SANDRA KRING
Interviewed by Brenda Birch
Sandra Kring, author of CARRY ME HOME, a Book Sense Notable Pick and a 2005 Midwest Bookseller’s Award Nominee, and THE BOOK OF BRIGHT IDEAS, Target's Bookmarked Selection for summer 2006 which is currently in its 5th printing, is a favorite of The Scruffy Dog Review. She graciously gave us a few minutes of her time to talk about her wonderful books and her blossoming writing career.
Here’s what the reviewers are saying about Sandra’s work:
-Strong characters, a clear community portrait and a memorable protagonist whose poignant fumblings cloak an innocent wisdom demonstrate Kring's promise. – Publishers Weekly
-Sandra Kring's passionate voice is reminiscent of Faulkner, Hemingway and Steinbeck, and leaves you wanting more. In these modern days where commercial thrillers and chick-lit often rule the best-seller list, her old-fashioned style seems new again, and quite a welcome change. The story flows flawlessly from beginning to end and her words are sheer artistry, carefully woven to create Earwig's world. She will make you laugh, have you in tears and take you back to the days of good friends, good times, millponds and bonfires. This is a piece destined to become a classic and is a must read for devotees of the historical fiction or the literary fiction genre. – Midwest Book Review
On your bio page on your website, you say you believe that writers are born not made. You admit you never appreciated the “magic of fiction” until adulthood. Was there ever a feeling or some nagging inner voice in your youth that perhaps set forth “the seed” that put you on the path to becoming an author?
Although I didn’t start reading until I was seventeen, I always had a longing to write stories, and a desire for books. Even at the age of four—living in a house without books or writing implements, and having never been read to—I’d carry sticks into my room and write stories on the unfinished walls. And in 1st grade, when I finally had a handful of words to work with, I stole my teacher’s green crayon and started a story on the backs of old photographs. My guilt, and a shortage of photographs, forced me to return the crayon and abandon the project, but I never forgot the excitement I felt creating that story. And I always longed for books, filling out the Weekly Reader book order forms as though I could actually have the ones I selected.
When I married at seventeen, and moved to a new town so my husband could start college, I found myself alone most of time. My husband was an avid newspaper reader, so we began meeting at the library after or in between his classes. I got my first library card, started in fiction at “A,” and was soon reading four to five books a week. Eventually, I started nurturing the idea of becoming a writer myself, and ultimately decided that I’d always processed the characteristics I believe all writers have: I was a day dreamer, I was an observer, I loved words, I had an insatiable appetite to understand human nature, and to know how a story would end. And I realized, too, that there was always a part of me that believed I would reach beyond my violent, sad childhood, and write myself a better life.
All of your characters from Earwig to Winnalee and even Aunt Verdella are wonderful. Which character was your favorite to write? Which character provided the biggest challenge?
My favorite characters to write, are always the characters who are free spirits. The ones who call it like they see it. For this reason, I had the most fun writing Earwig, Winnalee, and Freeda.
As for which character proved to be the biggest challenge, I’d have to say it was Jewel, Button’s mother in The Book of Bright Ideas. It’s strange, but when writing in 1st person, if my narrator does not know a person well, then I have to really struggle to find out who that character is. This was the case with Jewel. I had to let who she was reveal itself to me slowly, learning her nature, her story, as Button learned these things.
How much did your father’s recent passing play in your decision to sit down and write CARRY ME HOME?
More so than my father’s passing, it was his life that sparked my interest in writing Carry Me Home. After his death, I was given photographs he took while serving in the Pacific. Several of the photographs were of him and two young men he identified on the back only as “my buddies.” On the night I received them, I went to bed feeling heavy of heart because it was obvious that we were going to war in Iraq. I laid awake for a long time, wondering what it must be like to send a loved one off to war—especially in my father’s time, when communication between soldiers and their families was sparse—and wondering what my father’s life during and after the war. I woke up the next morning determined to explore those questions on paper. Five minutes later, the voice of Earwig emerged to answer my questions.
Can you let our readers know what the first title of CARRY ME HOME was, why you chose the first title and why you decided to change it?
