Questions and Answers...You asked, I'll tell.
One of the lesbian readers' groups I'm part of on Facebook has invited me to be their featured author of the week (woot! woot!) and as such asked for a fun bit of trivia about myself along with various other relevant info. I don't know about your views on yourself or your life; but for me, I find it hard to think of much about myself as fascinating. Not that I'm not an interesting person, but I'm in my life, living it every day, and to me everything about me is ordinary. That and I have NO IDEA what the heck people would want to know. SO! I put the question to my Facebook friends (from my public profile) and the following is what that produced:
When did you realize that you wanted to be a writer and how have you come up with the ideas for your books? I’ve always had a pretty active imagination and a fairly strong grasp of language. I don’t know that I ever really dreamed of being a novelist, per se, (and if I’m being honest, it’s really tertiary to my focus even today- it’s just something I do sometimes) but I have always enjoyed writing (the love of reading came much later). When I was in the 5th grade, my teacher created these little blank booklets out of sheets of paper and made covers out of contact paper and the whole thing was probably 10 pages, tops. Our assignments relative to these things involved drawings and stories and that’s really where I got my start writing creatively. My whole life, I’ve always received high marks on all of my writing, and who doesn’t enjoy getting high marks? Apparently I’m pretty good at it, so why not?
As for book ideas, they come from things in my life, things that I’m interested in, etc – things I want to better understand or things that I really enjoy.
You were once a trapper in the wilderness (from my aunt).Yes I was; that’s true. When I was 8 years old, my grandfather and I formed a partnership (my doing, contract and everything) and went about fur trapping. We sold the pelts, I got half the proceeds (invested in CDs) and over the course of growing up I paid for a good bit of my own school clothes and dental work, doctor visits, etc-as well as some of my college with it. It’s not necessarily something I would do today, but it’s a good survival skill I guess.
Why do you write what you write? Do you just write or outline? What is the hard part of writing for you? Did you ever write something and later wish you had not done it?OK- that’s a LOT of question! LOL. So I write what I write because it’s me; it’s in/on my mind. That’s true for my work as well as the rest of my words. For ‘Changing Shape,’ [CS] I planned the SHIT out of it. When I was done with that part of it, it just sort of spilled out. Then I spent the next 6 months editing (I’d set it aside for a couple weeks, go over it, set it aside, go over it, etc- I edited it 9 times before I finally published it and there are STILL editing errors in it. (It’s so much easier to edit other people, as I’m certain anyone can attest to.) The next one will be better and I’ll re-release a more honed version of CS at some point. My current WIP is something that began out of the momentum of CS and I ran headlong into it without any planning at all. Now I see what a huge mistake that was, because I really need the structure that planning provides. I find that planning actually gives me more freedom to create because I know where the boundaries are and can stretch them from that knowing. Besides that, my ‘real’ life got in the way and the work has been stalled.
I am not sorry for anything I’ve written. There’s a scene in CS that I got some flak for; but, it was true to the people in the story, had a purpose to the character development and I have a duty to remain honest in that. So it wasn’t what readers were expecting and some found it offensive. I can’t think of anything more natural than sex or seeking comfort in another person- it’s part of being human, of being real. I’ll never apologize for something like that; I can’t coddle my audience and I would hope that they don’t want that from me. Luckily, there were as many if not more people who reached out to tell me what a great scene that was, how much they appreciated how well I treated Elizabeth’s ‘fluidity,’ etc. The fact is, people are going to agree or not agree, appreciate or not. I can’t allow that to affect the work if I expect to remain true to myself and the characters I create.
I know you're very philosophical and one thing that would be interesting for me to know is, if you could write about anything that may require in depth research, what would it be?Oh goodness….Well, I love learning new things. Things that are of great interest to me include anthropology, archeology and history, psychology, science, art…I also adore mythology, existentialism, theology … anything that makes me question the answers I’ve been given and challenges me to find new ones.
