Today I am speaking with novelist, poet and playwright Susan Wingate, author of Bobby’s Diner. Hello Susan and thank you for taking time to talk to Fallen Angel Reviews.
I noticed that Bobby’s Diner is set for paperback for February of this year. It has garnished some great reviews. Was the story based on a personal life of someone? The woman in the story reminds me of someone that could be like a next door neighbor trying to fit into a small town. We would love to hear about this story, would you enlighten us?
“Bobby’s Diner” is completely fictional. Although I did fashion Georgette’s physical appearance after someone I know but other than that they are nothing at all like each other. Georgette is the sweetest gal you could know. She has faults like everyone else but she’s basically a kind-hearted soul who lands in a bunch of trouble, personally and professionally. Georgette falls in love with a married man fifteen years before the story begins. At the start of the story, Bobby has just died and the ex-wife (Vanessa) and Georgette, Bobby’s widow, are in a lawyer’s office for the reading of Bobby’s will. It turns out he leaves his diner to both women! To me, this is the epitome of conflict. They either have to sell the diner or make it work.
Do you have any other upcoming projects for this year that you would like to share?
Well, I always have a bunch of irons in the fire. The novel I’m giving most of my time lately is called “Glass Cats.” It will fall into the category of mainstream fiction. This story is a tale about a woman who is going through an emotional crisis. She ends up concocting a way to kill her mother and her sister. She’s desperately disturbed. It’s in its embryonic stages but I keep chunking away at it.
I completed my third novel entitled, “Drowning,” last summer. It’s in front of a publisher as we speak. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
How would you describe your work station where you create stories?
Chaos. Last year it got so bad I had to move to my table just to get a little bit of space. Right before the holidays, I organized it and that’s where I am right now but I like the table better. It’s in a beautiful bay window that looks out onto a sweeping green field that tumbles off into a peaceful wildlife pond. It’s gorgeous here. We live in the country. To answer your question, every now and again, I go back to the table to work but my workstation has no window and is just a very basic office. We have plans, hopefully within the next nine months to gut a storage barn and make it into my studio. Once in there, I’ll have a space outside of the house to spread out a bit. That will be a lovely move when it happens.
Has there been a particular character that you hated to say good-bye to, once a book was completed?
Harvey Flemings from my first novel, “Of the Law.” He is this tough-guy character who I fell in love with.
Do you ever suffer writer’s block?
I think I suffer from writer’s stupidity more than any block. I don’t really get writer’s block. I can always write but sometimes I stall out during the writing of a novel. It never lasts too long because I’m aware of the signs by now. I know when I begin to flounder that I’m at a certain point in the book, about seventy to one hundred pages into it, where I begin to feel disorganized. At that point, I start to back off from my writing but, it’s my job so I sit my butt back down and push through it. This usually happens twice during a story – at 70 to 100 pages and again just after the climax of the story. At these two junctures, I go through an organizational process. I create a chapter listing and I make sure I’m on track with my synopsis. I always develop my synopsis after I develop my outline. It works for me to constantly visit these three key pieces of organization. When I look at them together, my writing should be in line with each. If it’s not, I write missing scenes. It’s easy to write when you can see what’s missing.
What would you tell a beginning author seeking a publisher?
Make sure you understand the genre in which you’re writing and make sure the publisher publishes your genre. If you don’t, you’ll just be wasting the publisher’s and your time. Plus, publishers remember when you’ve done something stupid. If they remember you as that writer who didn’t understand some integral part of the industry, they won’t want to work with you.
While writing, how does the story develop for you? Do you go from start to finish or create scenes as they come to you?
I usually start with the opening scene, figure out how the story should end, develop a working outline, develop a synopsis and then when this is done I pick and choose which scenes I want to write first. It’s freeing, really. I’m definitely not one of these writers who can start a story and write until it’s done – straight through, that is – without having the skeletal structure sitting next to me while I write for my review.
Susan, I understand you also like to read and paint. What books would we find on your bookshelf?
I just finished reading “Empire Falls” by Richard Russo. I love anything by W. Somerset Maugham, Joan Didion, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Michael Collins.
Can you depict a lovely scene or other item that you would enjoy painting for your readers?
In the spring and summer we get a flurry of amazing insects through our gardens. One in particular is a small brilliant indigo blue dragon fly about the length of a teaspoon’s bowl. I’ve been wanting to paint one of these little gems for a while, now.
I read that you organize reading events for your local library; can you describe to us what a day at your library would hold for us with one of your events?
Yes, Adrienne Bourne, the adult programs director for the San Juan Island Library helps me organize what we call the Literary Evenings. I invite a mix of writers from all around, mostly from the San Juan Islands but we’ve gotten a few from Seattle and Bellingham. We usually have a guest author who reads either something that is published or new work. They get the spotlight for about 30 minutes. Then, we have three to four additional authors read as well. It’s a lovely evening. Our audiences seem to like the events.
Susan, what would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
I sing Karaoke. I love it. I’m a karaoke junkie.
If you could be a character in any Disney Movie, which movie would you choose?
Lady, from “Lady and the Tramp.”
Congratulations! You just won a year off from work to travel anywhere in the world and write the story of your dreams. Where do you go, what type of book do you write, and what’s the title?
I would travel to Paris first and let the countryside inspire me for six months. Then, I’d travel to Lebanon and write about some heart-breaking story of suffering and renewal, again for six months.
Which room in your home would you say is your favorite?
The living room.
Susan, we would love for you to share your website with us and any other links to your books.
Today I am speaking with novelist, poet and playwright Susan Wingate, author of Bobby’s Diner. Hello Susan and thank you for taking time to talk to Fallen Angel Reviews.
