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| Beth Fowler |
Where are you from and what do you do when you’re not writing?
I live in York. The
Pennsylvania city was, for a short time, the nation’s capital. When I’m not
writing, I surprise my husband
with one-of-a-kind meals made with whatever’s on hand. How else can you explain sweet potato-chickpea-yogurt soup? I’m an artist and a volunteer business
mentor with SCORE (www.score.org).
How did you come up with the idea for this book?
The seed for Ken’s War was planted when my former
martial arts instructor, a white American, told me that as a child he’d lived
in Japan with his dad and learned martial arts at a dojo there. That intrigued
me. Generally, I write fiction to explore relationship dynamics and emotions,
especially emotions occurring covertly in the subtext and behaviors of what’s
overtly acknowledged between people.
Tell us
about the writing process—what were your favorite and least favorite moments?
I usually start with a character in mind
and write a bio for that person. Once I get started with a nugget of story, I
find that ideas, details, information and fodder flood me from all sources –
TV, other books, overheard conversations and from purposeful research. I developed
a process called “Build-a-Scene” that makes writing flow easily for me.
I love refining, writing tighter, finding
the perfect word and chopping out fat.
The least favorite aspect of writing is
searching for an agent or publisher. It’s easy to get discouraged, but we must
remember that some novels that are classics now were rejected numerous times.
What’s your
favorite cure for writer’s block?
I don’t get writer’s block, but I
know some writers do.
Have you ever heard of
accountant's block? Janitor's block? Secretary's block? Butcher's block? Oops,
you get my point. Whether the writing hiatus is due to an idea ripening, a log
jam of ideas, fear, caution, pressure, a sanity break or something else, it's
temporary. Accept it for a time. Don't feel guilty or incompetent. Don't
compare yourself to writers who crank out thousands of words daily. Think of
the break as steam gathering for your next power surge. Or embark on an
oxymoronic scribble - write about writer's block.
Can you please share an excerpt?
Ken sliced the envelope open with a kitchen
knife. A cowboy and glitter words, “It’s your 16th
birthday!” were
on the front of the card.
Inside his mom had written, “Keep up with your
schoolwork. You have a baby brother, born May 9. He’s a half-brother, since
he’s my new husband’s son. Love, Mommy.”
His father’s face was etched with curiosity.
“What’s it say?” Paderson asked.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re not married
anymore?” Ken pushed past their Japanese housekeeper, who’d come gliding toward
him with her handkerchief to soak up tears burning his eyes.
Outside, humidity coated him like waxy skin he
couldn’t shed. He picked a scab off his knee and pictured his mom at their old
kitchen table, writing the birthday message, convinced that what she was
telling him was good news. She would have licked the adhesive on the envelope
flap. Then using the side of her fist, she would have patted the sticky flap
down to the rhythm of the throbbing pearl of pain in his chest.
Why did she need
another son?
When Ken returned to
the house lost hours later, he found the housekeeper snipping flower shapes out
of rice paper with small scissors. She glued the shapes onto the rice paper
screen separating the kitchen from the sleeping area. The flowers - ghostly
shadows - patched holes Paderson’s drunken fingers had punctured through the
translucent room divider.
That’s how Ken knew
his dad hated the birthday message, too.
What’s your next/current writing project?
I’m putting finishing touches on the novel Authenticity. Lynn, a gifted art intuitive, knows in her gut if paintings are
priceless masterpieces or forgeries. Authenticity is her forte. Or so she
thought.
Here’s a totally random question for you:
I’m on a silly haiku
kick, so come up with your own
silly haiku, but you must include the word “platypus”.
Mammal or mutant?
God’s conundrum platypus
Defies defining
Love it! Thanks so much for stopping by!
****
Bio: I’m a
word nerd, meaning I love writing (and rewriting), completing crossword puzzles
and finding boo-boos on menus and brochures. I have a bossy cat and a
well-behaved spouse.
Over 400 of my articles and short stories have been published here
and internationally. Oxford University Press published two anthologies of my
stories. I've taught fiction and non-fiction writing in the U.S.A. and abroad.
Like Ken, the protagonist in Ken’s War, I've been uprooted from Yankee soil to live in the Far East
where culture shock was a daily challenge.
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Thanks -- Love your writer's attitude, Beth -- Intrigued to know more about your build-a-scene process.
ReplyDelete- judy