Susan Wiggs's Blog, page 4
May 13, 2020
Indie Bookstore Spotlight- Boulder Bookstore
This month for my Independent bookstore spotlight I’ve reached out to Boulder Bookstore in Colorado. I spent time interviewing Arsen a bookseller there and wanted to share his responses with you. Right now bookstores are facing many challenges and I hope to bring some light to them during this time by sharing with all of you what it looks like to run an independent bookstore.
Do you specialize in a certain genre or section in the store?
We are a full-service bookstore that carries all genres both fiction and nonfiction. We have especially strong collections in fiction, psychology, Buddhism, and science.
Do you have regular customers, and if so, what is that like?
We have a lot of regular customers. It’s absolutely wonderful. There are a couple in particular that I think of as friends. We’ve been talking about books for over 20 years now. All the staff members face light up when they walk into the store. We accept our regulars for who they are and they accept us for who we are.
How does your store fit into your community?
We are at the very heart of the downtown walking mall. We do several events a week. We work very closely with the school district. Our goal is to be as tight with the community as we possibly can and to provide the community with whatever it needs.
What’s your favorite time of year to read?
I like winter. When I’m not skiing, I like drinking hot chocolate with my wool socks on and reading a great novel.
If you had just one book that you had to sell to everyone who walked in the door, what would it be?
Right now that book is Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. She’s a Colorado writer and she’s written a beautiful collection of stories about Latina women in Colorado. She’s shined a light on people who are often invisible to the majority culture. They are great stories and illuminate Colorado in a way that few books do.
The post Indie Bookstore Spotlight- Boulder Bookstore appeared first on Susan Wiggs.
May 11, 2020
Mother’s Day = Mentor’s Day
One of my most joyous moments is this one when Clara wrote a “book” for me, and we read it together. She had no idea this was a peak experience in my life–the emergence of another writer in the family. There is a strong thread of storytelling in my tribe, and I’m thrilled and proud that Clara has slipped into our stream of consciousness.
Clara is my first grandchild, and she is the world. Sometimes when I see her from the corner of my eye, I see Elizabeth as if yesterday had come to visit. One of the great blessings in my life is that my own mother is with us to see this glorious child blossom at the start of a new generation.
My mom was my first mentor. Before I could read or write, I insisted I was a storyteller, and she had the instincts and compassion to take me seriously. I was fascinated with paper and ink and ideas. Church collection envelopes, bank deposit slips, bridge score pads–everything was fair game. Mom had three-n-a-row kids, and I was in the middle, but she still made time to sit with me and take down my stories as I dictated them. My thoughtful grandma saved some samples of my work.
Another mentor wasn’t my mother, but a teacher. Mrs. Marge Green, Grade 3, School 11, Olean, New York. This is the teacher I hope every child gets to have in their life–one who knows how to assess a child where she is and take her to the next level. She noticed that I had burned through all the reading-level calibrated volumes in the classroom. I’d finished the entire set of “Phonics We Use.” I’d read the amazing Big Tree. I told her I wanted to write books, and she said simply, “Then you should write a book.”
So I did.
There were other mentors in my life–the seventh-grade teacher who took me seriously when I rewrote the end of Of Mice and Men (Lenny lives!). The high school field hockey coach who encouraged me to run a book club on the team bus. The college professors who didn’t dismiss my work or my ambitions. The graduate school cadre that treated my ideas with honesty and respect. The work colleagues who didn’t judge me when I spent lunch hour down a rabbit hole, writing. The fellow young moms who swapped babysitting chores to I could meet my deadlines.
And back to my mom. She still beams with pride each time I publish a book. She still commiserates when I fumble, still encourages me to get up and try again. She still loves me without constraints or conditions. She exudes the joy I feel for my own daughter and granddaughter.
The one thing all mentors have in common with my mom is the character trait I want to celebrate, not just on Mother’s Day, but every day–they are the nurturers. The ones who honor a person’s flights of imagination, wherever they may go–and sometimes offer a soft place to fall.
So if you’re a mother or a mentor, here’s to you. Every single day.
PS: Remember to read, because you’re never alone when you’re reading a book.