I noticed that Bobby’s Diner is set for paperback for February of this year. It has garnished some great reviews. Was the story based on a personal life of someone? The woman in the story reminds me of someone that could be like a next door neighbor trying to fit into a small town. We would love to hear about this story, would you enlighten us?
“Bobby’s Diner” is completely fictional. Although I did fashion Georgette’s physical appearance after someone I know but other than that they are nothing at all like each other. Georgette is the sweetest gal you could know. She has faults like everyone else but she’s basically a kind-hearted soul who lands in a bunch of trouble, personally and professionally. Georgette falls in love with a married man fifteen years before the story begins. At the start of the story, Bobby has just died and the ex-wife (Vanessa) and Georgette, Bobby’s widow, are in a lawyer’s office for the reading of Bobby’s will. It turns out he leaves his diner to both women! To me, this is the epitome of conflict. They either have to sell the diner or make it work.
Do you have any other upcoming projects for this year that you would like to share?
Well, I always have a bunch of irons in the fire. The novel I’m giving most of my time lately is called “Glass Cats.” It will fall into the category of mainstream fiction. This story is a tale about a woman who is going through an emotional crisis. She ends up concocting a way to kill her mother and her sister. She’s desperately disturbed. It’s in its embryonic stages but I keep chunking away at it.
I completed my third novel entitled, “Drowning,” last summer. It’s in front of a publisher as we speak. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
How would you describe your work station where you create stories?
Chaos. Last year it got so bad I had to move to my table just to get a little bit of space. Right before the holidays, I organized it and that’s where I am right now but I like the table better. It’s in a beautiful bay window that looks out onto a sweeping green field that tumbles off into a peaceful wildlife pond. It’s gorgeous here. We live in the country. To answer your question, every now and again, I go back to the table to work but my workstation has no window and is just a very basic office. We have plans, hopefully within the next nine months to gut a storage barn and make it into my studio. Once in there, I’ll have a space outside of the house to spread out a bit. That will be a lovely move when it happens.
Has there been a particular character that you hated to say good-bye to, once a book was completed?
Harvey Flemings from my first novel, “Of the Law.” He is this tough-guy character who I fell in love with.
Do you ever suffer writer’s block?
I think I suffer from writer’s stupidity more than any block. I don’t really get writer’s block. I can always write but sometimes I stall out during the writing of a novel. It never lasts too long because I’m aware of the signs by now. I know when I begin to flounder that I’m at a certain point in the book, about seventy to one hundred pages into it, where I begin to feel disorganized. At that point, I start to back off from my writing but, it’s my job so I sit my butt back down and push through it. This usually happens twice during a story – at 70 to 100 pages and again just after the climax of the story. At these two junctures, I go through an organizational process. I create a chapter listing and I make sure I’m on track with my synopsis. I always develop my synopsis after I develop my outline. It works for me to constantly visit these three key pieces of organization. When I look at them together, my writing should be in line with each. If it’s not, I write missing scenes. It’s easy to write when you can see what’s missing.
What would you tell a beginning author seeking a publisher?
Make sure you understand the genre in which you’re writing and make sure the publisher publishes your genre. If you don’t, you’ll just be wasting the publisher’s and your time. Plus, publishers remember when you’ve done something stupid. If they remember you as that writer who didn’t understand some integral part of the industry, they won’t want to work with you.
While writing, how does the story develop for you? Do you go from start to finish or create scenes as they come to you?
I usually start with the opening scene, figure out how the story should end, develop a working outline, develop a synopsis and then when this is done I pick and choose which scenes I want to write first. It’s freeing, really. I’m definitely not one of these writers who can start a story and write until it’s done – straight through, that is – without having the skeletal structure sitting next to me while I write for my review.
Susan, I understand you also like to read and paint. What books would we find on your bookshelf?
I just finished reading “Empire Falls” by Richard Russo. I love anything by W. Somerset Maugham, Joan Didion, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Michael Collins.
Can you depict a lovely scene or other item that you would enjoy painting for your readers?
In the spring and summer we get a flurry of amazing insects through our gardens. One in particular is a small brilliant indigo blue dragon fly about the length of a teaspoon’s bowl. I’ve been wanting to paint one of these little gems for a while, now.
I read that you organize reading events for your local library; can you describe to us what a day at your library would hold for us with one of your events?
Yes, Adrienne Bourne, the adult programs director for the San Juan Island Library helps me organize what we call the Literary Evenings. I invite a mix of writers from all around, mostly from the San Juan Islands but we’ve gotten a few from Seattle and Bellingham. We usually have a guest author who reads either something that is published or new work. They get the spotlight for about 30 minutes. Then, we have three to four additional authors read as well. It’s a lovely evening. Our audiences seem to like the events.
Susan, what would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
I sing Karaoke. I love it. I’m a karaoke junkie.
If you could be a character in any Disney Movie, which movie would you choose?
Lady, from “Lady and the Tramp.”
Congratulations! You just won a year off from work to travel anywhere in the world and write the story of your dreams. Where do you go, what type of book do you write, and what’s the title?
I would travel to Paris first and let the countryside inspire me for six months. Then, I’d travel to Lebanon and write about some heart-breaking story of suffering and renewal, again for six months.
Which room in your home would you say is your favorite?
The living room.
Susan, we would love for you to share your website with us and any other links to your books.
My website is susanwingate.com, my blog is susanwingate.blogspot.com, and Bobby’s Diner website is bobbysdiner.com. You can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter also plus about one hundred other social networking sites!
Thank you so much for spending time with us, Susan. It has been a delight, and I wish you the best with your writing.
Thank YOU, Linda! These are great questions and thank you for taking time to develop them. You obviously put a lot of time into your research.
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