Today I'm pleased to be joined by Susan Kane of thecontemplativecat and Susan Kane, Writer. I've enjoyed reading her contemplations and stories on her blogs and she has left frequent comments on mine. It's good to get to know a little bit more about her. She's stopped by to share some of her thoughts about writing memoir.
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| The family photo was taken in 1967. Dad insisted that we would not smile. Consequently, we all had giggle fits, and the photo shoot took an hour. |
Arlee: I guess one question writers should get asked is: When did you start writing?
Susan: In third grade, I had grown into a voracious reader and absorbed books. The only books available were the classic books, biographies, and Readers’ Digest Books. The language level was challenging and intriguing. When I finished all the third grade books, the teacher let me go to the fourth grader’s library. By sixth grade, I had read all the books in the school, and was working through the Britannica Encyclopedias.
Part of reading for me was responding to the book. I wrote in a journal as I read, recording unknown vocabulary and copying down great sentences. This was how I always read. My writing branched off on its own, and I wrote the most awful love stories and mysteries. But I wrote volumes.
Arlee: What inspired you to write as an adult?
Susan: My paternal grandmother died four days before I married. She was a brilliant gifted woman, who had told me stories of her generation, 1890s - 1972. Five years after her death, I wrote a few pages about things she had told me about her fascinating life. I typed on an old manual Smith-Corona, with my children playing/fighting around me. It was great.
Then I wrote a romance novel (packed in a box in my office). That showed me I could write anything lengthy. I also got pregnant with our last child—too much research, I guess.
I have kept journals about everything: trips, thoughts, prayers, everything. Just the habit of writing as a response to life formed my own life as a writer.
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| My paternal Grandmother Amy is in her rocker; she was a highly educated woman, and loved to write poetry. |
Arlee: Your current work? What inspired this work?
Susan: In Preacher’s Creek takes place in a small rural farming town in the early 1950s. The time period is important because WW II is over, veterans have come home, and there is tremendous growth—in number of children and economically. The town of Preacher’s Creek was established in 1820 and most of the residents are descended from the original settlers.
Family history and stories are part of life in this town. The main character and voice is Ellen Jo Carter, with her brother Kent James. Both are young children and are blessed with vivid imaginations, adventurous spirits, and insatiable curiosity. The sleepy town that was content with its predictable life is faced with the issues and unspoken prejudices that the Carter children discover and uncover.
I am a child of this era in America, born and raised on a farm, and part of the ‘Boomers’. The events in the book may have a spark of truth in them, but mostly they come from my life experiences. As an elementary teacher, I do know children and the actions they would take in any given situation.
The book is finished; I am currently editing. This is the most frustrating part of writing, I think.
Arlee: Why did you decide to write this book now? Why not years ago?
Susan: I was teaching until 2008, and that consumed my creative passions. Two of my brothers died unexpectedly at ages 46 and 44. My youngest brother’s death pulled my feet out from under me and dragged me in the sand. Grieving for them and then my husband’s father, “Dad”, had left me emotionally numb.
Finally, my pastor suggested that I write, like I always have-- in response to life. That was the genesis of this book.
Arlee: Is there any particular piece of literature that impacted you, as a writer?
Susan: Actually, there is one book among all the influential books I have read: The Source by James Michener. This was published in 1965 just as I was heading into high school. I had never read such a huge book. I had study hall in the library; every day I would pull that monster of a book down from the shelves and be carried away by the quality language and events. History can grab me and amaze me.
It was the idea of “layers” of archeology as applied to the layers of writing in a piece of literature that was an epiphany. Characters are really complex people, multi-dimensional. Going back in time through the archeological dig was parallel to discovering the characters through their ancestors.
The importance of understanding history—our own family’s history, as well as world history—is vital to growth as a person. I am beginning to appreciate that more and more as I ‘mature’.
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| The Mark Twain Cave photo was taken in 1959; we were so eager to run to the cave entry, and instead forced to get the photo taken. |
Arlee: What personal characteristics affect your writing?
Susan: My sister has informed me that I am positively “dripping with empathy”. It is true. I am also compelled to write, not as an obsession, but as a way to make sense of being.
Arlee: Well, the time is almost up. Last question: What can writers do to improve their own writing?
Susan: My suggestions: Read quality writing; and, read literature outside one’s own genre. Too many writers limit themselves to their own area of interest, and that can make their prose stutter to a stand-still.
Arlee: Well, then. Let’s stop here. I gotta go check my dashboard.
Susan: And, I have to go to the bathroom. Great talking with you.
That was abrupt, but when ya gotta go ya gotta go. It was nice having Susan Kane join us here today. Be sure to visit her blogs and become a follower if you like what you see there.
Thank you, Susan Kane.
Next week I have a visit from memoir blogger and author Deanna Hershiser . Please come back to hear Deanna's take on the topic of writing memoir.
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