Carry me home begins and ends in the same setting. At the Mill Pond, with Earwig, his brother Jimmy, and Jimmy’s friends spearing suckers and drinking beer under a full moon. The kind of moon that Earwig tells us Jimmy said always reminded him of “a big white titty.” Thus, I used the title UNDER THE TITTY MOON. I knew, of course, that it was unlikely a publishing house would let the book go out with that title, and I was right. A wise choice, probably, but the original title still makes me smile.
Were there any of your characters that you created that you really didn’t care for much?
Creating characters is the easy part for me, and I always like them—even if I wouldn’t care for some of them in real life. Now if you were asking me which scenes I didn’t particularly care for, I’d have a list that went on, and on, and on.
Are there any characters in your books based on people you know in real life?
The closest I’ve come to basing a character on a real person, is the character of Winnalee. I once listened to a speaker at a woman’s conference who was named Winnalee. She was a free spirit, imaginative, and bubbly. I borrowed her name, and the image I concocted of her as a child. Past that, the only real person any of my characters are based on, is me. Most of my characters are, in essence, a piece of me.
Which book came easier for you and why?
Carry Me Home came easier, but only because I knew that if I ultimately didn’t like the story, I could toss it out and begin a new one. With my second book I was working under the pressure of a deadline, and conscious of the fact that I now had to please an agent, an editor, a publisher, and the readers of Carry Me Home. This was intimidating to me, and made me realize that my editor was right when she said that the second book is the hardest book a writer will ever write.
Are there any authors who inspired you to become a writer? Who are your favorites now?
When I was learning to write, I had to avoid the writers I hold in highest esteem, and concentrate instead, on writers I think don’t write well. During my most insecure, doubtful moments, I’d pick up one of their books and read a few really horrible paragraphs. Doing this assured me that even if I wasn’t going to be the “best” writer the world had ever seen, I definitely wasn’t going to be the worst, either.
As for my favorite writers now, I am very impressed with three writers whose debut novels will soon be released. Writers whose books I loved enough to blurb: Lesley Kagen, Renee Rosen, and Kristy Keirnan. I’m sure there are hundreds of contemporary authors out there whose work I would love, but unfortunately, reading fiction while I’m writing it is a lot like listening to two radios tuned to two different radio stations. I simply can’t do it. I sigh to think of all the wonderful writers I’m missing out on.
When you begin writing your novels, do you outline or let the story take over?
I never outline. If I even tried, I’d have the story so muddled that even I’d get lost. I simply begin with a question, find the voice who will tell the story, and let them tell it without my interference.
Tell us a little bit about your path to publication.
I am one of the lucky ones, in that getting published was quick and painless for me. I wrote Carry Me Home in six weeks, found an agent two weeks after I started my search, and sold the book to Bantam Dell two months later. For me, the difficult part was the years prior to publication, when I was pouring time and emotional energy into a dream no one could promise me I’d ever realize.
How did you handle the publicity aspect of the books?
I’m an ideas person, and I come up with brilliant plans for publicity. Unfortunately, I have the attention span of a toddler with ADD, and before the book is even released, I’ve forgotten all about those wonderful plans. Occasionally I think about hiring a publicist, but that thought doesn’t hang around very long, either.
What’s next for Sandra?
I’m busy working on my third novel, The Absent Savior, for Bantam Dell, and I’m having so much fun with my characters: A 62-year old New-Age grandmother with legs like Tina turner, who is obsessed with not eating “Frankenfood,” yet chain smokes. Her 33-year-old daughter, a writer, whose literary novel only sold four hundred and eleven copies, so she switched to penning Christian romances, even though she’s an atheist and bitter about love. And the narrator of the story, 12-year-old Lucy, who uses her genius to uncover the family secrets that will explain why the topic of fathers is every bit as shameful and forbidden as the topic of her mother’s Christian romances.
Past writing as many books as I can sell, I’m setting my sites on public speaking, and of course, ultimately hitting that New York Times Bestseller’s list. The latter might be a long shot, but as Winnalee says, “You have to believe anything’s possible, or else what’s the point?”
. . . and we here at The Scruffy Dog Review are certain you’ll there soon!
