Susan Wiggs's Blog, page 5
February 4, 2020
VIDEO: Meet New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Wiggs
Welcome to Bainbridge Island, Washington! I invite you to join me on a brief video journey on my writing process and how it has informed my new book, The Oysterville Sewing Circle.
LEARN MORE & BUY A COPY OF SUSAN’S NEW NOVEL:
https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062…
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January 19, 2020
The Decade in Pictures
The decade started with a tumultuous but ultimately glorious life change—a betrayal and divorce. I regained my home, my life, and my freedom. I discovered that I have the best friends and family in the world. We had way too much fun at the Ceremonial Purge.
I started doing All The Things because that’s what you do when you’re single.
My very silly daughter & I published a very silly memoir together.
My worldwide travels were interrupted by a Bad Decision, enabled by a Naughty Nephew and his dog.
I experienced the wonders of free medical care for all. And it was wonderful. Thanks, Australia, for the ambulance ride, the emergency care, and the surgery.
It was not in my plan to meet Prince Charming but he showed up one day and we fell madly in love.
We ran away to the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. We got matching tattoos—a character that means YES.
Later there was a romantic proposal and a groovy wedding and much joy and a long honeymoon involving the Hotel Cipriani in Venice and the Orient Express and Paris and more joy and we have stayed that way forever and a day.
Our grandchild arrived. She’s named Clara Louise after my own dear mum, and she is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
My Publisher merged with a Bigger Publisher. I said farewell to one of the loveliest editors in publishing and then said hello to another of the loveliest editors in publishing.
Another farewell—the shock and grief of losing my BFF to cancer. Darlene taught me to do it now, because you never want to leave anything undone.
The most wrenching farewell of all was to my utterly beloved dad, who was my rock of Gibraltar all my life.
(Speaking of Gibraltar, we went there, too.)
I started two donor-advised funds to help my community, and I get to fund things that matter to me, like supporting women and the library and art and animals. Thank you, Kitsap Community Foundation and Bainbridge Community Foundation.
I reconnected with old friends and made some dear new ones.
I’ve loved some good dogs. They never stay with us long enough. Farewell to Fisher, Goose, and Baxter. Barkis and Lenny are still with us.
My writer friends kept me on my toes. They keep me honest and hardworking, no matter how bad I want to be done and be lazy and not do One. More. Stinkin. Revision.
I joined a gym. I quit the gym. I bought a Nordic Track. I joined another gym. I can do all the yoga poses except Crow because of my wrist (see above).
My books, like my life, took me around the world, from Daisy Bellamy’s dramatic love story to Caroline Shelby’s cross-country odyssey. Life, like a good novel, teaches you the lessons you didn’t know you needed to learn—and leaves you eager for more.
Here’s to the new decade!
Readers—what were your highlights? What are you most looking forward to?
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December 13, 2019
15 Favorite Things for Gifting
I love giving gifts at holiday time. It’s a way to let people know you not only love them, but you know what they need. Here are a few things I give, time and time again, year in and year out. What about you? What’s the one gift that always brings a smile?
Separate from my list a great gift is a signed book by a favorite author—I know a few! Order a signed copy of The Oysterville Sewing Circle.
NOTE: None of these products or companies gave me anything for free or any other incentive to say nice things about them. These are just things I love and love to share.
DO THIS IMMEDIATELY. Your cyber-challenged rellies will bless you for it: If you’ve given up on sending Christmas cards (we all have), get the Postagram app immediately. For $1-2 (postage included) you can send a gorgeous actual postcard in the mail in seconds, and it’ll feature a picture from your phone. https://sincerely.com/postagram
A solar light to read by—get it from LittleSun because each purpose lights the world! https://littlesun.com/
A way to prop up the book (or e-reader) that are holding you captive: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Book-Seat-BrownEarth-BookIpadE-Reader/0858069003087
A Bugzooka for the scary bugs in your life. This is best because you don’t need batteries and no smooshing.
Kids’ adventure wear from J-stitch. Designed and made in America. Your kid can have a backpack vest or the superhero t-shirt featured in The Oysterville Sewing Circle.
Moms need gifts too, super soft angora long underwear.
Or for Mom, a full-length cashmere robe!
Jcoco gourmet chocolate from Seattle Chocolates—they feed the world with every bar you buy.
And the utterly addictive pecans from www.sweettasteoftexas.com
Thirsty? You need this Coleman water bottle that will keep ice frozen (or coffee hot) for 10+ hours.
A Kyocera ceramic knife. I’d never heard of such a thing and got one as a gift. As long as you don’t bang it around, it will be the sharpest knife in the drawer, way sharper than that $300 job you bought a few years ago.
Have a glass of wine in this silly-fun Sempli wine glass. There’s a matching decanter, too.
