Entry # 115 - WRITERS TALK - Mindie Burgoyne - Part 2

Mindie Burgoyne - Maryland author of Haunted Eastern Shore: Ghostly Tales from East of the Chesapeake.    
And coming soon,  Thin Places: Celtic Doorways to the Otherworld.

Biographical Notes:

I am a writer and a traveler, with a ton of energy and wonderful travel partner (Dan Burgoyne). Together we roll along American roads with r-pod in tow, scouting out the best fishing spots, flatwater kayaking trails, historic towns, haunted houses, and the friendly people along the way.
 

My full time job is with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, where I get to help businesses and local governments in Maryland's rural Eastern region. That job first exposed me to the treasures Maryland has in her small rural towns. My familiarity with both Easton and Snow Hill and the subsequent books I wrote on these towns, began with helping small towns all over the Eastern Shore through my job as an economic development field rep.

I have developed a keen interest in mystical places, or "thin places" where the veil between this world and the eternal world is thin. My book Haunted Eastern Shore; Ghostly Tales from East of the Chesapeake grew from this interest as did my writing on mystical sites in Ireland and the UK.

In my spare time, I write, I blog, ( www.travelhag.com ) and I talk incessantly about the places I visit. Travel is such an enriching experience. The only thing better than travel is enjoying our family and friends. We have six grown children and eight grandchildren, three large dogs and lots of chickens.

Jan:     In 1994 you started a publishing company, Trinity Music, Inc. that you later merged with The Pastoral Press, making you the only woman publisher of a sizable Catholic publishing house in the United States. Your company published liturgical music primarily for the Catholic Church. Before you sold it, you grew your company and acquired many out-of-print top sellers and put them back into circulation.  What are three of the most important things that you learned about publishing from your experiences?

Mindie: What a loaded question.  I learned so much – and most of what I learned are lessons writers never want to hear about. 

1. Book publishing is not a profitable business.  It wasn’t then and it isn’t now except for small niche companies and even then, the profits typically aren’t large.  This is why so many of the small and mid-size publishing houses have been bought up or gone out of businesses.  The profit margin is so small and manufacturing costs are high and the market volatile. What a combination.  It gave me a new respect for publishers.

2. Most writers work more on getting published than improving their craft.  My editor used to say that there are two kinds of writers: one who can write and one who has something worthwhile to say to our reading audience.  Seldom do the two qualities merge in one person.  The vast majority focus on subject and never polish the craft.  Writing is a craft, just as carpentry is a craft.  You wouldn’t ask an inspired carpenter apprentice to build a mahogany desk. Nor would you ask a typical third year violin student to join a symphony. Good writing takes years of practice and observation. We rejected so many submissions and manuscripts simply because the writer’s lack of skill was so apparent.

Jan:     As a trained musician who spent twenty years serving as a Music Director in several Maryland churches prior to your moving to the Eastern Shore, how has your musical background contributed to your writing process.

Mindie:  Well, music is art and I became a composer before I became a writer.  My job was to select the music that would assist a congregation in sung prayer.  That was a huge responsibility.  Trying to connect with an assembly week after week and providing them with the tools they needed to lift their spirits, was daunting.  I see many directors who don’t care – or don’t believe in themselves enough to believe they can impact a congregation’s spirit.  They just muddle along making little difference. But when you, as a director make that connection - when you toss something to gathered community and that they shape into prayer – it’s intoxicating.  The whole thing becomes larger than the sum of its parts.  Refining that practice has served me well in writing.  I’m always thinking of my reader and how he or she might react to what I’m writing.  I try so hard to be real, to be open, to encourage the reader to do the same.  Though we are not physically present to each other, I secretly hope they are yearning to go to the places I’m writing about, and that they get caught up in the same wonder of that eternal world. 

Jan:     You teach workshops that show people how to harness the power of the social media? What essential elements do writers need in order to build a solid social media platform?

Mindie:  I think it’s important to shake off the idea that using social media is marketing.  Successful use of social media is more networking – where you make connections that are beneficial later.  I see many writers that just shove their stuff out to the social media connections.  That’s boring and annoying.  Social media is social.  It means that you care about what your friends, connections, followers, etc. WANT to read, and you respond to them, in turn.  Then connections are real – just like friendships. I have many dear friends that I’ve never met.  Yet we are close.  They’d help me and I’d help them.  It’s a virtual network.  The power is in creating and building a network and finding a way to help people in your network.  Then when you need help, they’ll be there.  Who couldn’t use a few thousand friends.

