by Donna L. Quesinberry
National Writing Examiner

The National Writing Examiner conducted an interview with Susan Wingate, author of “Bobby’s Diner,” “A Falling of Law,” and “Easy as Pie” among other titles. We are happy to include an excerpt for National Writing Examiner column readers, as follows:

Where are you from? I was born in Phoenix, Arizona where I lived for thirty-nine years. In 1997, I moved to an island in the Salish Sea off the coast of Washington State. I have lived here for twelve years and Halloween is my anniversary for the move. Kinda spooky, isn’t it.

Tell us your latest news? Well, lately a few things have happened. First I received an offer for a three-book deal which extends my stand alone novel, “Bobby’s Diner” into a series. The second bit of news is I received a contract for my mystery novel entitled “A Falling of Law” from Black Rose Writing, an independent press located in Texas. And, just recently I was notified of being accepted into a writers residency with Orcas Artsmith Colony.  That will happen at the end of February.

When and why did you begin writing? I’ve always written. I can remember writing stories as a child and continuing off and on until my twenties when I got distracted in college and pursued an accounting degree. But it didn’t stick. Writing called me back in the mid-1990s and I’ve been writing seriously since then.

When did you first consider yourself a writer? This is such a good question and I hope if there are any emerging writers out there reading this they will take heed. Calling myself a writer seemed so weird even as recent as 2004. But, it was in 2004 I really felt I could call myself a writer. I had been writing seriously for nearly ten years by then but felt like people were rolling their eyes at me about using the title, writer. So, I would tell people who I met that I was a typist. It took a bunch of pressure off but also slighted the fact that I had been writing for quite a while and published too, not any novels by then but short pieces and articles, some poetry. So, if you really want to write, call yourself a writer. Be proud of the fact you can put a pen to paper and tell a story.

What inspired you to write your first book? A fight with my ex-husband. That’s all I’m saying! J

Do you have a specific writing style? Maybe I have more of a writing process. The story remains the core important factor in my writing, with different characters, settings and issues surrounding each. So, no one style can properly tell every story, just like not one person can properly tell every story. My characters change and so does the voice of the character.

I do tend toward the darker side of things sometimes. Although “Bobby’s Diner” series reads lighter than a lot of my other work. For instance, “A Falling of Law” is narrated by an unreliable narrator, Harvey Flemings whereas “Bobby’s Diner” is narrated by Georgette Carlisle, a southern gal who owns a diner. Both are written in first person however I write much of my work in third person. But, my style adjusts for the story.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Always. The story dictates what the message will be. With “Bobby’s Diner” it’s all about women and how they get along with each other. With “A Falling of Law” the message is one of our mortality and how we wish to live our lives. Right now I’m tossing around the idea of writing with a message about outcasts and how entire groups of people can shun one person and why they might.

How much of the book is realistic? I like to throw in facts as the story dictates they should be included. But, when I do, I massage them into something unidentifiable so no one would be able to tell, who, what and where I’m speaking of.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? Sometimes. It’s that “write what you know” thing we all have heard about.

What books have most influenced your life most? Hmm. Probably, Vonnegut’s “Slaughter House Five,” Ian McEwan’s “Saturday” and anything by Jonathan Safran Foer! Oh and OMG, Raymond Chandler!

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor? I actually had a writing mentor! His name is Michael Collins (author of “Death of a Writer” and “Lost Souls”). But, also my father was possibly my greatest mentor.

What book are you reading now? Vonnegut, Foer, Raymond Chandler, of course! J

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? Yes. Leonni Swann who wrote “Three Bags Full” a sheep detective mystery – hysterical and original. And, also, Marina Lewyska who wrote “The History of Tractors in Ukranian.”

What are your current projects? I have several going right now. Of course, my “Bobby’s Diner” series is the utmost importance. The second book in that series entitled “Easy as Pie” is being released in May 2010.

My mystery novel “A Falling of Law” is written and so I have some after-the-fact editing I’ll most likely have to do.

Then, I have another novel with the working title of “Borrowed Time” that needs some attention and that will get it when I’m in residency this year at the Orcas Artsmith Colony (www.orcasartsmith.org). Plus, a bunch of short stories sprinkled between each of the longer pieces.

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. My writing membership organizations. One that is highest on the list of actual hands-on with me is the Arizona Authors Association. They are fabulous. Plus, all the many bookstores who have allowed me their time and space to talk about my writing and have hosted signings. And, there’s always my wonderful library, the San Juan Library. Adrienne Bourne there as well as many of the other staff members and the board have been wonderful letting me give workshops and also letting me bring other professionals to the island to speak and give workshops.