Kat's Fun Fact: she loves to fish, catches a ton, yet she sends them back in with their friends because she doesn't eat them. I love anything involving being outside- hiking, camping, fishing, kayaking, laying about… And yes, it’s true, most of the time I don’t like eating fish. (I know, I know, I’ve heard it all before.) Although… I love fried calamari and sushi and could eat that every day (both maki and sashimi, but not eel).
How many story ideas come to you when you're at the wheel and are you ever tempted to write in the clay so you don't lose the thought? OK, so for those of you out there who don’t know, I’m also a potter and my store is here- this is what the question is referring to (wheel, clay, etc) J As I have stated previously, writing is a tertiary creative outlet for me and even further than that as a source of income- it is one of many hobbies I have. Part of what this means is that it is not my primary thinking set and doesn’t generally invade whatever else I’m doing. Luckily, it works both ways and when I can get into a writing flow, that’s the thing that gets my undivided attention- provided all of my other responsibilities/ priorities are met. Because it’s not a priority for me (like a compulsion that other writers feel), I feel guilty when there’s other stuff I have to do and this blocks me. I’m more compelled to pick up my guitar.
When I allow my mind to wander, it’s usually when I’m outside doing something that doesn’t require much thinking and even then, I’m rarely thinking of writing. In fact, it’s hard for me to focus on writing when I’m writing because there’s so much else of higher priority going on in my real life.
Where you were raised is pretty darn fascinating. The isolation of the ranch is where we all got our imaginations. It's unfathomable to most I try to tell…The proximity to the border…The relics you've seen that are better than museum pieces. Your tough great grandmother is 100…Your ability to blend with country or city…You are practically a gourmet chef… (from my aunt)Ok, so I’ll take this in pieces. What Susan is referring to is the former family ranch and the general vicinity. Once my father’s final tour in the Army was completed and we returned to the states, we settled in the area where my mother and at least 5 generations of her side of my family grew up. There were a few small towns around, and even a couple small stores…Playas was about 25 miles away (mostly dirt roads) and had a small grocery store (Playas was a planned community built for the Phelps Dodge copper smelter employees) but they didn’t have much and their prices were way too high. The next nearest town was 33 miles away; Hachita amounted to a post office, a church, an old school, a couple houses and a gas-station/bar/convenience store. Once upon a time, it was a bustling little mining town (silver, copper, turquoise), complete with a railroad stop and all that – but it pretty much died by the time my mom was born, or shortly thereafter. It just took a while to sink in.
Animas was 59 miles away, and that’s where I graduated high school (my mom and multiple other family members also). The school there facilitated the entire boot-heel region as well as parts of Arizona. Other than a couple small locally owned businesses (a burger joint, a doughnut shop/ video rental place, a gas-station/store/bar, a mercantile, a phone installation company, etc) and a post office, there wasn’t much more than farms. No, living where we were required PLANNING and a monthly trip to town for supplies. That town, more often than not, was Deming – where my mother and several other family members were born.
Deming was 90 miles from the ranch. That’s where the doctors and police and groceries and dentist and all that other fancy stuff was. 90 miles. Sit back and imagine that shit for a minute. Yea. It’s fucking far. And I’m not making this up- it’s really that far away and when we went to town, it was an all day and several ice chests sort of thing. (That’s not even mentioning the lack of general infrastructure that people take for granted these days.) That’s not taking into account all the food we raised.
From my parents’ house, it was closer to go to Douglas, AZ (72 miles) or Silver Cityat 98 miles. No shit. So yea. That’s where I grew up learning to fish and hunt and trap and live with only what was necessary. Imagine my culture shock when I went off to college in a city of 13K people! LOL And I’m an only child, so my imagination came in VERY handy.
So for over 100 years, my family ran the ranch. Prior to that someone else had it (I think, maybe Susan can clear that up) and before that, it was wild. There were multiple sites to be found and excavated – you couldn’t walk 100 yards in any direction and not find an arrowhead or pottery shard or something evidencing the human history of the place. What was even COOLER than that (and that’s pretty effin’ cool) were the fossils. Imagine standing at over a mile above sea level and finding fossils of sea life. And then looking out at the vastness of the area and imagining the ocean that must have been there. Yea. No wonder I have a fascination with all things related to that stuff!
