Blog Interview with Piper Punches
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH STACY OVERMAN MORRISON, COMFORT OF FENCES
November 15, 2013
By piperpunches
http://www.piperpunches.com
So, yesterday I told you I would be introducing you to two new indie authors that I have met during these past several weeks as I prepared for my debut novel to be released. Today, I want to introduce you to Stacy Overman Morrison, author of Comfort of Fences. Stacy is a women’s fiction writer that has crafted a story of friendship and love between three women of very different circumstances. I am honored that she took time to share her writing experiences with me as well as her beautifully crafted novel, Comfort of Fences.
What has the journey been like writing Comfort of Fences? What were the challenges you faced, but also what were some of the sweet successes?
The journey has been LONG! I started COMFORT OF FENCES in 2008, finished the first draft in 2009, did a major rewrite in 2011 and just released it this month. The challenges were accepting criticism and “killing my darlings,” as Stephen King says. I had to cut so many scenes, characters, and backstories to streamline the story but I am very proud of the finished product. The sweet successes that kept me writing were the support of my early readers, the unwavering belief of my husband, and the friends that checked in regularly to make sure I had not given up.
Your novel has very strong female characters, which I love. What qualities do you like most about Ruth, Denise, and Georgia? Who do you identify with the most?
I see too much of myself in Ruth. Writing from her point of view made me stop and think about the choices I make as a mother. One of the pervasive themes of COMFORT OF FENCES is the immeasurable power of mothers, how a mother’s influence can change the trajectory of her children’s lives. Ruth is so overprotective that she denies her daughter a voice. I’m a strong personality, too, a strong mother. Through Ruth, I’ve learned to listen more, open the world to my children more, trust that I can give them roots but I must give them wings, as well.
I am quite maternal in my love for Denise. She is underestimated by most everyone around her yet she has such an innate, zen-like kind of wisdom. From her I’ve learned that silence is powerful, too. I’ve learned that even lives that society deems “small” are still powerful. Denise makes me want to be a better mother.
And Georgia. Georgia is the best friend I have always wanted, so I created her!
Georgia is brassy, strong, self-assured, and funny. She usually has all the answers but is confident enough to let others come to their own answers in their own time. She swears, and takes the “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere” a little far sometimes. She holds hands, and she kicks butt, but knows the appropriate time for each.
On your website you have a quote by Francis Bacon, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” What are the books that inspired you to want to tell your own stories?
The book that continues to have the biggest impact one me is Toni Morrison’s BELOVED. I love Toni Morrison’s writing, her way of capturing the poetry of language to explore the horrors humans can inflict on one another and yet also reveal the unbreakable spirit of those society tries to silence. My dream has been to write a book and have it sit on library shelves next to Toni Morrison’s. That dream has been realized, at least in my home!
What are some songs that would be part of the soundtrack if Comfort of Fences was made into a movie?
First, without a doubt, “You Are My Sunshine.” Elvis would have to be in there as he is a temptation to Ruth when she was a girl. Johnny Mathis’s “Until the Twelfth of Never” as it is Ruth and Yancey’s song. “Ava Maria” for Denise. And there would have to be some Jimmy Buffet for Georgia!
All writers have experienced moments when they feel like they have hit a wall. They don’t know where the story is going or may be struggling with conveying a certain message. What do you do to relax and break down that wall?
I wait. I’m not one of those that will sit down and write just to write. I go outside, look at the artistry in nature. I talk to people and listen to their stories. It amazes me what people are going through every day. I get people’s life stories standing in line at the grocery store! I see stories in every car when I sit in traffic. I question motives, wonder at how the woman on one side of me ends up in a Mercedes worth $200,000 and the man on the other side of me is in a wrecked, beat up, 20 year old Honda hatchback. Stories are everywhere! I’ve found that the art and challenge is creating interest for a reader and keeping them engaged for 300 pages.
Want to learn more about Stacy Overman Morrison and Comfort of Fences? Connect with Stacy on Goodreads andFacebook. You can also reach her through her website. Keep reading to learn more about Comfort of Fences and clickhere to enter the giveaway to win a free Kindle edition copy.
comfort of fences
Ruth is dying and her 52 year old daughter Denise has never paid a bill, lived on her own, or had a romantic relationship. Ruth knows she has been overprotective, but hoped that she would outlive her special-needs daughter. Metastasized cancer crushes that hope and forces Ruth to find a way to provide for Denise once she is dead. First Ruth turns to Social Security for Disability benefits. After tests, pokes and prods, doctors, nosy psychologists, and ill-furnished waiting rooms, the government declares Denise not eligible for benefits. Mad at the world and daring the government to arrest her so they will have to take care of her since they wouldn’t her daughter, Ruth takes up smoking pot in the backyard. A few joints in, Ruth begins to realize her anger is self-directed. She doubts every decision she has ever made in raising her daughter that doctors, in the 1950s, labeled “retarded.” Partially to coax her mother from the backyard and partially because Ruth will not speak of the past, Denise asks her mother to write down their history of which Denise has no memory. Trying to atone and explain how she could be so obtuse, Ruth agrees. Telling her story becomes an obsession for Ruth who sees the history as her only chance to leave a place for herself in the world since cancer is steadily eating away her physicality. While Ruth writes, Denise begins to pursue her own independence, despite the minor setbacks of a chopped off fingertip and chemo poisoning. She begins to make choices for herself and finally tells her mother pieces of her own truth: Denise stayed with her mother because she chose to, because she loved her mother more than any life she could make for herself. In claiming her own truth, Denise also chooses silence about the biggest secrets of all. Comfort of Fences explores the messy business of mothering. It is a story about the love between a devoted mother and her special daughter that exposes the irony that the people we love the most can also be the ones we underestimate the greatest.