Do you see writing as a career? Absolutely. I see writing as a job that I get up and go to everyday. It’s hard work, not for the weak-spirited, that’s for sure. It’s one of the toughest most interesting industries I have ever been a part of.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book? No. Once a book is done I’m usually off and running on the next one. To rue about something in the past is always futile and so it’s true with writing. I move forward.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? My father wrote. He had a special knack for mixing intrigue, humor and sex into these fantastical safari stories that are just a scream. I guess my dad, James Ajamie, is my first real writing mentor.

Can you share a little of your current work with us? My current work is the second, third and fourth story in the “Bobby’s Diner” series and I’m having a ball with this series. At first I thought it would be drudgery but after getting into the second story, started to fall in love with all the characters all over again.

In this second story “Easy as Pie” Georgette and Roberta get into trouble again with a bad guy (of course). But, the fun thing about this story is I’m sliding into romantic fiction. The first book “Bobby’s Diner” mixes two genres, women’s fiction with mystery. The second, “Easy as Pie” mixes them as well but also introduces a romantic element between Georgette and the police chief there in Sunnydale. His name is Willy. The third book, working title, “Piece of Cake” will fully incorporate all three genres, women’s fiction (Georgette’s relationship with Roberta), mystery and romance. I can’t wait.

As for an excerpt, here are a few of paragraphs from “Easy as Pie:”

It was the day Georgette Carlisle read  that NASA slammed a rocket into the moon. No one really cared. It was the moon, not Jupiter or Saturn. The moon had slid onto the backlist of newsworthiness by current standards. The day coasted out of sight into a flotsam of more noteworthy press and seemed to fade against the furor still being aired and printed about Michael Jackson. Things seemed topsy-turvy. So, when her old friend called, the moon’s event slid into other things that didn’t seem quite important at the moment but would eventually change people’s lives.

Helen tried to hide a tone of desperation in her voice. Georgette still heard it. Even with her friend hundreds of miles south, even through the tiny phone, she could see Helen’s face.

Her lithe jaw line quivered as she spoke through her cell somewhere outdoors, her mousy almost colorless hair unruly around her face, a ballet hand grappling at the wispy thin strands as she looked around at the busy street corner in Phoenix, the cars rushing past her like hot wind. As if Georgette were standing there with her, she could see a nervous frown bridging her forehead, causing that single soft fold to form between the skin of her eyebrows.

She saw her glossy lips move with each fractured word. The two women, complete opposites in mind and body. But, she knew this woman well. Always cloaked in something. Always scheming.

Even so, Georgette still trusted her. Helen, although slippery at times, would remain a true friend.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? Only that my fingers don’t have tiny little brains of their own so that they can type like the speed of light! J

I practice all the time, take workshops, learn constantly, read about writing… basically, waking, sleeping, eating is about writing.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work? There are too many to name one as my favorite. Raymond Chandler! He was so cutting edge and at such an interesting time in our American history. His work still rings true and his voice is completely recognizable.

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)? I travel quite a bit. It’s hard at times but I meet amazing people and sometimes even travel with my dog or a cat or both a dog and cat and sometimes when I’m really lucky, Bob, my husband travels with me.

Who designed the covers? Shelley Rodgerson created the artwork for the cover of “Bobby’s Diner.”

What was the hardest part of writing your book? I really don’t find writing novels difficult because there are so many ideas flooding my head. However, if I were to choose something difficult about writing or at the very least something that stops my flow, it would be, possibly, deciding on what major point of conflict should come next of three that I usually use between the beginning scenes and the ending scenes. But, after a little concentration those three usually bubble up to the surface rather quickly for me.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? Well, the first book I wrote I felt was more like a fluke. I had never written anything that long before. So, the second novel, “Bobby’s Diner” I wrote as a dare. I thought, okay, see if you can do it again. When I did, I knew I had learned how to craft a novel and I jumped right into the third one. I’m now working on my sixth and have my seventh and eighth to write before the end of 2010.

Do you have any advice for other writers? Sit and write. Write one page a day and you’ll have a book written in one year. Write two pages a day and you’ll have a book written in six months. Write three pages a day and you’ll have a book written in four months. Hey, if you write ten pages a day… you do the math! J

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? Have fun reading my work. Writing it has been a ball and I hope that comes through to the reader.

About the Author

Novelist, Susan Wingate, received her BS from Arizona State Univeristy. Presently, she lives in Washington State and writes full time. Wingate has written three novels. Her second, “Bobby’s Diner,” just signed with eBooksonthe.net. Her short story, “The Lion of Judah” received 1st Place honor (a monetary award and publication) in the August 2008 Fantasy Gazetteer Short Story Contest.

