UPCOMING INTERVIEW: Barbie Latza Nadeau - Journalist for Newsweek, CNN & Author of Angel Face: The True Story of Student Killer Amanda Knox

Barbie Latza Nadeau is an American journalist and the author of Angel Face: The True Story of Student Killer Amanda Knox. Ms. Knox , is the American university exchange student convicted of the murder of her roommate, an English exchange student, Meredith Kercher, by Italian criminal courts in December 2009.

Amanda Knox a fresh-faced honor student from Seattle who met anyone’s definition of an all-American girl—attractive, athletic, smart, hard-working, adventure some, in love with languages and travel is known as Foxy Knoxy, has proclaimed her innocence ahead of her trial for the murder of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy.

The murder took place in Perugia, Italy, where both girls were studying abroad. The case, with its suggestions of ritual sexual violence, and Knox’s bizarre behavior throughout the investigation and trial transfixed the Italian media.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, a Rome-based Daily Beast senior writer cultivated personal relationships with the key figures in both the prosecution and the defense – describes how the Knox family’s heavy-handed efforts to control media coverage distorted the facts, inflamed an American audience, and painted an offensive, inaccurate picture of Italy’s justice system. An eye-opener for any parent considering sending a child away to study, Angel Face reveals what really went on in this incomprehensible crime.

Barbie Latza Nadeau reports for a variety of publications: Newsweek, The Daily Beast, CNN Traveller Magazine, Delta Sky Magazine, Budget Travel, Frommer's and Globe Pequot Press. She makes frequent broadcast appearances on BBC, NPR, NBC, CBS, FOX and Seattle's ABC affiliate KOMO TV.

Photo of Amanda Knox by Pier Paolo Cito
To learn more about Barbie Latza Nadeau, please visit her website
To purchase her book, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: Cynthia Jaynes Omololu - Author of YA Novel "Dirty Little Secrets"

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Cynthia Jaynes Omololu. She was born in New Jersey, but grew up in San Diego, California. She majored in English at U.C. Santa Barbara. The best part of her college was living in Scotland for a year.

She met some amazing people in Scotland who she still consider some of her best friends all these years.

She’s the author of two YA adult books: “When It's Six O'clock in San Francisco” and her latest novel “Dirty Little Secrets.”

Dirty Little Secrets is novel that deals with compulsive hoarding and its affect on a child's life.

The book tells the story of a girl forced to make an agonizing decision in this nicely realized page-turner. Sixteen-year-old Lucy has been painfully isolated from her peers for years, refusing to let anyone near her house lest they discover the towers of garbage and heaps of mold-encrusted dishes. This is a mind-blowingly intense novel.

Ms. Omololu’s leaves in Northern California with her husband and two sons.

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page. Also tell us about Cynthia Jaynes Omololu today -- the woman behind the author.

CJ Omololu: My two best friends in high school became cheerleaders and homecoming queens. I felt like I couldn’t compete with that, so I dyed my hair black and started hanging out with musicians downtown. I recently found my senior yearbook and there were two signatures in it, which didn’t bother me at the time, but now I find sort of sad.

I got my first real job as a junior in high school. It was working in City Hall in our small seaside town, doing administrative stuff. That first experience pretty much inspired me to not want to work in an office if I could help it in the future. I’ve been a lot of things (several of them office jobs) in my life before I discovered that I was actually good at something. I’ve worked for a travel agency, a weekly newspaper, a fashion designer, as a waitress and a barista before Starbucks existed. I spent my life looking for the job I have today.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing YA novels entirely that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

CJ Omololu: I love writing about a time in my own life that was full of conflict and confusion. Those years are so formative, and it’s interesting to me that the people who look like they have it together in their teens don’t necessarily do the best as adults. The stories that come to me so far have all had teenage voices, so that’s what I write. The children’s and young adult writing community is so supportive, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

E.I. Please tell your young readers about your novel “Dirty Little Secrets.” What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects about this book?

CJ Omololu: I read a magazine article about adults who had grown up in hoarded homes and that got me thinking what their childhoods must have been like. I feel that all of the characters are multi-dimensional – I made a real effort to have Lucy’s mother seem like a real person and not just a monster.

E.I. How do you weave so much information while writing and creating the character ‘Lucy Anne Thompkins’ and yet you keep her so fast-paced and interesting? Did you work her out in advance, or did she evolve as you wrote the story?

CJ Omololu: Thanks for saying that! Lucy came to me pretty fully formed, although I found out a lot about her as I worked. I try to cut anything that doesn’t add something significant to the story.

E.I. You've created a cast of so remarkably captivating and really fun characters: Lucy, Joanna, Kaylie, Josh Lee, Sara and Phil that your readers definitely clamor for more; how did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work?

CJ Omololu: I didn’t really think about that in advance – I guess I write the book that I’d like to read. When I come up with an idea, I let it stew for a month or two. When the characters start talking to me, I know it’s time to start writing. I use a very loose, 9 step outline (I’ve got a post on how I do that on my blog) and then just start writing. Fiction for me is just the process of writing down the ‘movie’ that is going on in my head, so I start writing with the first scene and go until it ends.

E.I. How did you pull in the reader into Lucy's life, living her life hour after hour as she deals with the tremendous hardships of her mother's hoarding and the tragedy that follows.

CJ Omololu: When I started the book, I wasn’t sure what the format would be, but I realized pretty quickly that it would take place in a short period of time. I basically just followed along as she dealt with what happened.

E.I. Have you witnessed hoarding in your life, but never thought of it as a disease until you wrote this novel? I’m sure your audience felt so bad for Lucy’s life. I know that this is fiction but in reality a child should never have to go through that.

CJ Omololu: Great question, and the answer is yes. We used to joke about the mess and all the belongings without understanding that it was a disorder that actually had a name. I didn’t grow up like Lucy did, but unfortunately, many kids have. I have the emails to prove it, and each one breaks my heart. I have a lot of resources on my website, including www.childrenofhoarders.com, which is one of the best places to start for someone who has a hoarding problem in the family.

E.I. Can you explain the difference between a packrat and a compulsive hoarder?

CJ Omololu: Semantics. Hoarder is a pretty recent term for what people used to call packrats. My test for hoarding is if the person can get rid of things, either by giving them away, recycling or just putting things in the trash then they’re probably going to be okay. If they always come up with excuses as to why things could be useful to someone, then they might have a problem.