#MothersDay #Mentors #writinglife
The post Mother’s Day = Mentor’s Day appeared first on Susan Wiggs.
May 1, 2020
Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Porter Square Books
Right now more than ever, our independent bookstores need our support. Here is my second independent bookstore spotlight featuring Porter Square Books.
1. How was your store founded?
Our original founders worked in a different independent bookstore for many years and ended up having to leave for various reasons. Even though they had to leave that store, they weren’t ready to leave independent bookselling yet. So, they founded Porter Square Books.
2. What’s your favorite time of year to read?
I don’t really have a favorite time to year to read. I like reading outside on the porch, but I’m also happy to curl up in a comfy chair inside. I guess I read so much, and often for books that aren’t coming out until the upcoming season, that I don’t really think reading as something that takes place at certain times of the year.
3. What are the unique opportunities that independent bookstores have?
There’s no better place to find a conversation about books or “the conversation about books” than an independent bookstore, whether it’s in person or over social media. And that conversation can be small and specific, about a particular book you might be interested in buying, it can be about the world of books in general or some major issue or controversy in the book world, and everything in between.
4. What’s one thing about your store that you want everyone to know – but maybe they don’t know?
We’re pretty open with our personalities on social media, so I don’t know if there’s a lot hidden from view. I guess if there’s one thing that people might not realize is there a lot of relatively tedious behind the scenes work, lots of checking invoices, counting books, reconciling inventory, that all go into making sure the right book is in the right place, so we can find it for the right reader. Working in a bookstore is as fun and rewarding as it looks, but that fun and reward sits on top of hard work, just like every other industry.
5. What’s your favorite part of working at an independent bookstore?
Definitely, introducing my favorite books and authors to other readers. I’ve really come to see stewardship as a vital part of my job, helping the books and authors that I think are important to find their way to the right readers.
The post Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Porter Square Books appeared first on Susan Wiggs.
April 6, 2020
Remembering Dad
A poet brings us comfort when our own words aren’t enough. John O’Donohue is one of my favorites. In memory of my father, on what would have been his 90th birthday just a few days ago.
On the death of the Beloved
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or might or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of colour.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was live, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
— John O’Donohue
The post Remembering Dad appeared first on SusanWiggs.
Remembering Dad
A poet brings us comfort when our own words aren’t enough. John O’Donohue is one of my favorites. In memory of my father, on what would have been his 90th birthday just a few days ago.
On the death of the Beloved
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or might or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of colour.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was live, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
— John O’Donohue
The post Remembering Dad appeared first on Susan Wiggs.
April 3, 2020
Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Porter Square Books
Right now more than ever, our independent bookstores need our support. Here is my second independent bookstore spotlight featuring Porter Square Books.
1. How was your store founded?
Our original founders worked in a different independent bookstore for many years and ended up having to leave for various reasons. Even though they had to leave that store, they weren’t ready to leave independent bookselling yet. So, they founded Porter Square Books.
2. What’s your favorite time of year to read?
I don’t really have a favorite time to year to read. I like reading outside on the porch, but I’m also happy to curl up in a comfy chair inside. I guess I read so much, and often for books that aren’t coming out until the upcoming season, that I don’t really think reading as something that takes place at certain times of the year.
3. What are the unique opportunities that independent bookstores have?
There’s no better place to find a conversation about books or “the conversation about books” than an independent bookstore, whether it’s in person or over social media. And that conversation can be small and specific, about a particular book you might be interested in buying, it can be about the world of books in general or some major issue or controversy in the book world, and everything in between.
4. What’s one thing about your store that you want everyone to know – but maybe they don’t know?
We’re pretty open with our personalities on social media, so I don’t know if there’s a lot hidden from view. I guess if there’s one thing that people might not realize is there a lot of relatively tedious behind the scenes work, lots of checking invoices, counting books, reconciling inventory, that all go into making sure the right book is in the right place, so we can find it for the right reader. Working in a bookstore is as fun and rewarding as it looks, but that fun and reward sits on top of hard work, just like every other industry.
5. What’s your favorite part of working at an independent bookstore?
Definitely, introducing my favorite books and authors to other readers. I’ve really come to see stewardship as a vital part of my job, helping the books and authors that I think are important to find their way to the right readers.