November 15, 2013
By piperpunches
http://www.piperpunches.com
So, yesterday I told you I would be introducing you to two new indie authors that I have met during these past several weeks as I prepared for my debut novel to be released. Today, I want to introduce you to Stacy Overman Morrison, author of Comfort of Fences. Stacy is a women’s fiction writer that has crafted a story of friendship and love between three women of very different circumstances. I am honored that she took time to share her writing experiences with me as well as her beautifully crafted novel, Comfort of Fences.
What has the journey been like writing Comfort of Fences? What were the challenges you faced, but also what were some of the sweet successes?
The journey has been LONG! I started COMFORT OF FENCES in 2008, finished the first draft in 2009, did a major rewrite in 2011 and just released it this month. The challenges were accepting criticism and “killing my darlings,” as Stephen King says. I had to cut so many scenes, characters, and backstories to streamline the story but I am very proud of the finished product. The sweet successes that kept me writing were the support of my early readers, the unwavering belief of my husband, and the friends that checked in regularly to make sure I had not given up.
Your novel has very strong female characters, which I love. What qualities do you like most about Ruth, Denise, and Georgia? Who do you identify with the most?
I see too much of myself in Ruth. Writing from her point of view made me stop and think about the choices I make as a mother. One of the pervasive themes of COMFORT OF FENCES is the immeasurable power of mothers, how a mother’s influence can change the trajectory of her children’s lives. Ruth is so overprotective that she denies her daughter a voice. I’m a strong personality, too, a strong mother. Through Ruth, I’ve learned to listen more, open the world to my children more, trust that I can give them roots but I must give them wings, as well.
I am quite maternal in my love for Denise. She is underestimated by most everyone around her yet she has such an innate, zen-like kind of wisdom. From her I’ve learned that silence is powerful, too. I’ve learned that even lives that society deems “small” are still powerful. Denise makes me want to be a better mother.
And Georgia. Georgia is the best friend I have always wanted, so I created her!
Georgia is brassy, strong, self-assured, and funny. She usually has all the answers but is confident enough to let others come to their own answers in their own time. She swears, and takes the “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere” a little far sometimes. She holds hands, and she kicks butt, but knows the appropriate time for each.
On your website you have a quote by Francis Bacon, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” What are the books that inspired you to want to tell your own stories?
The book that continues to have the biggest impact one me is Toni Morrison’s BELOVED. I love Toni Morrison’s writing, her way of capturing the poetry of language to explore the horrors humans can inflict on one another and yet also reveal the unbreakable spirit of those society tries to silence. My dream has been to write a book and have it sit on library shelves next to Toni Morrison’s. That dream has been realized, at least in my home!
What are some songs that would be part of the soundtrack if Comfort of Fences was made into a movie?
First, without a doubt, “You Are My Sunshine.” Elvis would have to be in there as he is a temptation to Ruth when she was a girl. Johnny Mathis’s “Until the Twelfth of Never” as it is Ruth and Yancey’s song. “Ava Maria” for Denise. And there would have to be some Jimmy Buffet for Georgia!
All writers have experienced moments when they feel like they have hit a wall. They don’t know where the story is going or may be struggling with conveying a certain message. What do you do to relax and break down that wall?
I wait. I’m not one of those that will sit down and write just to write. I go outside, look at the artistry in nature. I talk to people and listen to their stories. It amazes me what people are going through every day. I get people’s life stories standing in line at the grocery store! I see stories in every car when I sit in traffic. I question motives, wonder at how the woman on one side of me ends up in a Mercedes worth $200,000 and the man on the other side of me is in a wrecked, beat up, 20 year old Honda hatchback. Stories are everywhere! I’ve found that the art and challenge is creating interest for a reader and keeping them engaged for 300 pages.
Want to learn more about Stacy Overman Morrison and Comfort of Fences? Connect with Stacy on Goodreads andFacebook. You can also reach her through her website. Keep reading to learn more about Comfort of Fences and clickhere to enter the giveaway to win a free Kindle edition copy.
comfort of fences
Ruth is dying and her 52 year old daughter Denise has never paid a bill, lived on her own, or had a romantic relationship. Ruth knows she has been overprotective, but hoped that she would outlive her special-needs daughter. Metastasized cancer crushes that hope and forces Ruth to find a way to provide for Denise once she is dead. First Ruth turns to Social Security for Disability benefits. After tests, pokes and prods, doctors, nosy psychologists, and ill-furnished waiting rooms, the government declares Denise not eligible for benefits. Mad at the world and daring the government to arrest her so they will have to take care of her since they wouldn’t her daughter, Ruth takes up smoking pot in the backyard. A few joints in, Ruth begins to realize her anger is self-directed. She doubts every decision she has ever made in raising her daughter that doctors, in the 1950s, labeled “retarded.” Partially to coax her mother from the backyard and partially because Ruth will not speak of the past, Denise asks her mother to write down their history of which Denise has no memory. Trying to atone and explain how she could be so obtuse, Ruth agrees. Telling her story becomes an obsession for Ruth who sees the history as her only chance to leave a place for herself in the world since cancer is steadily eating away her physicality. While Ruth writes, Denise begins to pursue her own independence, despite the minor setbacks of a chopped off fingertip and chemo poisoning. She begins to make choices for herself and finally tells her mother pieces of her own truth: Denise stayed with her mother because she chose to, because she loved her mother more than any life she could make for herself. In claiming her own truth, Denise also chooses silence about the biggest secrets of all. Comfort of Fences explores the messy business of mothering. It is a story about the love between a devoted mother and her special daughter that exposes the irony that the people we love the most can also be the ones we underestimate the greatest.
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