E.I. Does a hoarder spends money on lockers or additional storage space, and is filling up their car with possessions because they've run out of room in the house?

CJ Omololu: Absolutely – that is classic hoarding behavior. I know one hoarder who has purchased three homes that are now full of possessions.

E.I. Are people born compulsive hoarders, or do they become them?
CJ Omololu: There is just starting to be a lot of research on this disorder, so there isn’t a clear picture of a typical hoarder at this point. There does seem to be an element of OCD that many hoarders show early in their lives. Contrary to what it might seem, hoarding can often come from perfectionist tendencies – they don’t want to get rid of things that might be useful in the future. Hoarding does seem to get worse as people get older or have a traumatic event happen in their lives like a death or divorce.

E.I. Do hoarders tend to collect different things, or are there commonalities among hoarders?

CJ Omololu: For a disorder that has been so secretive, hoarders do tend to collect similar things. If you watch the hoarding shows you will see a lot of newspaper and magazines, books, clothes and toys (even if they don’t have kids).

E.I. Do people ever go back and read the newspapers or magazines they've saved? Can you explain what it's called churning? Which I guess one of hoarders habits?

CJ Omololu: While I can’t speak for all hoarders, I doubt that most of them go back over newspapers and magazines. They tend to save them ‘just in case’ they might need them someday. Churning is when a hoarder is trying to deal with the mess, but they are really just moving items from one location to another – not actually getting rid of anything. They may start to tackle a stack of magazines, only to realize that they might need an article in every copy and end up stacking them somewhere else.

E.I. Some people hoard animals. Is that related to compulsive hoarding? Some people will say, "A stray came to my door, how could I turn it away?" It's the same kind of thing -- they think," Everything is important.

CJ Omololu: There is a similar disorder called animal hoarding where people collect dogs, cats and other pets, but I didn’t include that aspect of hoarding in my book. Hoarders tend to put an abnormal amount of emotional attachment to things, and animal hoarders do this to pets. Even though they may have many more animals than is safe or sanitary, they can’t part with any of them, even if they know they are going to good homes. I foster kittens for our local animal shelter. Every year we have about 20 kittens come through our house (in twos and threes) and each and every one is special, but when it’s time, we give them back to the shelter so that they can find their ‘forever’ homes.

E.I. What are some of the factors that can lead to someone becoming a hoarder? Are some people predisposed to collect things? Men vs. women, old vs. young, rich vs. poor?

CJ Omololu: Hoarding is one of the great equalizers. At this point, it does seem to affect more women than men, but we are just starting to get a better picture of the disorder. You don’t need money to be a hoarder – many hoarders love garage sales and dumpsters for their treasures.

E.I. How many years of research did you do about hoarders to make your novel realistic? How did you overcome these challenges?

CJ. Omololu: When I wrote the book back in 2008, there weren’t many TV shows on hoarding and it wasn’t talked about too much. Once I got the idea, I Googled ‘hoarding’ and found the website Children of Hoarders. Through that site, I found three women who worked very closely with me to get the details right. They would tell me stories and read parts of the book as I wrote to give me pointers. I’ve had people who grew up in situations similar to Lucy’s in my story tell me it was like I had a camera trained on their lives. That is the best possible compliment I can get.

E.I. And finally what’s next with Cynthia Jaynes Omololu? Can you give your fans a sneak peek about your upcoming book?

CJ Omololu: I’m just finishing a book that is very different from DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS – a bit lighter, with more romance. I felt like I needed a little break from such heavy subjects. I do have some more “issue” books waiting to be written, so I’ll probably come back to writing important issues soon. People can watch the blog at www.cynjay.blogspot.com for updates and news.

E.I. Ms. Omololu, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

CJ Omololu: Thank you! It’s been great. People told me in high school that I was a good writer, but I really didn’t pay attention and I was well into adulthood before it even occurred to me to write books. If you love writing, keep at it and don’t be afraid to share your work with other writers. Almost every writer has several ‘practice’ books in a drawer somewhere (and those who don’t, we don’t talk to) so don’t give up if your first novel isn’t perfect. It’s a long learning curve, but the rewards are awesome.

Photo of Cynthia Jaynes Omololu courtesy of the author.
To learn more about Cynthia Jaynes Omololu, please visit her website
To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: John Michael Cummings - Award-Winning Author of "The Night I Freed John Brown"

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with the Award-winning author, John Michael Cummings. He is born 1963 in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. He holds a B.A. in Art/Graphic Design from George Mason University.

He was a reporter for Times Community Newspapers March 1989 — August 1991. He reported business news for The Reston Times.

His short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including North American Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The Kenyon Review, and The Iowa Review.

He was twice been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. His short story “The Scratchboard Project” received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007. He is also the Newberry Honor recipient Ruth White award and Poet Laurete Fred Chappell award.

His novella The House of My Father, from which his debut novel was adapted, was a finalist in the 2006 Miami University Novella Contest. His other novella Chimney Rock was a Semi-finalist ,Winnow Press 2004 First Book Award for Fiction.

The Night I Freed John Brown is Mr. Cummings' powerful first novel for young readers and the Winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like?

John Michael Cummings: Shy, a little huffy, and very lost. That was me in my teens. God, not by choice, though. I so wanted to be happy and popular. But I couldn't find my smile, couldn't feel right around others, always felt small and less than enough. Inferior, in other words. Yikes! Those were terrible years.

Should I say why they were? My counselor provides an answer: a critical father.

But there was another side to me then despite him. I wrote 20-page love letters to a particular girl--nightly! She always said I would be a writer.

Or I stood in the town phone booth all evening long waiting for her to call; we didn't have a phone in my house, and by ringing the phone booth once, she would signal me to call her. (Phone booths allowed incoming calls then.) She had a house full of sisters, so her phone was always busy. Timing was everything.

So as knotted up as I was in crowds, I was a giant of devotion for this girl.

E.I. Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience.

John Michael Cummings: I was fired--fired because I kept making eyes at the waitress. I was a dishwasher, and I couldn't stop looking at her--fired, mind you, because the owner had a bigger thing going on with her. Maybe she liked the attention from a boy, and that infuriated him.

He died soon after he fired me. I always thought it was the food that killed him. It was a diner in West Virginia, after all. Need I say more about the food?

So I was a terrible dishwasher, but I knew a beautiful face when I saw it. That's my first job experience.

