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Ask the Author: Susan Stellin

“Graham and I are happy to answer questions about our memoir Chancers so let us know if there's anything you'd like to ask us.” Susan Stellin

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Susan Stellin Yes, although it was certainly a transition to maintain that level of openness by talking to each other, rather than through email messages or the letters we exchanged when Graham was in prison -- and I think it's fair to say that it was more of a challenge for me. Graham is naturally more comfortable talking whereas I gravitate more toward writing, but especially once we started working on our memoir we both had to move out of our comfort zones. Writing a book together involved a lot of talking about our relationship (past and present) so we had to open up about a lot of things we might not have discussed quite so intensely if we hadn't decided to do a joint memoir.
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Your book was a real page turner Susan and Graham...I read it while trying to get over a flu and could not put it down. Loved your writing. I can only imagine the experience of writing it together....! I am in Canada. Banff, Alberta? Are you coming our way? Do you do workshops?
Susan Stellin Thanks, Faye! I hope you're feeling better. As for traveling to Canada, I'm not sure if Graham would be able to make that trip (because of his past conviction), but at some point we'll have to look into where that stands. We have spoken to some book groups by phone so that's one way to virtually cross the border.
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
Susan Stellin Since it's a memoir, I didn't have to come up with the idea -- I was living the story -- so the bigger question for me was deciding if it was something I'd ever feel comfortable writing about. We reveal so much about Graham's struggle with addiction and time in prison, I wanted to be sure he was okay with sharing the details of a really dark time in his life, and that's how Chancers ended up being a joint memoir. It quickly became apparent that it would be a much more compelling book if we each narrated different chapters, showing what it's like for an addict and a loved one trying to deal with a tough situation. But that meant really putting our relationship under the microscope, which was a lot more challenging than either of us expected. It's not easy to spend most of the day writing about a fight you and your partner had 8 years ago, then close your laptop and make dinner together!
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