Jan:      I recently spent some time reading your ‘Travel Hag’ blogs. How much time do you spend maintaining your web presence?

Mindie: Well, I work a full time job for the State of Maryland, so my time is limited.  Blogging takes the most time, but it is the most beneficial to me – a writer.  It’s the true test of … “is anybody out there reading my stuff?”  Before I get out of bed in the morning, I lay there a few minutes and put the bullet points of a blog post together in my head.  Then I run to the desk and get them down before I do anything else – ANYTHING.  No email, no facebook, nothing until those points are down.  That’s usually about 30 minutes of work.  I may work on a post for a few days.  Then up it goes.  On average it’s probably about an hour a day on social media, but rarely at one sitting.  I’m on the road constantly so I use my iPhone for most of my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn posts. 

Jan:     What advice do you offer to writers about maintaining a balance in the face of so many media distractions upon a writer’s time?

Mindie:   The best advice I could give is figure out these social media platforms.  They are crucial to a writer.  The days of one-on-one communication are fading.  Get publishers, agents and media people into your social media networks so that you’re always in front of them.  If they don’t want you, they may refer you.  Working with a circle of connections all at once is the new communication.  I don’t look at social media as a distraction. It’s a time investment.  My social media networks are an asset to my business, and an asset no one else can use like I can.  I’m not on these networks to be entertained, though it is entertaining.  It’s just a part of how we communicate now.  The young writers already know this because they’ve learned the platforms.  So it’s easily integrated into their practices.

Jan:      So if a writer only had time to build one or two social media sites which ones would be essential?

Mindie:  Start with Facebook.  Set a goal to make ten new friends that you’ve never met.  Develop the relationship by commenting and reaching out to them and watching for their response.  Once you build a relationship with someone you’ve never met you’ll catch on to how it works.  When you’ve done that ten times,  you will have figured out the platform.  Then you can maximize its benefits. 

Blogging is also crucial to a writer.  Publishers look at blogs and how many followers and engagements there are.  The key to success in publishing these days is having the author equally promote the work.  It’s a partnership.  Having a successful blog where others engage shows the publisher you can attract a following. 

Jan:     So what are you working on now and what is your next writing project?

Mindie:  I’m still working on Thin Places in Ireland.  I’d like to expand that to thin places in the UK and Brittany (France).  I’d also like to do some on thin places in the US.  I’m a travel writer and my interests lie heavily in Maryland, the western US and the southern US, particularly Charleston SC.

Jan:      Charleston, SC is an interesting place.  In fact, that's where I was born. And I'd love to read about "thin places" there.  I wondered what advice has helped you most in your writing life? And what advice can you offer that will encourage writer?

Mindie: The best advice I was ever given was “polish your craft.” Writers need to assume responsibility for their own development. Becoming a better writer means reading the best writers in your genre and practicing, practicing, practicing –  while soliciting feedback.  Join a writers group.  You can do a writers group completely on line through email and social media. 

I used to think writers were born with talent for writing.  I later learned that writers may have a little talent, but the practice makes them better writers, and practice with strong feedback increases competency. 

Jan:     Thank you for sharing and taking the time for the interview.  Here are some links if readers wish to read more or perhaps schedule a tour to Ireland to explore "thin places" Mindie described in part one of this interview.

(Entry # 114) posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2012. 

Mindie Burgoyne

www.TravelHag.com  

5775 Charles Cannon Road

Marion Station, MD 21838

301.648.2010

Mindieb@gmail.com

SIGN UP FOR THE TRAVEL HAG NEWSLETTER (free)

Thin Places Blog

Who Cares What Think? Blog

Writing the Vision

-->

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

 

Entry # 114 - WRITERS TALK - Mindie Burgoyne - Part 1

Mindie Burgoyne - Maryland author of Haunted Eastern Shore: Ghostly Tales from East of the Chesapeake and coming soon,  Thin Places: Celtic Doorways to the Otherworld.