E.I. Tell, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page.

John Michael Cummings: Inspiration for writing has always come from joy, pain, and the curiosity in between. I write to capture the emotions that press against the lid of my head like a volcano. It's hard work, getting the words right. The fewest words, all of them dead on. But only language can answer the cry for understanding in us, and language, like us, is limitless.

Fun anecdotes? Me have fun? Never. Just kidding. Twice I drove up to John Updike's mansion in Massachusetts and left my manuscripts at his door, with a letter imploring him to read them. Twice he sent his Rottweilers after me down the driveway. Just kidding about the Rottweilers. Once, though, he did write back. "...nice touches," he said. "Try to create more curiosity. Keep writing, but don't keep sending your work to me. You need an editor. I'm a dead-end," he wrote.

John Updike a dead-end?

Rest his soul. I assumed he was too smart to smoke.

E.I. Also tell us about John Michael Cummings today -- the man behind the author.

John Michael Cummings has never been happier. He left New York City last July and is well on his way to the life he's always wanted--full of friends, love, and good writing.

I just finished a stint teaching college prep English and am about to embark on my master's degrees in creative writing at University of Central Florida. Go Knights! (No, I am not drinking a wine cooler right now.)

The man behind the author? Hmm... That is journey, isn't it? To realize the man behind the author. The new Christian. The loving boyfriend. The father figure. The decent neighbor. The good employee. The commuter. The smart shopper. None of these hats seemed to have any color in New York. Now they're brilliant.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

John Michael Cummings: "You'd probably die if you didn't write," my counselor once said.

That I'm telling you I have a counselor who's so intense to say this lets you know I'm not a pitted, sun-baked statue of a man, but a watery body, like a lake that ripples, mercurial with flitting fish.

A friend once said I had the head of a horse--sensitive. (I think this friend was drinking a wine cooler when he said this.)

Seriously, what enchants me about writing is the world of interactions, settings, and ideas that come to life on the page. Creation. Language has no limits. How can one not be psyched up by that?

E.I. Please tell your young readers about your novel “The Night I Freed John Brown.” What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects about this book?

John Michael Cummings: It's the story of a shy, mistreated boy growing up in the town where the controversial preacher-turned-revolutionary John Brown was captured in 1859 for his raid on a federal weapons depot. Brown believed he could free the slaves, and the guns at Harpers Ferry were to be the instruments of his change. Josh, in modern times, just wants to free himself, to belong to the community that lives in the historic town today. Being high on John Brown is one way to be with the in-crowd. It's a town where it's everything John Brown.

But Josh must battle his antisocial father and his way of clamping down on freedom.

The story's a modern-day parallel on the historic events at Harpers Ferry, a modern-day twist; Josh feels as liberated by John Brown as the slaves did a 150 years before him.

Imagination was not needed as much as a dramatic autobiographical treatment. I grew up in that stinking little historic tourist-trodden town I love so much. (I think I do need a wine cooler now.)

My favorite aspect was getting the novel published! That, and the gorgeous energy and details that my wonderful editor Patti Gauch lovingly and painstakingly helped me thread throughout it. Patti was the best! She made the novel twice as good as I could have ever made it without her.

I also had an excellent, outstanding, redoubtable agent: Jessica Regal. Jessica's phenom brilliance repeatedly shaped the book through critical stages. She's so young, but so good. It's scary!

Let me add that the novel took years! Five if it took one. Finding Jessica, revising. Finding Patti, revising again.

E.I. How do you weave so much fun of information while writing and creating the character ‘Josh’ and the metaphors involving John Brown? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story?

John Michael Cummings: Patti first said to me, "I like the last twenty-five pages. Rewrite the rest." Next question, as far as anything worked out in advance.

Everything evolved as the story was rewritten. Boy voice, vivid details, narrator's voice, pacing, tension, and the constant little reminders of the story's big and small promises of a payoff that is, I like to say, worthy of literature.

E.I. You've created a cast of remarkably captivating characters: Josh, his new friend Luke Richmond, Alex, Daniel, Father Ron, Bill Connors, Katie, his two brothers Jerry & Robbie that your readers definitely clamor for more; how did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work?

John Michael Cummings: Saying as much as possible in the fewest words was our motto. Letting no character be thin or weak seemed to be our next standard. Again, I drew from people I knew, so there was a direct line in the writing process to actual people. That is the key to real and memorable characters, I feel.

Level of details--what a challenge. It's all about keeping the story moving forward, the bicycle pedals pumping--one pedal story, or plot, the other pedal language, neither causing the other to skip off the chain or to get clogged with sticks.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “The Night I Freed John Brown” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

John Michael Cummings: The dedication and acknowledgments page. This novel came to fruition because of teamwork. That should never be forgotten or understated.

E.I. If you were allowed total control of the Hollywood version of “The Night I Freed John Brown” who would be in it? And in your opinion who do you think should direct?

John Michael Cummings: I would like Richard Thomas to narrate the audio book. Maybe the actor Richard Boone of the sixties or seventies could play the fierce father. Elijah Wood could play our young hero. How about Anthony Mann or John Sturges as director. (Jessica, are you reading? Sell the movie rights, please!)

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

John Michael Cummings: I work on the page and hold my plans in my head and heart. I do use a simple notebook for ideas and especially for dialogue. But I am not messy with papers lying about. My filing cabinet is my heart.

E.I. And finally, when you finish a novel, it's off to your agent and publisher, then you're on to the next. Do you find letting your manuscripts, especially your characters, as easy to part with when finished?

John Michael Cummings: Not so difficult to let finished works go. By the time I have reread and polished them enough, I'm looking forward to new terrain.

E.I. Mr. Cummings, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers all over the world?

John Michael Cummings: Uh, buy my novel? Also, find a good shrink. Finally, love what you do, and do your best. Have guts and stamina. You're special. Make sure your writing is too.

Photo of John Michael Cummings, courtesy of the author.
To purchase his book, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble.

INTERVIEW: Susan Merson, Award-Winning Actress, original cast longest running Off Broadway Play VANITIES & Author of "Dreaming in Daylight"

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with SUSAN MERSON. She is an award winning actress, writer and theatre producer and author of “Dreaming in Daylight.” She began her career as an actress in New York starring in such Off Broadway hits as the original company of Jack Heifner’s VANITIES. She spends time on Broadway under the direction of Franco Zefirelli, regional theatre and in Off Off Broadway developmental work.