One of her most recent accomplishments comes on the heels of completing her third novel, The Last Maharajan, with an excerpt selected for publication in literary journal the Superstition Review, an ASU press publication. She is a contributing writer for several magazines. Since the 2007 publication of her mystery novel, Of the Law, Wingate has taught writing workshops and colleges. She publishes eNewsletter, “Sincerely, Susan.” She organizes reading series at her local library which spotlight local and regional writers. For hobbies, Wingate likes to read and paint.

The National Writing Examiner welcomes questions, ideas and interviews or event announcements – through the comments section below, or by e-mailing Donna Quesinberry.

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Kindle Books vs Traditional Hard Copy

by Donna L. Quesinberry
National Writing Examiner

Kindle exceeded all other book sales for the 2009 holiday season and at $259.00 (6″ screen that can hold 1500 books) or $489.00 (DX 9.7″ screen that can hold 3500 books) Kindle provides a streamlined book experience that can last as long as its technology. Once you’ve purchased your Kindle - subsequent book purchases generally run $9.99 each.

While Amazon touts 359,000 book copies available via Kindle – it is becoming a choice of conscience whether to choose Kindle over a traditional hardbound copy book. And, in that decision of conscience environmentally savvy readership comes into play. Personally, the look, feel, and smell of traditionally published books exceeds a liquid crystal design (LCD) screen experience to me, but in 2008, the U.S. book and newspaper industries combined resulted in the harvesting of 125 million trees, not to mention waste water that was produced or its massive carbon footprint, CleanTech Group, LLC.

A recent report from the environmental consulting firm Cleantech Group found that the Kindle’s life-cycle impact is much less: In its first year, it offsets the emissions created by its manufacture, and over its life-cycle, its carbon savings even out to about 370 pounds of CO2, or the equivalent of about 22.5 books per year. So what’s a book aesthete to do?

One (admittedly retro) option: a library card. Let’s imagine you buy 20 books a year. According to Cleantech Group, that’s about 331 pounds of carbon. Now say you’re willing to buy only five books a year—new releases that you just can’t wait for—and get the other 15 from the library. The San Francisco library bought 78,445 books in 2008. Let’s assume each of the library’s 2,265,209 visitors borrowed two books. Of course, they’re not all borrowing newly purchased books. But if all those patrons are shouldering the carbon burden of the new books, that evens out to about 0.3 pounds of CO2 per patron. You’ve reduced your reading emissions to 42 pounds of CO2, nearly an eighth of what they would be if you bought all your books new.

Presently, the e-book readers sold to date are approximately 1M, but by 2012 this figure is expected to reach 14.5M, which can prevent 5.3 billion kg of carbon dioxide in 2012, or 9.9 billion kg during the four-year time period. Apparently, e-book readers offset the carbon emissions of their creation within the first year of purchase; however, there still comes the missed touch and feel appeal of hard bound books.

What we know of the future is that it continues to happen and the e-book reader will be no different. Perhaps it is time to insure your existing library of hard bound books – especially those that have passed through your family for generations – because ever-increasingly they’ll become a thing of the past. But, if you still love the touch, look, feel and smell of printed books – the general consensus is that you should borrow more than you buy. Make the library your friend and recycle your tried and true hard bounds that you no longer use for your own purposes. Book gifting to friends and family will become an acceptable trend in the not too distant future, because eventually hard bounds will be tomorrow’s collectibles.

The National Writing Examiner welcomes questions, ideas and interviews or event announcements – through the comments section below, or by e-mailing Donna Quesinberry.

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On this day in history: poet and playwright Derek Walcott is born in St. Lucia, in the Carribbean. Walcott will win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. Walcott’s family descended from slaves in the West Indies, and the legacy of slavery is a common theme in his work. Both his parents were schoolteachers and encouraged a love of reading in their three children. When Walcott’s father died, his mother raised the family on her own. Walcott knew early on he wanted to be a writer: His first book of poems was published when he was only 18. He continued writing and began teaching as well. Deeply interested in theater as well as poetry, he received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1957, which allowed him to study with a prominent director in New York for two years. In New York, Walcott founded the Trinidad Theater Workshop.

A prolific poet, Walcott published In a Green Night: Poems 1948-1960 in 1962, Selected Poems in 1964, The Castaway in 1965, and The Gulf in 1969. His lush style explores multicultural tensions and questions of identity. Meanwhile, he continued his work in the theater, with plays like Ti-Jean and His Brothers (produced in 1958), Dream on Monkey Mountain (produced 1967), and Pantomime (produced 1978). He wrote more than 30 plays while continuing to publish poetry collections regularly. His book-length poem Omeros, published in 1990, evokes Homer’s Odyssey in the environment of the Caribbean. Walcott was the first Caribbean writer to win the Nobel Prize.