Biographical Notes:

I am a writer and a traveler, with a ton of energy and wonderful travel partner (Dan Burgoyne). Together we roll along American roads with r-pod in tow, scouting out the best fishing spots, flatwater kayaking trails, historic towns, haunted houses, and the friendly people along the way.

My full time job is with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, where I get to help businesses and local governments in Maryland's rural Eastern region. That job first exposed me to the treasures Maryland has in her small rural towns. My familiarity with both Easton and Snow Hill and the subsequent books I wrote on these towns, began with helping small towns all over the Eastern Shore through my job as an economic development field rep.

I have developed a keen interest in mystical places, or "thin places" where the veil between this world and the eternal world is thin. My book Haunted Eastern Shore; Ghostly Tales from East of the Chesapeake grew from this interest as did my writing on mystical sites in Ireland and the UK.

In my spare time, I write, I blog, ( www.travelhag.com ) and I talk incessantly about the places I visit. Travel is such an enriching experience. The only thing better than travel is enjoying our family and friends. We have six grown children and eight grandchildren, three large dogs and lots of chickens.

Jan:    Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise with others. Your book, Haunted Eastern Shore: Ghostly Tales from East of the Chesapeake, sold out its first printing in six weeks and has been ranked as high as # 16 on Amazon for regional books. Now on its fifth printing, it continues to be a best seller for History Press.  What do you think has contributed to the continued interest in this book and its topic?

Mindie:   I think the book was a huge success for three reasons –

1. Ghosts and hauntings are one of the hottest niches in America.  At any time of the day one can surf the cable tv channels and find at least one program on ghosts.  The popularity of the subject is astounding so it’s easy to be successful.

2. A month prior to the book’s release, I started a Facebook page on the Haunted Eastern Shore.  The focus was not on my book, it was on the hauntings themselves.  Each week I’d post a little story with a picture and the response was overwhelming.  I had 1000 fans within a few weeks.  Fans were able to comment on my stories and images.  They could ask questions.  They could share their own stories.  Ghost hunting groups grew out of this fan page.  People flooded my book signings.  I started doing haunted tours.  It was a viral PR spread and continues to be.  The page now has over 8000 fans. https://www.facebook.com/HauntedEasternShore

3. The format of each story was very readable and targeted both young adults and adults.  I often had middle schoolers at my signings.  The format I used told the history of the place, the legend or tale associated with it and what people say now.  Those three elements I believe to be the trifecta in positioning a good ghost story.  Each of elements can stand alone, but when you bring them together it gives the reader an engaging experience and leaves them wondering. 

Jan:     Tell me more about your new book, Thin Places: Celtic Doorways to the Otherworld, which focuses upon mystical sites in Ireland. What are Thin Places and are they found in sites other than Ireland? 

Mindie:  Thin Places are places where the veil between this world and the eternal world is thin.  They are spiritual places where we humans listen better to the voice of the Creator.  While God is present everywhere – and is the same yesterday, today and forever – thin places have an energy about them that helps us exercise our own spirits.  We feel differently in these places. We are more sensitive. 
The place itself is thin.  We don’t make it so.

My book is about such places in Ireland.  I believe these special sites have a certain energy about them which is why people from ancient times to now have marked them as special with stone monuments, mounds, tombs, circles.  Ireland is full of these sites and over the years the Irish people have remained sensitive to them.  The old belief in the Celtic tradition was that these places were points where beings from the other world, or eternal world, could pass in and out. They were doorways of entry. 

Even today there is a strong reverence in Ireland for these thin places.  In fact, there is a recent story where the motorway going to Shannon Airport was to be expanded, but a fairy tree (Hawthorn, small tree believed to be linked to the elementals) would have be cut down to make the expansion.  None of the contracted construction workers would touch it.  They kicked the task back up to the Irish government and none of their workers would touch the tree.  So they built the six lane motor way around the small fairy tree. 

Call it superstition, call it a sixth sense.  The sensitivity to spiritual places is very real in Ireland which is why I chose that location for this book.  There are thin places everywhere including the United States.  The indigenous people here had a great sensitivity to spiritual places and the legends to go with them.  Sadly, in most of the developed eastern United States we’ve obliterated anything memorable and raped the landscape, so the thin places have disappeared.  But they are very much alive in the west.  I hope someday to write about them. 