She relocated to Los Angeles where her acting career has included television and film work: Totsie w/ Dustin Hoffman & Jessica Lange, Absolute Stranger w/ Henry Winkler, Lost In Yonkers w/ Richard Dreyfus, Things To Do In Denver w/ Andy Garcia & Jenny McCarthy & Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machine w Arnold Schwarzenegger & Linda Hamilton. Her television work last season was on GREY’S ANATOMY and MONK.

She co-founded the LA Writers Bloc with director/writer Jane Anderson, has developed all of her plays at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in NY and LA., and has toured her eight solo plays across North America, Europe and Israel. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College.

She has served as Resident Playwright for the Jewish Women’s Theatre Project, Literary Manager of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and worked as a reader for such companies as Fogwood Films, TNT, Polygram among many others. She currently teaches Playwrighting at Cal State Fullerton. Her plays—one of which (HAIR: A REMINISCENCE) is a 2007 Heideman Award finalist at Louisville-- have been seen at theatres across the US and Canada.

Ms. Merson’s screenplay “BOUNTY OF LACE” a full length about contemporary Israel and Palestine won the Religion and Theatre Award at the 2008 At the Conference and was produced in Chicago at the Halcyon Theatre as part of the Alcyone Festival. THE WHITE BIRCHES (Amazon Shorts), a ten-minute piece, was done at the At the conference in Denver 2008.

She currently sits on the NY Board of the Ensemble Studio Theatre, leading the NY ARTS/ EST/ SUMMER CONSERVATORY PROGRAM. THE MARRIAGE SUITE , her newest play, is slated for a fall production at Theatricum Botanicum. She was at work shopped at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and has written and performed eight solo performance pieces and

Her novel, “Dreaming In Daylight” and “YOUR NAME HERE; AN ACTOR WRITERS GUIDE TO SOLO PERFORMANCE is available in bookstores nationally.

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page. Furthermore, tell us about Susan Merson today -- the woman behind the award winning actress, writer, theatre producer, playwright and author?

Susan Merson: My goodness… hmmm. If I knew the answers to all those questions I wouldn’t have to keep writing, would I? Three Good to Knows… ummm…

1: Follow your heart,
2: There is no shame in earning a living and
3: Cultivate a good sense of humor.

On the front inside page of the Detroit News, Parade Magazine maybe when I was 11 or 12 there was a quote in frilly type face. It drew my eye and blew my mind.

Here’s a paraphrase.
Andre Gide said: “Look for your own. Do not do what someone else can do as well as you…. Look for your own and out of yourself create, you are the most irreplaceable of beings.”

I found that fact to be astonishing and if it was true, I thought, perhaps I had some work to do.

I have been reinventing myself yet again in the last couple of years, recovering from the death of my sweetheart husband after 27 years of marriage.

Returning to NYC after another life back in LA I am currently preparing the pilot summer for a new play intensive—THE NEW YORK ARTS SUMMER CONSERVATORY. We will spend six weeks working with about 19 students from the US, Europe and Asia on the art of collaboration and new play development. Challenging the student artists, Asking them to telling a story from start to finish as individuals and as part of a group. All of us learning to hone spontaneity, flexibility, outside the box thinking. I can’t wait.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

Susan Merson: Writing is part of the picture for me as an artist. It is not that different from acting, truly—getting out of the way of your brain so that the craft that you have learned can handle the downloads. It is a private and very still enterprise. I don’t really have much choice. It’s part of what do.

E.I. Please tell your readers about your novel “Dreaming in Daylight?” What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects of the book? Did this aspect of the book pose a challenge for you?

Susan Merson: “DREAMING IN DAYLIGHT” was a project on my bucket list. I had never written long form fiction and wanted to see if I could shape a story that held the reader and create a world with which I was intimately familiar. Rosie is a bit of me, I suppose. She was a young girl trying to make sense of growing up in a world that gave off a fair amount of external but not a great deal of inner framework—or at least an inner framework that I could recognize and trust. I loved revisiting some of my childhood scenarios and see how they might play when I had the freedom to adjust them and play with character, time and space. I wanted to record certain experiences and certain people and was able, I hope, to pay homage to them without telling all their secrets.

EI. How do you weave so much information while writing and creating the character ‘Rosie’ growing up in New York Jewish home, and yet you keep her so fast-paced and interesting? Did you work her out in advance, or did she evolve as you wrote the story?

Susan Merson: Actually, she grew up in Detroit, and she grew up fast. Hence the fast pace of the book. I suppose there is some of the playwriting craft there as well, getting to the heat of a scene as fast as possible. I had a beginning point for Rosie and a place where I thought she would come to… but the journey unfolded as I wrote.

E.I. You've created a cast of so remarkably captivating characters: Rosie, Leo (Rosie’s dad) and Belle (Rosie’s mom) that your readers definitely clamor for more; how did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work?

Susan Merson: Again, it is very much like acting. One places oneself in the situation and looks around, looks up and in and around the people who show up. What did they smell like? What were their loves and lives.. their favorite foods… all those specific details. Where are they coming from? Going to? Can’t really worry too much about what the readers accept. Though corny, the truth is that characters and situations have their own truth and the job of the artist is to tune into it and transmit it to the reader or viewer.

E.I. How did you pull in the reader into Rosie’s life, living her life day after day as she deals with the tremendous prejudice and hardship in her life?

Susan Merson: Rosie did it. Not me.

E.I. Do you take the view of a Jewish woman, or do you see
yourself as an objective observer, while writing Dreaming in Daylight?

Susan Merson: Well, I’m not an objective observer. I write from who I am. Sometimes a certain part of who I am may be leading the POV, but an artist filters through who they are and yes… I am a Jewish woman.

E.I. Your novel is a riveting work of fiction. What were for you the most haunting events in Rosie’s life?

Susan Merson: Thanks. I am pleased that the story held you tightly. I think the death of a parent, and the illness of a parent—those folks who are supposed to make you feel safe as a kid-- are the most traumatic. A kid needs to feel safe, somehow.. and if the parents are dealing with their own trauma—(which most parents do, they are people after all—)if the parents are in extremis then the kid has to adapt, survive and eventually thrive on her own merit.

E.I. And finally what’s next with Susan Merson? Can you give your fans a sneak peek about your upcoming book or play?