The post Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Porter Square Books appeared first on SusanWiggs.
March 16, 2020
Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Liberty Bay Books
Throughout the next few months, I will be spotlighting Independent Bookstores across the nation and sharing with you a glimpse into their lives as bookstore owners or managers. While writing The Lost and Found Bookshop I interviewed different stores and spent a lot of time researching all things books. I thought this would be a fun way to share some of the fun things I learned. To kick off this fun campaign I went to my local bookstore Liberty Bay Books, in Poulsbo, Washington.
I also want to encourage you throughout these times to purchase books from your local bookstores, even online.
Pictured: Madison Duckworth (Bookseller) and Suzanne Selfors (Owner) at Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo, WA. Selfors says, “We can’t wait for Susan’s new book. In the meantime, we have lots of copies of her other books on hand, ready for her readers.”
How was your store founded? Liberty Bay Books was founded back in 1996 by a woman named Suzanne Droppert. She sold the store to me on Feb 1st. We closed for two weeks and did a huge remodel. During the remodel, we had to move all the books out of the store and into my house, and that was about 60,000 dollars worth of books so you can imagine what my house looked like. If you didn’t know me and you visited you would have thought I was a hoarder. But now the store is up and running and I think it’s beautiful. I had a work crew of writers who helped with painting, decorating, and the boxing and unboxing of books. I couldn’t have done it without my friends!
What’s your favorite time of year to read? My favorite time of year to read is in the summer on my boat. Best place to read, ever! With the quiet lapping of the water, the call of the gulls, and a crisp gin and tonic by my side.
What do you think are the unique challenges facing independent bookstores? Getting people INTO the store is the number 1 challenge. It’s tough to compete with everyone’s schedules, and distractions, and the conditioned behavior of turning on the computer and pressing “buy.” But, getting people into the store is also the blessing, because it’s the experience of the bookstore that is the value. To actually touch the books, flip through the pages, to talk to a breathing bookseller, to discover something that you wouldn’t have found online where only the bestsellers pop up first. Discovery is our goal when you walk into our store. Of course, the bestsellers are there, but we also create tables filled with books you didn’t expect.
If you had just one book that you had to sell to everyone who walked in the door, what would it be? Well, one of my favorite books is A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich, because anyone can read this book and be totally engrossed.
What’s your favorite part of working at an independent bookstore? Handselling a book is my favorite part. Yes, I’ve only been doing it for a short time but it is really satisfying.
The post Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Liberty Bay Books appeared first on SusanWiggs.
Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Liberty Bay Books
Throughout the next few months, I will be spotlighting Independent Bookstores across the nation and sharing with you a glimpse into their lives as bookstore owners or managers. While writing The Lost and Found Bookshop I interviewed different stores and spent a lot of time researching all things books. I thought this would be a fun way to share some of the fun things I learned. To kick off this fun campaign I went to my local bookstore Liberty Bay Books, in Poulsbo, Washington.
I also want to encourage you throughout these times to purchase books from your local bookstores, even online.
Pictured: Madison Duckworth (Bookseller) and Suzanne Selfors (Owner) at Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo, WA. Selfors says, “We can’t wait for Susan’s new book. In the meantime, we have lots of copies of her other books on hand, ready for her readers.”
How was your store founded? Liberty Bay Books was founded back in 1996 by a woman named Suzanne Droppert. She sold the store to me on Feb 1st. We closed for two weeks and did a huge remodel. During the remodel, we had to move all the books out of the store and into my house, and that was about 60,000 dollars worth of books so you can imagine what my house looked like. If you didn’t know me and you visited you would have thought I was a hoarder. But now the store is up and running and I think it’s beautiful. I had a work crew of writers who helped with painting, decorating, and the boxing and unboxing of books. I couldn’t have done it without my friends!
What’s your favorite time of year to read? My favorite time of year to read is in the summer on my boat. Best place to read, ever! With the quiet lapping of the water, the call of the gulls, and a crisp gin and tonic by my side.