Jan:     How do you know when you’ve found a Thin Place?

Mindie:  It’s not an electric moment usually.  In Ireland, it’s pretty easy because they’re marked.  You’ll see a standing stone, a dolmen, a tomb, a ring fort, rags on a fairy tree, devotional tokens.  The people there know the thin places.  For me, there’s an energy about the place.  In the beginning, that’s all I felt.  I’d feel at home, at ease, at peace.  Then I’d have an overwhelming connection with people who were there before.  I’d walk around the ruins of a cloister walk and find myself wondering about the monks who walked and prayed in the same spot so many years ago.  I’d touch a stone and wonder about the memories of that place where it stands.  I’d see a stone circle and imagine the community that built it.  But the biggest indication for me is happens after I leave.  I’ll feel a magnetic pull drawing back to the place.  I may not have even been that impressed when I stood in the thin place, but after I go I can remember every detail.  I find myself doing more research, trying to discover the story.  I’m pulled back. 

Now, it’s comfortable and I’m used to finding thin places.  So if I stumble into one or go to one that seeking out, I silence myself and let the energy – or some might say spirituality – wash over me.  Then I’ll begin hearing in my mind answers to things I’ve had on my mind.  I’ll get clarity without even trying.  Going to thin places is like taking a trip to a spiritual spa.  You relax and exercise your spirit in an uncluttered environment. 

The best thing I’ve found is that once you’ve been to a thin place, you can go there whenever you want – in your mind.  In my meditations I always place myself at St. Patrick’s Chair in Tyrone or White Park Bay in Antrim or the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary or Doolough in Connemara. 

Jan:     You’ve written about mystical sites and paranormal events extensively. How did you develop an interest in exploring this topic?

Mindie:  The interest found me.  I was dragged into it.  I never liked the Irish or anything about Ireland when I was growing up.  It was too ordinary. Growing up in a small town in a big Catholic family, going to a Catholic school in a parish where my family was deeply engaged, everyone was Irish.  I had friends who asked me to go to Ireland back in 1992 and I went on a whim, thinking it might be fun.  I’d never been to Europe.  I was hooked when we visited the Rock of Cashel.  The magnetic pull began and I’ve been returning to Ireland ever since – seeking out more and more thin places.  Now I run an annual tour.  http://thinplacestour.com

Moving into a haunted house will wake up one’s interest.  The house I live in now is 130 years old.  Shortly after we moved in, strange things started to occur and then got out of control.  (the full story is in my book).  I began looking for more properties like mine and people who had experienced hauntings.  Then History Press called and asked me to write a book and I pitched the subject because I already had some research done.  

See Part Two of Mindie Burgoyne's Interview on Friday, November 30, 2012

Mindie Burgoyne

www.TravelHag.com  

5775 Charles Cannon Road

Marion Station, MD 21838

301.648.2010

Mindieb@gmail.com

SIGN UP FOR THE TRAVEL HAG NEWSLETTER (free)

Thin Places Blog

Who Cares What Think? Blog

Writing the Vision

-->

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 113 - "Writing Time As A Gift"

Yesterday on Thanksgiving Day – 2012 – as I thought about what brings joy to my life - I feel fortunate that I have received the gift of writing time at this point in my life.  And as I think about what I treasure, so much delights me. My heart fills with gratitude for my dear family and wonderful friends. My home and garden give me joy.  And among the intangible treasures that I especially value are those moments of awareness  - of the gift of time for reflection - and time for writing.  

I appreciate the time I have been given to nurture my writing talents and to grow in understanding the complexities of the writing process. I am filled with wonder at the opportunity to examine challenges and reflect upon my soul’s progress. And I am so happy to share what I can with others.  

I’m reminded of Sophy Burnham’s wise reflections on gratitude in the writer’s life - in her book, For Writers Only.  She writes, “In the privacy of their most secret hearts, most writers, artists, actors, and musicians believe that their talent is a gift that comes from beyond the self, crashing over them unexpectedly--with joy.  It is received, therefore, with awe and humility.”