Susan Merson: I am actually working on a nonfiction piece about reclamation of body mind and spirit after the loss of my husband. I found that I needed to reconnect with myself somehow in my grief. I started with my body. As I got to know myself again, and began to release the pain that had stunned and paralyzed me, I found that my life could reopen in a challenging and exciting way. The work is pretty deep and the language rich. I so hope that it finds an audience. It is an important work for me.

E.I. Ms. Merson, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

Susan Merson: Rilke did it better: “Trust Life. Life is right in any case.”

Photo of Susan Merson, courtesy of the author.
To learn more about Susan Emerson, please visit her website.
To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: Jillian Cantor - Award-Winning YA Author of "September Sisters"

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Jillian Cantor. She is the author of YA novels, “The September Sisters” which was nominated for the Rhode Island Teen Book Awards and YALSA Best Book for Young Adults.

She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona, where she was a recipient of the national Jacob K. Javits fellowship.

Her first novel, The September Sisters, was called "memorable" and "startlingly real" by Publishers Weekly. September Sisters is now out in paperback.

Her other novel, THE LIFE OF GLASS was published February 9th 2010 by Harperteen.

Ms. Cantor’s debut novel for adults, THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS, will be released in Fall 2010 by Avon/HarperCollins.

Jillian Cantor lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page. Also tell us about Jillian Cantor today -- the woman behind the author.

Jillian Cantor: As a teenager I loved to read, but in high school I mainly concentrated on music. I played clarinet competitively and spent most of my time practicing or at some band or orchestra rehearsal!

I majored in English in college because I didn’t want a career in music, and English was a subject I’d always enjoyed. I thought I’d be a journalist, and my first job was an internship at a newspaper, the summer after my freshman year in college. I hated it! I got bored very quickly, writing the truth, and I realized what I enjoyed about writing was the creative side, so when I returned to college in the fall, I took my first fiction writing class. That was the point when I really seriously thought I wanted to become an author.

Today, I’m a mom to two little boys, who take up the majority of my time. In any free moment I get, I’m writing!

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing YA Novels that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

Jillian Cantor: Well, I do write books for young adults and adults, and I enjoy writing them both. But I think the short answer to your question is that YA speaks to me because I love writing stories that are “coming of age” stories, and I think the teenage years are when these stories most often take place.

E.I. Please tell your young readers about your novel “The Life of Glass.” What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects about this book?

Jillian Cantor: The Life of Glass is the story of 14-year-old Melissa. It takes place about a year and a half after her father dies and follows Melissa through her freshman year of high school as she must deal with her mother dating again, her beautiful and obnoxious older sister ignoring her, and her best friend Ryan abandoning her for the new beautiful girl at school. Also, she begins to unravel a mystery about her father’s past, and begins to wonder how well she really knew him.

The idea for the book came from this image I had of a girl wearing a pink prom dress and riding her bike through the desert. I tried to think about who this girl would be, where she was going, what she was doing, what kind of person she was. It was clear to me she would be somewhat of a tomboy, not caring much about beauty in the traditional sense, and the story came from there. I had it in my mind that this prom dress/bike scene would be the last scene of the book, and I wrote towards that. (It did not, by the way, end up in the book, but you will definitely see pieces of this image near the end.)

My favorite aspects of the book are, as is always true with my books, the characters. I loved writing Melissa and her sarcastic wit. The supporting characters were fun too, and in a lot of ways brought me back to what it felt like to be in high school.

E.I. How do you weave so much information while writing and creating the character ‘Melissa’? Did you work her out in advance, or did she evolve as you wrote the story?

Jillian Cantor: When I write, my characters become like real people to me. So when I thought of Melissa that way, it wasn’t hard to figure out the details of her life. As I started to write her, as I could hear her voice in my head, the details evolved from there. And as I said in the previous answer, really the idea for her came from that image I had. The rest did evolve as I wrote the story.

E.I. You've created a cast of so remarkably captivating and really interesting characters: Melissa, her best friend Ryan, her bitchy older sister Ashley, her aunt Julia and the manipulative new girl Courtney? How did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work that your readers definitely clamor for more?

Jillian Cantor: Thank you! I’m glad you found them captivating. I don’t think I decided consciously what level of detail to include or what readers would accept. When I wrote the book I tried to tell the story I felt I needed to tell, with the characters I felt needed to be there. I try not to think about how readers will react or what they’ll think when I’m in the process of writing, but rather just to tell the best story I possibly can, in a way where I would believe it and I would want to read it, as a reader.

E.I. In any of your novels, how do you imagine audience as you are writing? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

Jillian Cantor: Well, as I said above, no I really don’t try to imagine the audience as I’m writing. I try to write for myself, to write what I love, and then after I have drafts done and I show the book to my agent or my editor, I get some input that might be more geared towards audience or the market. But as a writer, I don’t worry about any of this in the initial drafts.

I’m not much of an outliner, I’m afraid. Usually I’ll have a general sense of where a story will begin and where I’ll want it to end, and maybe a few key plot points in between to kind of guide the story. Most of the plot comes to me as I’m writing, or even, after I’ve finished the first draft. When I begin I usually have a premise or a hook for the story and some idea of who the characters are. And no, I don’t have storyboards on my walls! Usually I’ll begin with a Word document that lists my cast of main characters, their names, their roles in the story, etc. and a few plot points.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “The Life of Glass” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

Jillian Cantor: When I do readings from The Life of Glass, often I’ll choose to read the first chapter. The first chapter takes place about a year and half before the rest of the book, and I think in a lot of ways, it almost stands on its as somewhat of a short story. I think you really get a sense of who the major players in the novel are here – Melissa, her sister Ashley, her mother, her father, her best friend Ryan.

E.I. If you were allowed total control of the Hollywood version of “The Life of Glass” who would be in it? And in your opinion who do you think should direct?

Jillian Cantor: Well I think Kristen Stewart would be great for Melissa and Michael Cera would be the perfect Ryan. I’d say Ashley Judd for Melissa’s Mom and definitely Dianna Agron (Quinn from Glee) would be the perfect Courtney. I’m not too up on my directors to say who should direct, but hey, if anyone wants to, I’m willing J

E.I. And finally what’s next with Jillian Cantor? Can you give your fans a sneak peek about your upcoming book?