Or if you really want to treat someone, look for champagne flutes that match their decor. I have these groovy nautical ones that were gifted to me. Etsy.com is a great place to look for custom gifts.
Dancing shoes that feel like sneakers from https://heylady.co/. I have several pair.
For the reader… these ridiculous BOBS from Sketchers that don’t get soggy. Put your feet up and read!
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October 25, 2019
Let’s Get Baked
My friends always know when I have writer’s block because there’s usually a sudden explosion of baking around my house. I’m plotting my next book and it’s not going well, but the baking is!
The latest opus is banana bread. I’ve made many versions, mostly bland failures, until I came across this recipe with a crazy secret–banana syrup. Seriously. It’s super easy but I would never have thought about intensifying the flavor in this way.
And after all, that’s what plotting a book is about–seeing something in a new way. Thinking outside the box. And baking while you do it.
If you’d rather just read about baking, grab yourself a copy of The Winter Lodge, which is filled with recipes from my fictional bakery on the shores of Willow Lake. Happy reading!
Ultimate Banana Bread
Makes one 9-inch loaf
Note: Use ripe or even black bananas in this recipe, even the frozen ones taking up space in your freezer.
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 ripe bananas, peeled (see note)
1 fresh banana for garnish, sliced
1 stick butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
2 teaspoons coarse sugar, like turbinado
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, line with waxed paper or parchment, and lightly spray again.
Place 5 bananas in microwave-safe bowl; cover with plastic wrap and cut steam vents in plastic. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes. Transfer bananas to a strainer placed over medium bowl and allow to drain, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
Transfer banana liquid to saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Add bananas to the liquid and mash until fairly smooth. Whisk in butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Pour banana mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in nuts, if using. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Shingle banana slices on top of either side of loaf. Sprinkle coarse sugar evenly over loaf.
Bake until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes. Cool slightly, then remove loaf from pan and continue to cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook by Cook’s Illustrated Magazine Editors. Copyright 2011
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September 19, 2019
The Things We Keep Hidden
When I started writing The Oysterville Sewing Circle, I never dreamed the topic would go viral, almost overnight. My writing and research began before the watershed moment when Ronan Farrow published his devastating expose in The New Yorker. That piece unleashed a tidal wave of #MeToo discussions among women who had endured slights, sexism, and outright abuse for years.
Looking back, we now wonder why we were silent. When confronted with those uncomfortable moments at work, at school, in public, and in our own homes, why didn’t we speak up?
What I discovered while talking with women about their experiences is that we didn’t have a vocabulary for the syndrome. A boss offering a too-affectionate shoulder-squeeze? We’d just cringe and bear it. A colleague joking about our boobs, our asses, the length of our skirts…he was just joking, right? How about the frat boy (sorry frat boys, but you know who you are) keeping your drink filled and then wrestling you to the bed? Boys will be boys. The husband or partner who lashes out with a cutting remark or a touch that hurts? He’s had a hard day. He’ll do better tomorrow. We’ve heard all the excuses and rationalizations. We’ve all been gaslighted into accepting it as “normal.”
The soul-searing lesson I learned from my conversations is something I’ve always known but rarely voiced–if it doesn’t feel normal, it’s not. If it makes you uncomfortable, it’s his fault, not yours. If it’s physically or emotionally painful, it’s wrong and probably illegal.
While writing this novel, I found my voice along with the characters in the story. If there is one takeaway I hope readers of The Oysterville Sewing Circle will carry with them, it’s the phrase emblazoned at the bottom of the book cover: We believe you. We believe in you.
Know that you’re not alone. Know that help is out there. You can reach for it, or maybe it will reach for you. My daughter and my friend Ashley, who are younger and smarter than we ever were, added their own hashtag to indicate what every woman needs: #WithYou.
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September 3, 2019
happy tattoo-versary
Nine years ago, I emerged from a difficult time in my life. During that time, I discovered how toxic negativity can be to a person. It affects you in ways you don’t realize, until you step back and discover the constant bad energy is taking a toll on your health, your psyche, your emotions–and your work.
I made a clear decision to invite only positive elements into my life. I called this project “The Year of Yes.” I made a firm commitment to reply “yes” to everything–no matter what the question might be.
I found myself saying yes to matters large and small. Yes to helping my elderly parents move to my town so I could look after them. Yes to rescuing a chihuahua puppy so Barkis could have a companion–and lookalike, bringing the now-legendary Lenny into my life. Yes to a multi-book contract with my publisher, including related yesses to audio books, foreign publishers and even a movie production company. Yes yes yes, it was all YES.
You won’t be surprised to learn that embracing the positive can be life changing. It opens you up to feelings and experiences you never dared to imagine.