Burnham goes on to say,  “Occasionally one will speak out unembarrassed by the thought of grace, except she knows that the blessing, this talent, must be treasured and nurtured, worked at, sought out...if only she knows how.  And therefore it is not to be taken lightly, not cast before pig’s feet or held aloft to the derision of people who don’t understand.  That is why many artists speak of it only amongst themselves, secretly, one on one, in quiet voices, fearful of losing it, grateful and awed.”

Czeslaw Milosz said, “I felt very strongly that nothing depended on my will, that everything I might accomplish in life would not be won by my own efforts, but given as a gift.”          

And today - once again - I give thanks! And I wish all good things will come to pass.

-->

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 112 - WRITERS TALK - V. V. (Sugi) Ganeshananthan

Background Notes

V.V. (Sugi) Ganeshananthan is a fiction writer and journalist. Her debut novel, Love Marriage (Random House, 2008), was long-listed for the Orange Prize and named one of Washington Post Book World’s Best of 2008. Her work has appeared in Granta, The Atlantic Monthly, the Columbia Journalism Review, and The Washington Post, among others. She is the Zell Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Michigan, and a proud alum of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, where she studied creative writing and journalism with Dr. Jan Bowman (Go, Vikings!).

http://vasugi.com/news/ 

Photo Credits:  Preston Merchant

Jan:     Thank you for taking time for this interview, Sugi. I have long admired your work. Your first novel, Love Marriage, was named by the Washington Post Book World as one of the Best Books of 2008.  It’s a powerful novel that explores the interaction of a family and culture, shaped by love, and the war in Sri Lanka between the Tamils and the Sinhalese.  Can you talk a bit about your own family and experiences that led you to explore this topic?

Sugi:     I’ve long admired your work—I was lucky to have such great teachers in MCPS and elsewhere. Thanks for the kind words! My parents were born in Sri Lanka, so I had always been interested in the conflict, and in complicating my own understanding of it. The war, strictly speaking, was between the Tamil Tigers and Sinhalese-dominated government forces—but there were other actors and others affected, too, of course. Western coverage of it has been pretty reductive, and it’s an unusually complex history. There’s longstanding debate in Sri Lanka about how minority communities are treated. Of course, minorities face a hard time around the world, even in democracies—even under the best circumstances. I’m very interested in that, and I’m interested in exploring the effect of politics on everyday lives. I tend to write about blurry morality. Sri Lanka obviously provides a wealth of material in that regard. And because of my family and also my various alma maters, I’ve had excellent access to research what I don’t know, and to check what I do.

Jan:     The structure of this novel is unusual in that you written it in fragmented vignettes. You have said “the currency of family stories is the anecdote…” Could you say more about how this choice came to you as an effective structural device for this novel?

Sugi:     Oh, I wish I understood that! But I think it was mostly subconscious. Jamaica Kincaid, who supervised me in an early draft of the novel, strongly encouraged it, too. (Actually, she may have even suggested it. It was over a decade ago, and I don’t remember!) And then once I’d started doing it, it just seemed natural and the right way to tell the story.

Jan:     I understand that you travelled to Canada and Sri Lanka to research your book. Can you tell us about the insights you gained from doing this?

Sugi:     I was fairly relaxed in doing this; for example, I didn’t know my Canadian research was research when I was doing it. I went to Toronto with my family nearly every year as a kid, so I had a sense of what it was like to be an insider/outsider there, and to be stunned, as the protagonist Yalini is, at being in a place where there are so many people like you. The insiderdom you have dreamed of your whole life! So many Sri Lankans in Toronto! And yet they’re outsiders of a sort still: minorities, despite the numbers. And you—me?— as an American, are an outsider even among them. That remains a powerful experience for me, every time I go to Toronto, because I didn’t grow up with that sizable community around me, and never lived there, but inevitably feel a sense of crazy strength and closeness and love and debate there, and then there I am, just beyond its borders. Wishing I could have it, and also quite glad to be myself, to have been born in America. And so Yalini having been born in America really shapes her different sense of what it means to be a Sri Lankan Tamil hyphen-something. She travels to Toronto; she is in Toronto, but she is not of Toronto.

Jan:     And could you say a bit more about the power of place in fiction, based upon your own writing and travel experiences?