Maybe that conveys the sparseness and isolated nature that Susan was referring to….
I DO come from long lived stock. On both sides. And I am very proud of my great grandmother, Lucille – she has seen more than even I can imagine. 100 years in an extremely rural area that was hardly developed at all when she was a kid….
I am very adaptable and am comfortable in a wide variety of environments.
Gourmet chef? Well. I’m pretty sure the people who graduated culinary school would beg to differ, but I AM a very good cook with years of restaurant experience. There IS a difference, and I can definitely appreciate that. J
[You are] Incredibly gifted and talented in multiple facets, with a heart of gold and can still scream like a girl when a roach or spider appear. (From someone who heard first hand LOL) OMG- yes. I put Jamie Lee Curtis to shame when that bug showed up! Lol total movie scream. I am not really afraid of them, I just don’t like them at all and don’t want them anywhere near me. (They’re icky.) I'm generally a pacifist, but the aggressive killer comes out in me when there's a bug. Or a snake. But not before I scream bloody murder.
In response to the suggestion that I hone my responses here to project a certain persona (a genuine one, but sculpted none-the-less) [not wholly bad advice when considering the marketing/ public relations aspect of what I do]: I'm not trying to project anything other than myself at any point in time- I happen to think I'm pretty darned awesome, and I respect you and expect you to respect me- whether we agree on everything or not. If you’ve been following my blog or my Twitter or my Facebook at all over the last couple years, or have had the opportunity to cultivate a more real relationship with me, you probably already know this. I’m the only me I’ll ever be and that’s good enough for me, quirks and all. If you like me, you like me; if you don’t you don’t and I’m OK with it either way. I grew up assuming people didn’t automatically want to be my friend, so I’m pretty much ‘whatever’ about it. I would hope that over the course of my writing career (which is far from over, despite my present block), my work and my authenticity as a person would be the stand out. Plus, if I’m not creating an image for myself, I don’t have to live up to some false expectations and can’t disappoint anyone. I’m not perfect, I’m a human being and I’m happy with that (although, sometimes I wish I were a Bonobo instead)J
Colgate or Crest?I like them both, but I’ve been using Crest 3D White Pro Health something or other. I like the taste and how clean it makes my teeth feel and how sparkly! For a LONG time, I was a Tom’s of Mainegirl (Fennel especially), but then I moved to AquaFresh Whitening and now Crest. I also use the store brand version of Listerine Vanilla Mint. I was not blessed with my grandfather’s freakishly amazing teeth (only one tiny cavity in his whole life that was drilled out without drugs and not filled (it was too small) and it covered back over with enamel (I said freakish, didn’t I). I have fairly extensive reparative work in my mouth, but I’m not convinced that wasn’t mostly due in part to rural dentists digging for gold in when I was a kid and the fallout from that (I’ll never admit that it might have been my sometimes 2 pack a day bubblegum habit.). I still have my all of wisdom teeth (although I wish I didn’t because they’re a bitch to brush) and have never had braces (smile’s all mine).
What was your favorite thing about being a kid? My favorite part of being a kid is the same thing I love about being an adult: it’s the adventures that I can go on and where it takes my imagination. As a kid, I had responsibility just as I do now. Only then, it was chores and school; now as an adult it’s chores and work (which reminds me- have you registered here? :) ) and tied way more to making money instead of surviving puberty and getting a passing grade… When I go on an adventure (which boils down to doing just about anything that involves exploring outside), I think about the place. I think about the history. I think about what it was like before all the technology and industrialization and the various impacts. I think about everything else that might have stood where I am and I appreciate it and my miniscule place in it and I am grateful, just like when I was a kid.