Jillian Cantor: My first book for adults will be out on November 2nd from Avon/HarperCollins. It’s called The Transformation of Things and tells the story of a woman who, after her judge-husband is indicted, begins dreaming true things about her friends and family.

E.I. Ms. Cantor, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers all over the world?

Jillian Cantor: Thank you so much for having me! A tip I have is not to give up. There’s a lot of rejection in publishing, but if writing is what you love, keep at it, keep revising, and keep trying to get your work out there.


Photo of Jillian Cantor, "courtesy of the author"
To find out more about Jillian Cantor, please visit her website.
To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble.

INTERVIEW: Laurie Notaro - Journalist and a New York Times best-selling author of "The Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club"

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Laurie Notaro. She is a Journalist and a New York Times best-selling author. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from Arizona State University major in Journalism. Ms. Notaro was a columnist for ten years at ‘The Arizona Republic’ which is a conservative newspaper.

Her book, The Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club, was a New York Times Best-Seller in 2002. The book is comprised pieces of Ms. Notaro writing from a magazine when she was in college at Arizona State University. It was a small publication called Java and a Planet magazine she started with her friends in 1994.

Originally The ‘Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club which is a funny collection of biographical essays was self-published through an independent publishing company. Ms. Notaro tried to get published for seven years but was rejected by countless mainstream publishers before taking her destiny in her own hands by self-publishing it through iUniverse in December of 2000.

Through her marketing efforts and a call from an agent Jenny Bent offered to sell her book and it was sold within three days. It was picked up by Random House which was a six-figure, two-book deal in October 2001.

Ms. Notaro is also the author of Autobiography of a Fat Bride, I Love Everybody, We Thought You’d Be Prettier, and An Idiot Girl’s Christmas.

Her new book “Spooky Little Girl” is about Lucy Fisher, an average happy go lucky, self centered girl, up until she gets back from a vacation and discovers her life turned upside down. Her fiancé leaves her possessions in their lawn, she loses her job, and just when it can't get any worse, ends up being killed when she walks in front of a bus on her way to see her sister.

She later finds herself as a ghost, in “ghost school,” and later haunting the last place she ever wanted to be in. She finds her fiancée dumped her and why nobody attend her funeral? None of her friends know that she is dead. To them she is just missing. The only way to a happy ending now depends on how she does in Ghost School.

"Spooky Little Girl" is now available in bookstores and on line.

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Give your readers three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career, any fun details or anecdotes that would enliven your page. Also tell us about Laurie Notaro today -- the woman behind the New York Times bestselling author of The Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club.

Laurie Notaro: As a teenager? That was a really, really long time ago. I guess I had started to write a little bit in English and Creative Writing classes, I worked on my high school newspaper, I had a horrible little humor column in there that was dreadful. But it was the beginning of what I do today, I suppose. I was in the melt-away middle social class in high school--I definitely wasn't popular, I was in that in-between that no one really ever notices. I had frizzy hair, braces, and bad skin. What can you do? You have to shed those years, you don't get to skip them. While it wasn't enjoyable to go through, I know that having frizzy hair and braces was a base for my writing perspective today. Once you've been that girl, you really never shed her, even decades later.

Three "Good to Know" facts about my first job...?
1. I worked for free.
2. I worked for free.
3. I worked for free.

I get tons of email from young writers who want to know how they can make money from writing. My first real bylines came about because I was willing to work for nothing and I did it because I needed to establish myself as a writer; I knew I had to pay my dues first. I'm big on paying dues, but that was also the best way to get into the game, or break into the profession. You start small. I didn't write my first piece for Vanity Fair; hardly anyone does that. You start at the bottom of the ladder, and more times than not, that means you do it because you love what you do, and eventually, you hope to get a $15 paycheck. Sometimes people don't appreciate things unless they've seen them from the bottom up. I went to journalism school at Arizona State University, and I worked my butt off. My academic record certainly suffered, but in turn, I got a great education in for the college magazine and interning at other publications around the city. For free.

Who am I today? I still work for free on occasion. I'm still building my readership and maintaining it. Marketing has become a part of any writer's life, and you spend half of your time—if not more—working to get your stuff out there. I'm very fortunate to have had the opportunities that came my way, very lucky, and in many ways, I'm glad that it took me so many years to secure a book deal (it took seven years of round the clock attempts) because I know what it's like to work to get one. The fact that i get to write something and it gets published is very, very dear to me.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing funny memoir and humorous novels entirely that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

Laurie Notaro: Honestly, if I can make someone chuckle or laugh when they're having a shitty day, that's all I need. I love doing what I do--once I get into the rhythm of things, it is an absolute ball. Sometimes it takes a while to get there, and I get blocked just like everyone else. But when I'm working on a piece and it's going well and everything is coming together, it's a fantastic feeling. If I can make myself laugh when I'm working, I doubt there's a better job out there at that moment. I doubt very much that there's an art to it. I don't take that kind of thing very seriously. I like telling stories. I like laughter, and if I can get that in tandem, man, that's a gold rush to me.

E.I. Please tell your young readers about your novel “Spooky Little Girl.” What was it that sparked your imagination? What were your favorite aspects about this book?

Laurie Notaro: The basis of this book came about when I was getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist's office and the dental hygienist, Jody, said I reminded her of her friend, Lucy Fisher, and she went on to tell me that Lucy had been killed in a truck accident, although it took her friends a very long time to find out that she had died. There was something that was very moving about that story--it was sad and tragic, because no one wants to end that way. We all want to be remembered, no one wants to be forgotten. So that was a great jumping off point for me--to take the story of Lucy's death and start the story from there. I loved being able to sort of bring Lucy "back to life," and create a whole world where the living and the dead are mingling together, very often shoulder to shoulder, though only the dead know it. Creating the ghost school--where Lucy learns how to be a spirit and use the skills of a ghost--was also a lot of fun. It isn't often that you get to build a new universe in a plot, so I had a blast figuring things out and determining the parameters of this new space.

E.I. How do you weave so much fun of information while writing and creating the character ‘Lucy Fisher’ and yet you keep them so fast-paced? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story?