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by Donna L. Quesinberry
National Writing Examiner

The Immortal Seeds: Life Goes on for a Khmer Family, written by Sambeth Meas is this month’s Book Nook featured interview:

Q1. What is your book about?

A1. The Vietnam War officially spilled into Cambodia in 1970, giving rise to the Cambodian communist rebels. From 1970 to 1975, the American-backed Khmer Republic and the China-backed Khmer Rouge fought each other acrimoniously. Tragically, the latter won the civil war and ruled the country based on paranoia and brutality. The Khmer Rouge leaders and cadres were responsible for the violent deaths of almost two millions of the country¹s population. Nearly all of our immediate family members and relatives were executed, starved or worked to death.The book is about my family¹s struggle to survive this draconian communist regime and journeys to find peace, freedom, and happiness.

Q2. Please give me some insight as to why you are writing this book.

A2. Since I became aware of my surrounding, which started at the age of five, I noticed that my family was always on the move. I never understood why and my parents never explained why. Our last move brought us to the United States of America. Growing up as an American, I was often bombarded by tragic news about Cambodia and its people. It¹s utterly heart-breaking and discouraging to hear people say that Khmer people are not good at anything but killing each other. I believe the Khmer Rouge had permanently stigmatized us. Therefore, I wanted to find out why Khmer was killing Khmer.

Secondly, I was growing up with a father who was haunted by painful memories of the past. We developed an arduous relationship as a father and daughter. I didn¹t understand what he was going through and he was giving me a hard time. Nothing I did seemed to satisfy him. We were both stubborn people. I didn¹t see his way and he didn¹t see mine. His near death experience brought us closer to each other. Therefore, I wrote this book because I wanted to know why Khmer was killing Khmer and to know what kind of experiences my parents went through, especially my father who underwent sleeplessness, moodiness, anger, and frustration.

Q3. There are many stories about the Khmer Rouge/Killing Field out there. How is yours different?

A3. I feel that many Khmer Rouge or Killing Field stories out there are from the perspectives of outsiders and Cambodian city people. Since we were peasants, it would be interesting for the readers to look at this period through our eyes. Granted that we lived under the same regime, but all of us experienced and saw things differently.

Q4. What do you expect the new generation to learn from your book?

A4. Readers will learn that many factors contributed to the demises of Cambodia and her people and those factors are addressed in The Immortal Seeds.

Secondly, this book is a testament to my parents¹ heroism, especially my father who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. This book reminds him of his courage, wisdom, and sacrifices to protect and nurture his family. If I can help to inspire my parents and others who sacrificed so much to find peace, freedom, and opportunity for their children to live in a better world than they did, like the United States of America, then I am satisfied as a daughter and as a writer.

About the Author: The Immortal Seeds: Life Goes on for a Khmer Family, written by Sambath Meas, a first time author who lives in Schaumburg, Illinois. After immigrating from Thailand’s refugee camp to the United States of America (September 1981) at the tender age of eight, Sambath mitigated life and adjusted to American culture, later attending Loyola University Chicago and obtaining her B.A. in Political Science.

The National Writing Examiner welcomes questions, ideas and interviews or event announcements – through the comments section below, or by e-mailing Donna Quesinberry.

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On this day in history: A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh is born. The youngest of three sons born to schoolteacher parents, Milne taught himself to read at age two. He began writing humorous pieces as a schoolboy and continued to do so at Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate paper. In 1903, he left Cambridge and went to London to write. Although he was broke by the end of his first year, he persevered and supported himself until 1906 with his writing. That year, he joined humor magazine Punch as an editor and wrote humorous verse and essays for the magazine for eight years, until World War I broke out. While at Punch, he wrote his first book-for adults, not children.

In 1913, he married his wife, Daphne, and two years later went to France to serve in World War I. While in the military, he wrote three plays, one of which, Mr. Pim Passes By, became a hit in 1919 and provided financial security for the family. In 1920, the couple’s only son, Christopher Robin, was born. In 1925, the family bought Cotchford Farm in Sussex. A nearby forest inspired the 100-Acre Wood where Winnie-the-Pooh’s adventures would be set.

Milne published two volumes of the verse he wrote for his son. When We Were Very Young was published in 1924, followed by Now We Are Six in 1927.

When Christopher Robin was about a year old, he received a stuffed bear as a present. The child soon accumulated a collection of similar animals, which inspired Milne to begin writing a series of whimsical stories about the toys. Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926 and The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. Ernest Shepard illustrated the books, using Christopher Robin and his animals as models.

A.A. Milne wrote numerous other books and plays but is remembered almost solely for his beloved children’s work. He died in 1956.

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