When not writing, Kathleen is an artist and entrepreneur. More can be learned about her here:http://www.amazon.com/author/katwheelerbooks
http://www.facebook.com/katwheelerbooks
http://www.twitter.com/katwheelerbooks
http://www.katwheelerbooks.blogspot.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenrs...
Books here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BBGT86 Changing Shape
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GF01GC0 The Immaculate Chaos of
When did you realize that you wanted to be a writer and how have you come up with the ideas for your books? I’ve always had a pretty active imagination and a fairly strong grasp of language. I don’t know that I ever really dreamed of being a novelist, per se, (and if I’m being honest, it’s really tertiary to my focus even today- it’s just something I do sometimes) but I have always enjoyed writing (the love of reading came much later). When I was in the 5th grade, my teacher created these little blank booklets out of sheets of paper and made covers out of contact paper and the whole thing was probably 10 pages, tops. Our assignments relative to these things involved drawings and stories and that’s really where I got my start writing creatively. My whole life, I’ve always received high marks on all of my writing, and who doesn’t enjoy getting high marks? Apparently I’m pretty good at it, so why not?
As for book ideas, they come from things in my life, things that I’m interested in, etc – things I want to better understand or things that I really enjoy.
You were once a trapper in the wilderness (from my aunt).Yes I was; that’s true. When I was 8 years old, my grandfather and I formed a partnership (my doing, contract and everything) and went about fur trapping. We sold the pelts, I got half the proceeds (invested in CDs) and over the course of growing up I paid for a good bit of my own school clothes and dental work, doctor visits, etc-as well as some of my college with it. It’s not necessarily something I would do today, but it’s a good survival skill I guess.
Why do you write what you write? Do you just write or outline? What is the hard part of writing for you? Did you ever write something and later wish you had not done it?OK- that’s a LOT of question! LOL. So I write what I write because it’s me; it’s in/on my mind. That’s true for my work as well as the rest of my words. For ‘Changing Shape,’ [CS] I planned the SHIT out of it. When I was done with that part of it, it just sort of spilled out. Then I spent the next 6 months editing (I’d set it aside for a couple weeks, go over it, set it aside, go over it, etc- I edited it 9 times before I finally published it and there are STILL editing errors in it. (It’s so much easier to edit other people, as I’m certain anyone can attest to.) The next one will be better and I’ll re-release a more honed version of CS at some point. My current WIP is something that began out of the momentum of CS and I ran headlong into it without any planning at all. Now I see what a huge mistake that was, because I really need the structure that planning provides. I find that planning actually gives me more freedom to create because I know where the boundaries are and can stretch them from that knowing. Besides that, my ‘real’ life got in the way and the work has been stalled.
I am not sorry for anything I’ve written. There’s a scene in CS that I got some flak for; but, it was true to the people in the story, had a purpose to the character development and I have a duty to remain honest in that. So it wasn’t what readers were expecting and some found it offensive. I can’t think of anything more natural than sex or seeking comfort in another person- it’s part of being human, of being real. I’ll never apologize for something like that; I can’t coddle my audience and I would hope that they don’t want that from me. Luckily, there were as many if not more people who reached out to tell me what a great scene that was, how much they appreciated how well I treated Elizabeth’s ‘fluidity,’ etc. The fact is, people are going to agree or not agree, appreciate or not. I can’t allow that to affect the work if I expect to remain true to myself and the characters I create.
I know you're very philosophical and one thing that would be interesting for me to know is, if you could write about anything that may require in depth research, what would it be?Oh goodness….Well, I love learning new things. Things that are of great interest to me include anthropology, archeology and history, psychology, science, art…I also adore mythology, existentialism, theology … anything that makes me question the answers I’ve been given and challenges me to find new ones.
Kat's Fun Fact: she loves to fish, catches a ton, yet she sends them back in with their friends because she doesn't eat them. I love anything involving being outside- hiking, camping, fishing, kayaking, laying about… And yes, it’s true, most of the time I don’t like eating fish. (I know, I know, I’ve heard it all before.) Although… I love fried calamari and sushi and could eat that every day (both maki and sashimi, but not eel).