Laurie Notaro: While I didn't know Lucy Fisher personally, Jody told me enough about her to use as a base. But certainly, she built herself as the story moves along. She starts out as a flaky, good-time girl who usually gets out of trouble she's created because of luck--and by the book's end, she's someone altogether different, she matures in her own death. There was so much to squeeze into the plot that I didn't have time to take it easy or plod along, plus, I wanted the rhythm of the book to resemble the romantic comedies of the 30's, Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Carole Lombard movies. Screwbally. Funny, nutty, disastrous, then coming together to weave a great ending. I had Martin and Nola planned out far better than I had thought about Lucy. I let Lucy be who she needed to be, I sort of followed her lead. Naunie, too. Naunie was never supposed to be that naughty, but she was on fire toward the end. Crazy old lady.

E.I. You've created a cast of so remarkably captivating and really fun characters: Lucy Fisher, Martin and Nola that your readers definitely clamor for more; how did you decide what level of details your readers will accept? How does your creative process work?

Laurie Notaro: People accept what's familiar to them; when they recognize something, I think they are more apt to embrace it or find it funny. I know I am certainly that way. I think everyone has known a version of Martin, who's very straight-arrow, no-nonsense, very grounded, and Nola, who is very lonely, desperate, jealous, and biting. I don't spend time telling the reader who these people are--it's more effective to show them through the actions of the character and through the observations of other characters. I learned that from a marvelous mentor and editor I had while working at a city magazine, Dick Vonier--he insisted that you show, not tell. This way, the reader gets to bring their own translation of the character to the page--they ultimately get to decide who this person is, and the way you that is to let them decide. It's not really up to me. I don't want the reader to read the book--I want to put them in the book. I want them to see what I see when I'm writing a scene, to hear what I hear. Every one relates to something different, not one perspective is standard. Show the reader a picture of the character, observe them in their daily life--what they do, how they act, what they say. Maybe it will remind them of their dad, brother, co-worker, let them bring that identity into what you've provided and that will fill out a character for a reader. For instance, my husband told me he knew I had based Martin on him--and honestly, Martin doesn't have any of the characteristics I see in my husband, and is in no way based on him. Martin is not my husband, in my eyes. But my husband did relate to Martin from some angle--enough to see himself in that character, when I think Martin and my husband are sort of polar opposites.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Spooky Little Girl” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

Laurie Notaro: Oh, boy. I have lots of favorite scenes, but my I think my absolute favorites are two of the most pivotal points in the book. They're not funny. One is the last scene in chapter nineteen, both Lucy and Martin go through tremendous changes in a matter of seconds, both facing the honesty about where they are and what they have done, and both of them in very, very different places. It's a very quiet scene, it's very simple, it happens in only several paragraphs, but at the same time, it's the most complicated aspect of the book. Another, of course, is the very last scene in the whole book, when Lucy meets up again with Bethanny to tie the whole thing together. I was elated when I wrote that last line. I was really, really happy for Lucy.

E.I. If you were allowed total control of the Hollywood version of “Spooky Little Girl” who would be in it? And in your opinion who do you think should direct?

Laurie Notaro: Oh boy, what a fantasy, huh? I would love Danny DeVito to direct it; he directed my all time favorite movie, Death to Smoochy. I have never really thought about pairing the characters up with actors, but Lauren Graham comes to mind as Lucy, Betty White as Naunie, I have no idea for Nola--maybe Kirstie Alley or Kathy Najimy? I can see them both being feisty enough. And for Martin--I actually based the physical part of Martin off of the guy who really did work in the produce department at my Safeway. No idea what his name is.

E.I. How many years of research did you do to a ghost protagonist in your novel? How did you overcome these challenges?

Laurie Notaro: I did do research, but this was an area that I had always been interested in and read a lot about already. I love ghost stories, and I love the idea of the possibility of ghosts. The great thing is that there is no hard, fast science about the afterlife, so I was free to make all of it up. So I did. My Nana had just died when I began working on this book, so when I was building ghost school and The State, I used my idea of where I wanted her to be at that moment. Would it be a place where she could finally play cards with Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra, or where you could eat brownie batter with your finger with no consequences? I wouldn't say I spend years doing research, but I did pull the book together over the course of a year and a half before I started actually writing it (I was working on Flaming Tantrum at the time). I watched every ghost show I could, took lots of notes, and followed the sites of real ghost hunters across the country. I did read several books, but there really aren't that many out there that are not gimmicky and that really focus on the science of what might be out there. Mary Roach's "Spook" was fascinating and helpful. I have also been to an "exorcism" when I was covering a story many years ago about psychics, and I used much of that experience to write the scene in the book that parallels.

E.I. And finally what’s next with Laurie Notaro? Can you give your fans a sneak peek about your upcoming book?

Laurie Notaro: I'm going back to non-fiction for this next book, and then hopefully back to fiction for the one after that. I have a great idea that I would love to explore--and again, it takes place in a whole different sort of reality. I'm very excited about it.

E.I. Ms. Notaro, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers all over the world?

Laurie Notaro: Tenacity. Write because you love it. And success is whatever wyou call it--if you write something you're proud of, that is success. If you get it published in a hometown newspaper, that is success. Set yourself goals and simply do not give up until you reach them.

Photo of Laurie Notaro by Shelley Spray.

To learn more about Laurie Notaro, please visit her website

To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: Ellen Sandler - Emmy-nominated, Co-Executive Producer CBS hit series Everybody Loves Raymond & author of The TV Writer’s Workbook

Welcome to “Up Close and Personal.” For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their views and insights, as well as upcoming literary events around the world.

Today’s interview is with Ellen Sandler. Ms. Sandler’s long and successful career took off in the early 80’s. She is best known for her work in television as Co-Executive Producer and writer on the Emmy-winning hit series Everybody Loves Raymond. In fact she has written for over 25 prime-time network television series, including Taxi, Coach and Kate & Allie. Her writing talent has been showcased by stars like three-time Golden Globe nominated Susan Saint James, and two-time Emmy award-winner, Jane Curtin, the iconic cast member of Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Ms. Sandler’s mastery of the medium can be measured by her success, but not only on screen. Yes, she has managed to stay on top of a ratings driven business that is defined by “the church of what’s happening now” for thirty years proving that her talent is not skin deep. But while meeting the demands of an “A-List” script writer and consultant, she still makes it a point to give back to her industry. She conducts television writing workshops in LA and NYC, and manages to find the time to speak at schools and universities throughout the country.

In the United States Ellen Sandler has created original pilots for ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and the Disney Channel. Her international client list for consulting projects includes ABC Australia, CBC Canada, Media Marketing in Dubai, and Singapore Media Corporation. She has also supervised production in Germany and Japan.

