Dr. Eric S. Mondschein is an author and education
consultant. He has taught law and education, worked for the US government,
published and edited numerous articles and books, directed an award-winning
program for the New York State Bar Association, and served as advisor to an
international NGO in Haifa, Israel, on external affairs, government relations,
security, and analysis of human rights. His book, Life at 12
College Road is published by Something or Other Publishing and is
available on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com. He currently resides in the
Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York with his wife, Ginny. They have two grown children Adam and Emily,
a son in law, Kamal, daughter in law, Yaani, and grandchildren, Annie, Nate and
Eli.
Jan: Tell
me about your new book, Life at 12
College Road. Why will readers enjoy reading it?
Eric: Life at 12
College Road is a collection of
thirty-three “real life” short stories that, when taken as a whole, paint a
mosaic of a time and place both familiar and distant. Each story can be read
and enjoyed on its own, and each provides a different glimpse into the world of
growing up in 1950s and 60s America. We all have memories—those that make us
smile or laugh, others that bring anger or tears, and some that we’d just as
soon forget. But those memories help to make us who we are today—and in some
ways, who we will become tomorrow. While reflecting upon my past to write the
book, I found that it was not the major earth-shattering events that were truly
significant for me. Rather, it was the small things, many long forgotten until
recently, that deeply touched me. The book is not really so much about me as it
is about those feelings and emotions that we all at one time or another share;
feelings of joy, happiness, sadness, anger, fear — and yes, loss — that each of
us, in our own yet similar ways, do inevitably encounter. And if their
retelling can help the reader connect with similar moments from their lives,
then it was worth the time and effort in my writing
Life at 12
College Road and their reading
it
Jan: What inspired you to write this
particular book?
Eric: I am
glad you asked this question. I had not intended to write this book at all. I was on a mission to write an
adventure/action thriller and was attending a writer’s retreat in Maine several
years ago to do just that. But as fate would have it, I had decided to take a
break, as I was just not getting anywhere and take a short nap. I was either
dreaming, or it was during that period of time just before awakening that the
idea came to me.
I recalled sitting at the dining room
table where I had shared Sunday dinners with my family growing up. As I sat at
the table, I realized the other three chairs had been tilted forward so that
their ladder-backs rested against it. They were obviously no longer of use. And
it was then that I remembered what had been bothering me: I was alone. You see,
my mom, dad, and younger brother have all passed on without me. They are
exploring new worlds and I have been left behind. Heck, even my dog is gone. It
was that realization, those memories, which formed the impetus for me to
write Life at 12
College Road. So I put my novel on the shelf and
proceeded to write this book. I may in time get back to the novel, as every
once in while I think I hear the characters trying to talk to me.
Jan: Why do you
write?
Eric:
First, no one makes me write. In professional positions I’ve held over
the years, I have been required to file reports, write memoranda, even
treatises, but I was never required to publish law-related articles, write
poetry, or Life at 12
College Road. I wrote those because I
wanted to.
It certainly was not because I had
nothing better to do. The time spent away from family and the activities that
were sacrificed along the way attest to that. It was more often a feeling of
being compelled to write. Not for others, although most writers do want people
to read their work, but to feed a need or a desire coming from within.
Through this writing experience, I have
come to recognize, dare I speak a universal truth, that even in the solitude of
writing, we are not truly alone. Our memories of loved ones, friends, and those
we admire are always with us, some closer to the surface of awareness than
others, but they are there nonetheless. And if we are really willing to listen, they have much to
offer.
Jan: What do you
need in order to do your best work?
Eric: On one
level I need the peace, quiet and solitude of just being alone. On another, I
need to feel compelled not by others, but from within to write, whether it is a
poem, a random thought or the monograph I am currently co-authoring with a friend,
Ellery (Rick) Miller Jr. on sexual harassment and bullying, or the sequel to Life at 12
College Road.
Jan: As you aspire to improve as a writer where do
you begin?
Eric: I read a
lot. I read newspapers. I read professional journals, magazines, short stories
and novels in as many genres as I can. From fiction to non-fiction, historical,
adventures, thrillers, science fiction, children’s stories to yes, even
romance. Never thought I would say that, but I read Phyllis Edgerly Ring’s Snow Fence Road, and thoroughly enjoyed the story, the plot
and the characters. The more I read the more I learn about writing. What works
and what frankly does not. My parents were both prolific readers and would
often share what they were reading during dinner and encouraged my brother and
I to read. I also had a professor in College who told us “if you want to write
you have to read, read, read.”
Jan: What
writers do you read?
Eric: As I
indicated I read a lot and in many genres, but I must admit I have truly
enjoyed reading books by Dean Kootnz, John Sanford, Gary Pulsen, Dale Brown,
Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler, W.E. B. Griffen, and Wilbur Smith. And as a young
boy I loved Ian Flemming’s James Bond books and Herald L. Goodwin’s Rick Brandt
Science adventure stories.
Jan: What is the best advice you ever received
and what advice have you chosen to ignore?
Eric: As it
relates to writing, the best advice was to “read, read, read” and the advice I
chose to ignore was that I probably should not try to write.
Jan: When you
review your work over the past couple of years what do you notice?
Eric: The
first thing I notice is that I think that I have now found my voice. The second is that my writing is still
evolving and improving, and will most likely continue to do so. At least I hope
so. I also have learned so much working with other writers and attending
writing workshops and just writing more and learning to accept criticism. That
one I am still trying really hard to learn.
Jan: Finally - What question do you wish I had
asked?
Eric: When you are not writing what do you like to
do? And my answer is that I truly
enjoy being with the love of my life, my wife, Ginny. I also like being with my
son and daughter and their dear families.
Jan: How can readers buy a copy
of your book and contact you?
Life at 12 College Road
Additional Notes on this Author: Dr. Eric S.
Mondschein is an author and education consultant. He has a Doctorate in law and
education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has taught
law and education at the undergraduate and graduate levels of education. He has worked for the US government in
various capacities, published and edited numerous articles and books in various
areas of law and education and written and managed numerous grants from the
private and public sectors. He directed
an award-winning law-related education program for the New York State Bar Association
from 1980 through 1994.
From 1995 to 2006, he advised the
governing board of an international non-governmental organization in Haifa,
Israel, in the area of external affairs, including government relations,
security and provided analysis of human rights situations in selected countries
throughout the world in general, and in Iran and the Middle East in particular.
He also served as the citizen representative of The Post Star editorial board,
which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. His book, Life at 12
College Road is published by Something or Other Publishing and is
available on Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com.
He currently resides in the Adirondack Mountains of
upstate New York with his wife, Ginny.
They have two grown children Adam and Emily, a son in law, Kamal,
daughter in law, Yaani, and grandchildren, Annie, Nate, and Eli.
===========================================
About Jan Bowman
Winner of the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, Jan's stories have been nominated
for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short
Stories, and a Pen/O’Henry award. Glimmer Train named a recent
story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New
Writers.
A recent story was a
finalist for the 2013 Broad
River Review RASH Award for Fiction,
another story was a 2013 finalist in the Phoebe Fiction Contest; another was a 2012 finalist in
the “So
To Speak” Fiction Contest. Jan’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review,
Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97),
Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes and others. She is working on
two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed
story collection, Mermaids & Other
Stories. She has nonfiction publications in 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: www.janbowmanwriter.com (note: homepage under revision right now) so visit
blog: http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com