Sugi:     I’ve been lucky to meet Sri Lankan emigrants and their children in so many different countries. It’s not lost on me that this is the result of what were often very sad political and historical circumstances. So this is not only a different kind of traveling, but also a way of always and never being home. I find hotels really strange, and this is because so many friends and relatives have been generous about my staying with them. They’ve helped me to figure out how to belong to many different places, but we also frequently find ourselves discussing a place we are not in.

Perhaps for this reason—and I’m speculating—place is actually somewhat diffuse in Love Marriage. Yalini has a terrible sense of direction; she is guided by other people.

Jan:     What do you love about being a professor and what are some of the downsides to it?

Sugi:     The students are fantastic, as are my colleagues on the MFA faculty. I could go on about them forever. It was challenging at first to balance teaching and writing, but I’m getting better at it as time goes on—and it’s hard to balance teaching and life, and writing and health insurance, so this is a very good life and way to do things. I feel lucky to be here. I really like teaching, and the structure it provides. Best of all, I’m guaranteed to have tons of thought-provoking and useful conversation about writing every week. That goes back to my desk, too, of course; it’s a rich exchange. I also appreciate the subtle sense of support and pressure you get from being part of a writing community. Everyone else is writing—they understand if you are, too, and in fact, expect you to do so.

Jan:     So - what are you working on now? What is the focus and status of your current writing projects?

Sugi:     I’m working on a second novel, a portion of which appeared in Granta a couple of years ago. I’m working on essays and short stories on the side.

Jan:     What writer – living or dead – would you like to meet and what question(s) would you want to ask?

Sugi:     I’d like to ask Junot Diaz how he’d write about Trujillo, if Trujillo were alive and in power. I bet he has an awesome answer.  Señor, if you see this…

Jan:     What’s the best movie made from a book that you’ve seen lately?

Sugi:       I'm going to invent my own version of this question so I can talk about Cloud Atlas, which I haven’t seen, but which is coming out any second now and looks terrific. Ditto Life of Pi. I haven’t read that book yet, but the trailer is lovely.

Jan:     Do you have any favorite online blogs on writing that you regularly read?

Sugi:     My friend Danielle Evans has a really good one! I also like my pal Alex Chee’s, and the one run by my former teacher, James Hynes. Former classmates of mine run The Millions and also Barrelhouse; and of course, who doesn’t love Paris Review Conversations?

Jan:     What book “stopped time” for you, which is to say you couldn’t put it down?

Sugi:     The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao!

Jan:     What are you reading now?

Sugi:     This is How You Lose Her, by Junot Diaz; Breaking and Entering, by my colleague Eileen Pollack; The Green Shore, by my friend Natalie Bakopolous; and an enormous amount of nonfiction.

Jan:     What writing advice do you most often give to MFA students in your program?

Sugi:     Writing is not a democracy. It is a benevolent dictatorship. It’s probably the only scenario in which I would endorse dictatorship of any kind!

Jan:     What is the most useful writing advice you remember having received and what advice have you wisely chosen to ignore.

Sugi:     You introduced me to the work of Elizabeth McCracken when I was a high school student, and she was later my teacher at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. The most useful writing advice I remember having received is… everything she said. For example, she used to say that each book taught you how to read it. I just love that and find it so useful. 

And what have I ignored? Funny story: a pal of mine from journalism read a draft of Love Marriage and advocated ending it with an act of sexual violence. For a brief period of time, he proselytized for this quite seriously. And (spoiler alert!): I didn’t do that.

Jan:     Has gender discrimination been a part of your own experience in education and has that adversely affected your career opportunities?  And if so how?

Sugi:     It’s not just gender; it’s also race. It’s my particular Venn Diagram of those two. I know my queer and disabled friends face obstacles too, so I appreciate having solidarity with them, and with others who have some sort of difference. Certainly, there are huge issues associated with being a writer who is also a woman of color; for example, people are much less inclined to read your work on its own terms, and much more inclined to expect it to be neatly representative, as though artists are the average of the groups from which they come! I find this frustrating. But hopefully people are becoming better readers and more progressive consumers of art. But until everyone is, it’s going to be a little… special. I’m not heavily into complaining, but I’m also not heavily into lying, so there you are. For some horrifying statistics and intelligent discussion about this, you can take a look at the work done by the fine people at VIDA, a women’s literary organization, or the Asian-American Writers’ Workshop (disclosure: I’m a former board member of the latter).

