and her anguish about finding love. And Philippe, an American pastor, clings to his faith as he watches alcoholism consume his daughter's life. All four find comfort in their creative writing and in the increasingly constructive and supportive discussions that positively affect their personal lives. Hopcraft's characters are hampered by hackneyed descriptions that often overstate their weaknesses, such as Carol's desperation to have a man in her life. Though grammatical errors are distracting, there are some insightful observations that capture the essence of writing as an art ("Fiction is the lie that tells the truth"). Numerous details about Paris interwoven throughout also capture the rich history and essence of the city. The novel will appeal most to those looking for a straightforward story set in Paris, but those seeking a memorable cast of characters should look elsewhere. (BookLife)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Paris Writers Circle." Publishers Weekly, 4 June 2018, p. 32. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A542242832/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=dbf77866. Accessed 20 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A542242832
THE PARIS WRITERS CIRCLE
by Norma Hopcraft
January 26, 2018/in Fiction, Indie Book Reviews, IR Approved, Literary Fiction /by IR Staff
Verdict: THE PARIS WRITERS CIRCLE is the uplifting, transformational tale of four expats suffering dark days in the City of Light who form an unlikely alliance when they meet twice a month in a café to discuss writing techniques and their lives.
4.9
Carol, John, Anjali, and Phillip are all expatriates living in Paris. Carol is a British mom who moved to the city for a prestigious filmwriting gig; John is an American running his investment company’s Parisian office with a high-spending wife and sullen daughter; Anjali, who works for John, is visiting before her planned marriage to a Hindu boy back home in India; and Phillip is a pastor of a new church who is married to a Frenchwoman. When Phillip starts the writers’ circle, he hopes to form a positive environment in which aspiring writers can have their work critiqued by other hopefuls. But as life throws wrenches into the plans of each member, they open up to one another on the page and in discussions of the hardships and troubles they’re each facing. Ultimately, they find reason to open up and change thanks to the kindness of these strangers who become much more.
The writing is strong and smoothly carries the reader along. Each character is nuanced and fully realized, and the reader suffers with each of them equally, through failed relationships and worries about money and the future. While each character is going through a dramatic, upsetting upheaval of their lives, they hide bits of what they’re working through in the pages they bring to the writers circle, a clever way to show their true colors. Watching these flawed characters break down the walls of those around them is uplifting and inspiring. The author has also captured Paris and the experience of living there temporarily with beautiful detail.
The ending is a little too sweetly tied together with a bow, although some plot points are left unresolved (a recurring chapter-ending cliffhanger involving the IRS is dropped).
THE PARIS WRITERS CIRCLE is the uplifting, transformational tale of four expats suffering dark days in the City of Light who form an unlikely alliance when they meet twice a month in a café to discuss writing techniques and their lives.
~Danielle Bukowski for Indie Reader