What do you think are the unique challenges facing independent bookstores? Getting people INTO the store is the number 1 challenge. It’s tough to compete with everyone’s schedules, and distractions, and the conditioned behavior of turning on the computer and pressing “buy.” But, getting people into the store is also the blessing, because it’s the experience of the bookstore that is the value. To actually touch the books, flip through the pages, to talk to a breathing bookseller, to discover something that you wouldn’t have found online where only the bestsellers pop up first. Discovery is our goal when you walk into our store. Of course, the bestsellers are there, but we also create tables filled with books you didn’t expect.
If you had just one book that you had to sell to everyone who walked in the door, what would it be? Well, one of my favorite books is A Little History of the World by EH Gombrich, because anyone can read this book and be totally engrossed.
What’s your favorite part of working at an independent bookstore? Handselling a book is my favorite part. Yes, I’ve only been doing it for a short time but it is really satisfying.
The post Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Liberty Bay Books appeared first on Susan Wiggs.
February 26, 2020
Diversity and the White Writer
As the dust storm of controversy swirls around American Dirt, I just returned from Vietnam where I spent weeks researching a novel I’m writing. I am not Vietnamese. I’m as white as mayonnaise on Wonder Bread. But there is diversity in my life, my culture, my family, my world–and in my books.
[Above: Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword) in Hanoi]
When I write fiction about a character of color, it’s my job to bring that character to life. That means doing a deep dive into the lives and psyches and cultural backgrounds of all my characters. And that includes exploring the worlds they came from.
[currently reading this beauty: The Sympathizer]
I doubt I would ever write a book featuring a non-white main character. The main character is the heart and soul of the book–Caroline in The Oysterville Sewing Circle. Dr. Reese Powell in Between You & Me (who, by the way, gets involved with an Amish man–probably the most foreign-to-me and interesting character I’ve ever written.) Like me, these protagonists are white, American, hetero, cisgender, probably middle class. I can write about them with confidence and authority because I am intimately familiar with who they are. They’re your next-door neighbor, the lady in line behind you. Everywoman.
But Everywoman is not always white. It would be strange to read a book populated with only white characters. My secondary characters–the people who populate the protagonist’s world–might be people of color. Or people in a same-sex marriage. Or immigrants. These are the characters that keep me awake at night, who motivate me to fly halfway around the world to explore their background.
[Above: My niece-in-law and grand-niece]
I am determined to write about characters with accuracy, insight, and respect. I know I’ve made mistakes in the past with my depictions of characters of color. A recent example–in Candlelight Christmas, there is a little boy whose parents are divorced. He calls his dad “Daddy” as any little boy would. So what does he call his stepdad? “Daddy-boy” was the option I picked. It seemed like a cute and age-appropriate nickname–to me. So what was the problem? The stepdad in this book is biracial. It took a reader to point out that calling a man of color “boy” in any form–regardless of my intent–is a reminder of the vile practices of slavery and the Jim Crow era. As this reader very respectfully pointed out, “Maybe it seemed fun and playful, but it does not land like that.”
She’s absolutely right. It wasn’t an error on my part but an oversight due to ignorance. I would never set out to use derogatory or insensitive language in a book, but every reader has a unique perspective, and something might indeed land with a clunk.
As a professional writer, I’m trained to listen to and heed criticism. I feel terrible that a person of color might have read my book and felt disrespected by my word choice.
Feeling terrible is not enough, though. Taking action is the next step.
Fortunately, my amazing editors at HarperCollins are the best partners in publishing a writer could ever have. Margaret Marbury, my editor at the Mira imprint, assured me that this and other corrections will be updated in future editions of the book. Rachel Kahan, who edits my books for the William Morrow imprint, is committed to engaging sensitive readers before a book is published.
I get a lot of feedback on my books, not all of it as constructive as the notes from the reader above. I seem to attract a lot of people who clutch at their pearls when a character drops an f-bomb or takes the lord’s name in vain in dialogue. I do appreciate any and all feedback. Some of them will be changed. Fair warning–the swearing will not. No matter who they are, some of my characters are adults, and they’re going to use realistically salty language.
The diverse characters in my books are old, young, straight, gay, male, female, Amish, Buddhist, atheist, Christian, white, black, brown, large, small…just like the world we inhabit. It’s my job as a writer to bring them to life with compassion, realism, and above all, respect.