Jan:     I appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to do this interview and I hope you'll send me an email when your next book is published.  

Photo Credits:  Preston Merchant 

V.V. Ganeshananthan is a Sri Lankan American fiction writer, essayist, and journalist. Ganeshananthan is the author of Love Marriage, a novel set in Sri Lanka and North America, which was published by Random House in April 2008. Wikipedia

Education: Harvard University, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
http://vasugi.com/news/

-->

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 111 - "Sources for Memoir Writing"

Our Tuesday Memoir Writing Class - that I teach at Oakland Manor - has just wrapped up our eight-week fall session. We have explored - at length - the remarkable richness of personal and public sources that offer promise to anyone writing a memoir of any type. 

So I thought I would share a summary of our discussions. Memoir journal writings can come from a range of materials.  Here are some common sources of  personal and public information that can enrich your journal writings. Any combination of these could provide enough richness to support your particular work, if you are trying to write a memoir.  And we are lucky in that we have ready access to information than previous generations did not. 

Personal Sources

Talk with people who have a perspective to share and explore:

1. Memory – yours & others who shared events with you. Listen
    & take notes.

2. Family Possessions – items passed down. Find the story behind
     these.

3. Journals – diaries & family writings, photographs, deeds, land
    records.

4. Family Bibles – hold birth & death notes and handwriting 
    records from the past.

5. Baby Books & Photo Albums -- boxes of old photographs, 
    movies, videos.

6. Boxes of old Letters and Papers – Estate Items - from your 
    family or others.

Public Sources

Public information specific to a particular time or event are easily obtained and are researchable from numerous public documents, Internet searches, libraries.

1.  Documents -- deeds, land records, marriage records,
     birth & death certificates,

     diplomas, dated items of any kind, such as: bills of 
     sale – for cars or other items.

2.  Newspapers and Magazines of a particular time and place.

3.  Old Movie clips - if only to "see" daily elements of a particular
     time.

4.  Libraries & talk with experienced librarians – (They know
     amazing things!)

5.  Interview family, old friends, neighbors, baby-sitters, church
     officials, etc.

6.  Music - lots of things can be gleaned from listening to a period
     piece of music.

At some point you will decide what to keep and what is excess to be jettisoned or used in another writing.

"As your vision for your writing project sharpens, as you write, rewrite and shape your material, you will find sources for specifics that will help your work resonate the literal and spiritual truth at its core."   from Tristine Rainer's work.

Here are some useful sources to guide your writing:

Your Life as Story: Discovering the “New Autobiography” and Writing Memoir as Literature  - by Tristine Rainer.

Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir – by Lisa Dale Norton.

Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice – by Jill Dearman.

In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction - edited by Lee Gutkind.

The Best Creative Nonfiction – (vol. 1-3) – edited by Lee Gutkind.

In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction – edited by Judith Kitchen & Mary Paumier Jones.

Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction – edited by Judith Kitchen.

In Brief: Short Takes on the Personal – edited by Judith Kitchen & Mary Paumier Jones.

Writing Creative Nonfiction: Instruction and Insights from the Teachers of the Associated Writing Programs – edited by Carolyn Forche and Philip Gerard.

Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction – by Brenda Miller & Suzanne Paola.

Inventing the Truth: The Art & Craft of Memoir – edited by William Zinsser.

Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past – by William Zinsser.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing & Life – by Anne Lamott.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft – by Stephen King.

Writing Down the Bones – by Natalie Goldberg.

Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life - by Natalie Goldberg.

Portrait of My Body – by Phillip Lopate.  - (read “Confessions of a Shusher”  and “The Story of My Father”)

The Writing Life - National Book Award Authors: Essays & Interviews (read Ron Chernow’s “Stubborn Facts & Fickle Realities: Research for Nonfiction).

Any Year of the Best American Essays – published yearly -- with changing editors.

Readers can add notes to this blog to suggest additional titles. 

-->

Jan Bowman’s work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes, and others. She won the 2011 Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring 2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at:

Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com

Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com