How many story ideas come to you when you're at the wheel and are you ever tempted to write in the clay so you don't lose the thought? OK, so for those of you out there who don’t know, I’m also a potter and my store is here- this is what the question is referring to (wheel, clay, etc) J As I have stated previously, writing is a tertiary creative outlet for me and even further than that as a source of income- it is one of many hobbies I have. Part of what this means is that it is not my primary thinking set and doesn’t generally invade whatever else I’m doing. Luckily, it works both ways and when I can get into a writing flow, that’s the thing that gets my undivided attention- provided all of my other responsibilities/ priorities are met. Because it’s not a priority for me (like a compulsion that other writers feel), I feel guilty when there’s other stuff I have to do and this blocks me. I’m more compelled to pick up my guitar.
When I allow my mind to wander, it’s usually when I’m outside doing something that doesn’t require much thinking and even then, I’m rarely thinking of writing. In fact, it’s hard for me to focus on writing when I’m writing because there’s so much else of higher priority going on in my real life.
Where you were raised is pretty darn fascinating. The isolation of the ranch is where we all got our imaginations. It's unfathomable to most I try to tell…The proximity to the border…The relics you've seen that are better than museum pieces. Your tough great grandmother is 100…Your ability to blend with country or city…You are practically a gourmet chef… (from my aunt)Ok, so I’ll take this in pieces. What Susan is referring to is the former family ranch and the general vicinity. Once my father’s final tour in the Army was completed and we returned to the states, we settled in the area where my mother and at least 5 generations of her side of my family grew up. There were a few small towns around, and even a couple small stores…Playas was about 25 miles away (mostly dirt roads) and had a small grocery store (Playas was a planned community built for the Phelps Dodge copper smelter employees) but they didn’t have much and their prices were way too high. The next nearest town was 33 miles away; Hachita amounted to a post office, a church, an old school, a couple houses and a gas-station/bar/convenience store. Once upon a time, it was a bustling little mining town (silver, copper, turquoise), complete with a railroad stop and all that – but it pretty much died by the time my mom was born, or shortly thereafter. It just took a while to sink in.
Animas was 59 miles away, and that’s where I graduated high school (my mom and multiple other family members also). The school there facilitated the entire boot-heel region as well as parts of Arizona. Other than a couple small locally owned businesses (a burger joint, a doughnut shop/ video rental place, a gas-station/store/bar, a mercantile, a phone installation company, etc) and a post office, there wasn’t much more than farms. No, living where we were required PLANNING and a monthly trip to town for supplies. That town, more often than not, was Deming – where my mother and several other family members were born.
Deming was 90 miles from the ranch. That’s where the doctors and police and groceries and dentist and all that other fancy stuff was. 90 miles. Sit back and imagine that shit for a minute. Yea. It’s fucking far. And I’m not making this up- it’s really that far away and when we went to town, it was an all day and several ice chests sort of thing. (That’s not even mentioning the lack of general infrastructure that people take for granted these days.) That’s not taking into account all the food we raised.
From my parents’ house, it was closer to go to Douglas, AZ (72 miles) or Silver Cityat 98 miles. No shit. So yea. That’s where I grew up learning to fish and hunt and trap and live with only what was necessary. Imagine my culture shock when I went off to college in a city of 13K people! LOL And I’m an only child, so my imagination came in VERY handy.
So for over 100 years, my family ran the ranch. Prior to that someone else had it (I think, maybe Susan can clear that up) and before that, it was wild. There were multiple sites to be found and excavated – you couldn’t walk 100 yards in any direction and not find an arrowhead or pottery shard or something evidencing the human history of the place. What was even COOLER than that (and that’s pretty effin’ cool) were the fossils. Imagine standing at over a mile above sea level and finding fossils of sea life. And then looking out at the vastness of the area and imagining the ocean that must have been there. Yea. No wonder I have a fascination with all things related to that stuff!
Maybe that conveys the sparseness and isolated nature that Susan was referring to….