To readers–if something in a book strikes a sour note with you, seems inaccurate or disrespectful or ignorant, you can make a difference. Like the reader of Candlelight Christmas, you can find a way to contact the author or publisher. If you articulate your thoughts clearly, chances are, you’ll be heard, and maybe future editions of the book can be changed.
I’m still going to use swear words in my books, though.
The post Diversity and the White Writer appeared first on Susan Wiggs.
Diversity and the White Writer
As the dust storm of controversy swirls around American Dirt, I just returned from Vietnam where I spent weeks researching a novel I’m writing. I am not Vietnamese. I’m as white as mayonnaise on Wonder Bread. But there is diversity in my life, my culture, my family, my world–and in my books.
[Above: Hoan Kiem Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword) in Hanoi]
When I write fiction about a character of color, it’s my job to bring that character to life. That means doing a deep dive into the lives and psyches and cultural backgrounds of all my characters. And that includes exploring the worlds they came from.
[currently reading this beauty: The Sympathizer]
I doubt I would ever write a book featuring a non-white main character. The main character is the heart and soul of the book–Caroline in The Oysterville Sewing Circle. Dr. Reese Powell in Between You & Me (who, by the way, gets involved with an Amish man–probably the most foreign-to-me and interesting character I’ve ever written.) Like me, these protagonists are white, American, hetero, cisgender, probably middle class. I can write about them with confidence and authority because I am intimately familiar with who they are. They’re your next-door neighbor, the lady in line behind you. Everywoman.
But Everywoman is not always white. It would be strange to read a book populated with only white characters. My secondary characters–the people who populate the protagonist’s world–might be people of color. Or people in a same-sex marriage. Or immigrants. These are the characters that keep me awake at night, who motivate me to fly halfway around the world to explore their background.
[Above: My niece-in-law and grand-niece]
I am determined to write about characters with accuracy, insight, and respect. I know I’ve made mistakes in the past with my depictions of characters of color. A recent example–in Candlelight Christmas, there is a little boy whose parents are divorced. He calls his dad “Daddy” as any little boy would. So what does he call his stepdad? “Daddy-boy” was the option I picked. It seemed like a cute and age-appropriate nickname–to me. So what was the problem? The stepdad in this book is biracial. It took a reader to point out that calling a man of color “boy” in any form–regardless of my intent–is a reminder of the vile practices of slavery and the Jim Crow era. As this reader very respectfully pointed out, “Maybe it seemed fun and playful, but it does not land like that.”
She’s absolutely right. It wasn’t an error on my part but an oversight due to ignorance. I would never set out to use derogatory or insensitive language in a book, but every reader has a unique perspective, and something might indeed land with a clunk.
As a professional writer, I’m trained to listen to and heed criticism. I feel terrible that a person of color might have read my book and felt disrespected by my word choice.
Feeling terrible is not enough, though. Taking action is the next step.
Fortunately, my amazing editors at HarperCollins are the best partners in publishing a writer could ever have. Margaret Marbury, my editor at the Mira imprint, assured me that this and other corrections will be updated in future editions of the book. Rachel Kahan, who edits my books for the William Morrow imprint, is committed to engaging sensitive readers before a book is published.
I get a lot of feedback on my books, not all of it as constructive as the notes from the reader above. I seem to attract a lot of people who clutch at their pearls when a character drops an f-bomb or takes the lord’s name in vain in dialogue. I do appreciate any and all feedback. Some of them will be changed. Fair warning–the swearing will not. No matter who they are, some of my characters are adults, and they’re going to use realistically salty language.
The diverse characters in my books are old, young, straight, gay, male, female, Amish, Buddhist, atheist, Christian, white, black, brown, large, small…just like the world we inhabit. It’s my job as a writer to bring them to life with compassion, realism, and above all, respect.
To readers–if something in a book strikes a sour note with you, seems inaccurate or disrespectful or ignorant, you can make a difference. Like the reader of Candlelight Christmas, you can find a way to contact the author or publisher. If you articulate your thoughts clearly, chances are, you’ll be heard, and maybe future editions of the book can be changed.
I’m still going to use swear words in my books, though.
The post Diversity and the White Writer appeared first on SusanWiggs.