Although I was happily single and determined to stay that way, I had to follow my own rule, and so I said a very small, tentative “yes” to a casual date. This led to more and bigger yesses, including an impulsive trip to Hong Kong where Jerry was working, a stay at the incomparable Peninsula Hotel, complete with Rolls Royces, a private spa and pink champagne.
Today is the 8-year anniversary of one of my most lunatic “yes” moments. I decided to have the word YES tattooed on my ankle. Happily for me, Jerry went along with the plan, and we both went to Ricky Tattoo in Wanchai, a district of Hong Kong. In the company of sailors young enough to be our kids, we submitted to the needle and thus sealed our fate.
me and the navy guys at Ricky Tattoo in Wanchai
A few months later, I said the biggest YES of my life when I found a marriage proposal in a message in a bottle on a secluded beach in Australia.
Since that day, there have been other tattoos, and other adventures.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” –Helen Keller [note: The “at all” was added; her original quote omitted those words.]
Saying yes has worked out well for me.
Readers :: WHAT HAVE YOU SAID ‘YES’ TO LATELY?
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August 27, 2019
read THE OYSTERVILLE SEWING CIRCLE for FREE (cupcake sold separately)
Cupcake sold separately. Photo by @tarheelreader (via Instagram)The library will help you! Placing a patron request or hold on a book is a powerful way to tell the library which books matter to you. Just print out the form below, or copy and paste it into an e-mail, and hand it (or send it) to someone at your local library. Most library systems also have their own forms online. Here’s the one from Seattle Public Library.
Library Purchase Request Form
Format ___Book ____Ebook ___Audiobook ____Large Print
Title :: THE OYSTERVILLE SEWING CIRCLE
Author/Artist :: Susan Wiggs
Product Details
ISBN: 0062425584
Imprint: William Morrow
On Sale: 08/13/2019
List Price: 26.99 USD
Your Name ____________________________________
Library Card Number ______________________________
Phone Number __________________________________
Email address ___________________________________
Additional Comments :: “Heaven is a kind of library.” ________________________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: If you’d like a collectible signed first edition, try this link: https://www.eagleharborbooks.com/preorder-offer-20-signed-first-edition-susan-wiggs-latest
#newfiction #libraries
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August 22, 2019
I wrote a damn fine novel.
Dear Readers,
I wrote a thing.
Jennifer Weiner wrote an essay in Publishers Weekly deconstructing this phrase. I remember reading the piece on May 17–my birthday–and it felt like a gift.
“I wrote a thing is born of women being told, overtly and implicitly, that our stories do not matter—not the stories we write, which are still not reviewed as frequently or taken as seriously as men’s books, and not the stories we tell, which are still too often met with skepticism and shrugs.”
She’s reminding us that when we work our asses off, when we conceive of a story and spend months and months writing it, and revise it until it sings, and work with our very dedicated editor to polish and publish it, we’ve elevated that “thing” to a work. A pièce de résistance. A damn fine novel.
[People Magazine loves the book. Why shouldn’t I?]
Most of us squirm when we have to promote our own work. If we get a starred review, a bestseller ranking, a rave from a reader, a glorious peer endorsement, a mention in O Magazine, we balk at drawing attention to it. We’re concerned about seeming immodest, self-absorbed, insecure–any of those behaviors we’ve somehow come to think of as “unbecoming.”
Well, fuck that, dear readers.
I have a new book out and it’s not a thing. It’s a damn fine novel. I wrote my heart out and it’s getting rave reviews and I’ve already heard from some readers that reading The Oysterville Sewing Circle has been life-changing for them in ways I never imagined while writing it. If ever I needed to switch from being bashful to boastful, it’s for this book, a story of women supporting women.
So I hope you’ll read it. I’m not going to say, “Do me a favor and maybe read it.” No. Do yourself a favor and read it. Just on my say-so. So there.
You can get signed copies, order from an indie bookseller, get it before you take the next breath of air, or have it read aloud to you in dulcet tones. And I hope you’ll come see me–in Grand Rapids, in Cleveland, or in Franklin, Indiana. Or who knows, maybe you’ll spot me on my soapbox somewhere.
Thanks for reading. And kudos to Jennifer Weiner for opening the conversation.
#books #writing #writerslife #newfiction #reviews #booksbywomen
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August 12, 2019
save the bees
Reminder that the First Lady of Washington State added beehives to the gardens at the governor’s mansion. Kudos to the lovely Trudi Inslee.
Feeding the world begins with bees.#savethebees
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July 7, 2019
reading between the lines
The Oysterville Sewing Circle is not about sewing.
It’s also not about oysters.
The Oysterville Sewing Circle :: William Morrow Books :: August 2019photo credit :: Stephanie Dyane
But if you need this life-changing sewing kit, come to one of my events this summer and I’ll give you one. Because who doesn’t occasionally need a pre-threaded needle?
#newfiction #MeToo #summerreading #readsusanwiggs #MendYourHeart
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