I DO come from long lived stock. On both sides. And I am very proud of my great grandmother, Lucille – she has seen more than even I can imagine. 100 years in an extremely rural area that was hardly developed at all when she was a kid….
I am very adaptable and am comfortable in a wide variety of environments.
Gourmet chef? Well. I’m pretty sure the people who graduated culinary school would beg to differ, but I AM a very good cook with years of restaurant experience. There IS a difference, and I can definitely appreciate that. J
[You are] Incredibly gifted and talented in multiple facets, with a heart of gold and can still scream like a girl when a roach or spider appear. (From someone who heard first hand LOL) OMG- yes. I put Jamie Lee Curtis to shame when that bug showed up! Lol total movie scream. I am not really afraid of them, I just don’t like them at all and don’t want them anywhere near me. (They’re icky.) I'm generally a pacifist, but the aggressive killer comes out in me when there's a bug. Or a snake. But not before I scream bloody murder.
In response to the suggestion that I hone my responses here to project a certain persona (a genuine one, but sculpted none-the-less) [not wholly bad advice when considering the marketing/ public relations aspect of what I do]: I'm not trying to project anything other than myself at any point in time- I happen to think I'm pretty darned awesome, and I respect you and expect you to respect me- whether we agree on everything or not. If you’ve been following my blog or my Twitter or my Facebook at all over the last couple years, or have had the opportunity to cultivate a more real relationship with me, you probably already know this. I’m the only me I’ll ever be and that’s good enough for me, quirks and all. If you like me, you like me; if you don’t you don’t and I’m OK with it either way. I grew up assuming people didn’t automatically want to be my friend, so I’m pretty much ‘whatever’ about it. I would hope that over the course of my writing career (which is far from over, despite my present block), my work and my authenticity as a person would be the stand out. Plus, if I’m not creating an image for myself, I don’t have to live up to some false expectations and can’t disappoint anyone. I’m not perfect, I’m a human being and I’m happy with that (although, sometimes I wish I were a Bonobo instead)J
Colgate or Crest?I like them both, but I’ve been using Crest 3D White Pro Health something or other. I like the taste and how clean it makes my teeth feel and how sparkly! For a LONG time, I was a Tom’s of Mainegirl (Fennel especially), but then I moved to AquaFresh Whitening and now Crest. I also use the store brand version of Listerine Vanilla Mint. I was not blessed with my grandfather’s freakishly amazing teeth (only one tiny cavity in his whole life that was drilled out without drugs and not filled (it was too small) and it covered back over with enamel (I said freakish, didn’t I). I have fairly extensive reparative work in my mouth, but I’m not convinced that wasn’t mostly due in part to rural dentists digging for gold in when I was a kid and the fallout from that (I’ll never admit that it might have been my sometimes 2 pack a day bubblegum habit.). I still have my all of wisdom teeth (although I wish I didn’t because they’re a bitch to brush) and have never had braces (smile’s all mine).
What was your favorite thing about being a kid? My favorite part of being a kid is the same thing I love about being an adult: it’s the adventures that I can go on and where it takes my imagination. As a kid, I had responsibility just as I do now. Only then, it was chores and school; now as an adult it’s chores and work (which reminds me- have you registered here? :) ) and tied way more to making money instead of surviving puberty and getting a passing grade… When I go on an adventure (which boils down to doing just about anything that involves exploring outside), I think about the place. I think about the history. I think about what it was like before all the technology and industrialization and the various impacts. I think about everything else that might have stood where I am and I appreciate it and my miniscule place in it and I am grateful, just like when I was a kid.
When not writing, Kathleen is an artist and entrepreneur. More can be learned about her here:http://www.amazon.com/author/katwheelerbooks
http://www.facebook.com/katwheelerbooks
http://www.twitter.com/katwheelerbooks
http://www.katwheelerbooks.blogspot.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenrs...
Books here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BBGT86 Changing Shape
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GF01GC0 The Immaculate Chaos of
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