Author Interview: Susan Wingate

 

A Conversation with Susan Wingate, Author of “Bobby’s Diner” (Finalist in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Cambridge Books, 2009).


Your father used to write soft-erotic safari adventure stories. Does your writing copy his?

Jeez Louise. Where did you guys dig up that information? No! No, my stories don’t get close to erotica although my first novel, Of the Law, was, in parts, steamy but it never got graphic. My father’s writing was hysterically funny too, my father was a funny guy. “Bobby’s Diner” is not an adventure and it’s certainly not a safari tale.

Tell us how your father was funny.

My dad was the dad in the neighborhood that played with us kids. He’d stick burnt-out flashbulbs up his nose that looked like a bubble of snot and then he’d chase us around flailing his arms and acting like a kook, all the while with this light bulb hanging out of one nostril. He taught me a few good limericks too. And, no, I won’t repeat them.

Was your mother instrumental in your writing?

Indirectly. She’s an artist. She paints, sculpts and throws pottery. When it comes to my writing, I believe her artistic nature has been instrumental. And, yes, I do believe my creativity comes directly from my parents, no doubt about it. When I was a kid, I’d watch my mother for hours while she worked. It fascinated me how she could take a plain white canvas and make a picture. It’s kind of like what I do now with a plain white sheet of paper. And now I dabble in oil painting but I’m not any good, not like mom. With dad, I tried to copy him by writing what I thought was funny but I was terrible. You’re either funny or you’re not and I’m not funny when I try to be. I’m usually only funny by accident, like if I fall off my chair or something. It’s not that funny to me but it makes other people laugh. So, that’s good, isn’t it? Still, some people have stated that “Bobby’s Diner” is imbued with moments of great humor.


When you write do you make concerted efforts to infuse humor in your stories?

This is such a great question. I have to say that the writing of the story – not the formatting or understanding how the beginning will affect the end – is organic. It flows out very naturally. The dialogue, the narrative is all part and parcel to the nature of the characters and how they will react with one another throughout the telling of the story, their pasts, their longings, their conflicts and agenda. Once we understand, as writers, what will happen within a story we let the characters act within the parameters we set. We let them meet people, fight, cry, shower, eat, make love, have a cat, go horseback riding – all the things that human beings do in real life but they’re set in a very tight corral or else the story will go haywire. Why am I using these rodeo metaphors all of the sudden? Maybe it’s from growing up in the wild, wild west.

So, how did you go about writing “Bobby’s Diner?”

That’s an enormous question, one not easily answered in just a few lines but I’ll give it a go. Well, the idea came to me from a dream – the scene when Georgette arrives in Sunnydale with this skanky trucker. I started writing the beginning from that scene. Then I stalled out and had to ask myself, “Okay, so what? Where is this going to go?” I then decided on the ending or at least how it would end in general. Once that was in place I could easily decide on rising conflict scenes as well as how to connect the beginning to the end with bridging conflict. That sounds too easy, doesn’t it?

“Bobby’s Diner” takes place in the desert. Why the desert?

Well, I guess this goes back to that old writing adage “write what you know” and I know the desert. Born in Phoenix in 1958 and living there until I was thirty-nine sort of gives me the right to write about the desert. The desert is dry. Did you know that? Yes, drier that dirt – nice cliché isn’t it. Darn! And, it’s hot too! Well, that sort of climate and landscape will burn a rut into your psyche so deep that you might never be able to shake it. I’m sweating as we speak but, wait, it may be just another hot flash.


Some of the topics in “Bobby’s Diner” – adultery, murder, death and dying, redemption, forgiveness – are pretty heavy topics. Does your writing usually steer toward more serious issues?

I guess it must. I think it’s important as a writer to enjoy what you write. I enjoy thinking about life’s issues – big issues – like death and how we must come to terms with it as we age. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not constantly dwelling on death but it’s a big part of life, now, isn’t it? The subject of adultery comes up daily as well. You hear about so-and-so divorcing what’s-his-name and it’s always in our faces. I’ve dealt with divorce personally and it’s a hard pill to swallow. It’s painful. I guess I write about what I think about.


Okay, so if you’re not dwelling on these subjects at least a good part of the time, then why would you write about them?

Shoot. Should I call my therapist? Maybe something’s dreadfully wrong with me, something I wasn’t fully aware of. His phone number is in my speed-dial. Hold on a sec while I confer with him about that one. Heck. I don’t know why I like these subjects. It’s my nature, I guess. Have you asked why Stephen King wrote about a scary car? Now, that’s a question that should be asked.


Someone mentioned you have a bunch of animals. Can I ask what kinds and how many?
No. Next question.


Back to your chosen topics – death, dying, adultery, those subjects – what does your husband think about your writing?

Everyone asks this question. That’s not to say anything is wrong with this question. It’s a very good question. I guess I can give you my take on what my husband – Bob is his name – thinks about my writing. I think he thinks (oh God did I just say that?) that I’m a bit disturbed and apparently so do you based on your previous questions! But, really, I think he wonders sometimes where it all comes from, how the story evolves and honestly it’s much like associative thinking, one thing connects to another that connects to something related somehow. What’s magical to me is how it all becomes a logical story by the end and, hopefully, a good story.

Award-winning, bestselling novelist, Susan Wingate, is also a poet, playwright and screenwriter. Living in Washington State, she writes full time. Her second novel, Bobby’s Diner (Cambridge Books), was released in paperback February 2009 (the ebook version went to bestseller status October 2008). Bobby’s Diner has been selected as a finalist in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Since the publication of her first novel, Of the Law, Wingate keeps busy teaching writing classes at colleges, conferences and her studio. Her novels, short stories and poems consistently receive awards and acclaim. Her writing can be found in many magazines, journals and reviews. Wingate also publishes a monthly e-newsletter called Sincerely, Susan. Wingate is an active presence in the writing community and for hobbies, she loves to read, play with her animals, garden, dance with her husband, Bob, and she loves to paint.

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