Her book, “The TV Writer’s Workbook: A Creative Approach to Television Scripts” is the culmination of a global career spanning three decades. It distills an insider’s view giving clarity to the proven methods. Ellen Sandler’s extraordinary experience provides the nuance that resonates with experienced writers. But her book is a must read for the aspiring novice in search of the building blocks critical to achieving long-term success in the industry.

Her guide offers an authoritative overview of both TV and film writing. It also drills down in several chapters to explore essential core elements. It provides sage advice to new talent, who are working to get traction in the business.

Lessons in the workbook include the art and science of dialogue. Ms Sandler explains the goal of almost every TV script writer, which is to hide exposition through the use of humor. She also discusses ways to punch up dialogue to make it shorter, crisper, and more effective.

Her book provides exercises to strengthen the skills of even the seasoned writer. In much the same way a talented singer practices the scales, a writer can apply techniques to sharpen his pen. Ms. Sandler breaks down TV scripts and gives instruction on how to plot the story so that it will earn notice, while making sure that it is in tune with the ethos of the show. For example, she asks the writer to consider what and who he needs in each scene. She makes the case for continuity reminding the writer that the show is about one central character, and that everything has to flow from that single viewpoint. Ellen Sandler has a gift for rendering artful concept into clear thought.

Ellen Sandler's former students have gone on to write for some of TV’s most popular shows including Sex in the City, Men in Trees, Malcolm in the Middle, Everybody Hates Chris, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Scrubs, CSI: Miami and 24. She is also credited with teaching the cinematographer, who worked as assistant to Titanic & Avatar Director, James Cameron.

E.I. Would you share some early self-reflection to give us a sense of who you were as a teenager? What were you like?

Ellen Sandler: I grew up Jewish in Sioux City, Iowa and I was definitely an outsider there, at least I felt like one. We had to drive 100 miles to Omaha (the “big town”) just to get bagels. I felt very different from everybody, including my own family. I was often described by friends as “rambunctious,” but I preferred thinking of myself as rebellious. Looking back I think I was adventurous, but not really rebellious. I think my parents thought I was rebellious because they found me difficult—I wasn’t enough like them. They were sensible and middle of the road; I wanted to go to New York and have a career in the theatre. They couldn’t imagine that as a real goal and so thought of me as out of control and rebellious.

E.I. Give us three “Good to Know” facts about your first job experience, the inspiration for your writing career.

Ellen Sandler: My first writing job was writing an episode of Taxi. If you’ve watched the re-runs you may have seen it—it’s the two-part vignette show when the garage goes out of business and they all get new jobs. I had some experience writing and directing plays, but not TV, and I really didn’t know the difference. But differences there are! And I had to learn them…fast! First of all, the characters’ speeches are a lot shorter in a TV script than in a play. Secondly, the story line, i.e. the story structure, is much more defined. Those are practical differences, but the biggest difference is emotional. When you write for the theatre, you can write whatever you want. You don’t make much money, if any, but you have a certain amount of freedom. When you write for TV you are being paid a lot of money and that means you don’t write what you want, you write what the people who are paying you want. You still have to find a way to bring your fresh and original ideas to the page, but you must do it inside of the box they give you. It’s a demand that requires discipline and a certain amount of ego reduction.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you, and gives you the enduring passion to continue in such a demanding profession?

Ellen Sandler: When I am at the computer and it’s going well, I’m excited to discover what’s about to appear on the page. I feel like I’m in the right place; I’m where I belong—it’s a kind of high. When the work is soggy or dead and I don’t know what to do next, I want to find that happy place again. I believe it’s there, and if I can get some words down I’ll find it again – I guess that’s the drive, I really want to make it work. I think that’s the drive to write when I’m not getting paid.

When I am writing on assignment, the money is an incredibly motivating carrot. There is nothing quite like getting paid for something you’ve written. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good—in fact, I often like the things I’ve written without pay for the theatre better than much of what I’ve done under a lucrative TV contract. But still, completing a job, fulfilling an assignment, contributing something that somebody else wanted enough to pay for it – that’s a pretty good feeling. And, let’s be very honest, the money comes in handy! TV scripts bought my house, put my kids through college, and this year’s residuals are paying for my daughter’s wedding right now.

E.I. Now, let’s talk about how does someone get to become writing staff on a TV series or show?

Ellen Sandler: Every writer finds his or her own path to the writer’s room – there is truly no “standard way.” However, the one element that everyone who writes on staff of a TV show has in common is that they have written something that someone unrelated to them thinks is great. What I mean by that is it’s been produced or published somewhere– like plays, comedy sketches, magazine articles or short stories. Or they may have won a respected writing contest or been accepted into an intern program as a result of an outstanding spec script—they’ve gotten some kind of recognition somewhere as to their ability to write.

In my case, I had plays produced in little theatres off off Broadway. One in particular was produced by a small theatre company in Los Angeles as part of a short play festival. It was a one act romantic comedy. Jim Brooks, (at the time, he was Executive Producer of Taxi), came to see it and that’s when he hired me to write the episode of Taxi that started my TV career. I tell the whole story how it happened in the form of a mini screenplay which serves as the introduction to my book, The TV Writer’s Workbook.

E.I. So few shows are chosen from many seemingly promising pilots. So many seem to have been potential, but what really makes a winner?

Ellen Sandler: In my opinion, the most important aspect of a series, either comedy or drama, is the emotional relationships between the ensemble of regular characters. For a series to work those characters must genuinely need something from each other and they must be continually affected by each other’s actions. The more impact a supporting character has on the central character’s life the stronger the show will be.

The best shows always have a strong interconnectedness among the significant characters. Everybody Loves Raymond had it; so did The Sopranos, The Wire, Frasier, Seinfeld and Friends; so do 30 Rock, The Good Wife, Damages and Modern Family. Every hit show has it. And conversely, most of the shows that fail are weakest in this area. They may have some funny colorful supporting characters but they are not connected strongly enough to each other to build a “family” and a world we, the audience, want to be a part of week after week.

E.I. On a show that has an ongoing storyline spanning the entire season, do writers work from a story arc outline? What about a show that has a stand-alone episode format?

Ellen Sandler: Every show on television works from outlines. You cannot proceed to script until your outline is approved by the showrunner, as well as by the studio and network executives. Whether the entire season has an overall arc is determined by the style of the show and the working style of the showrunner.

With the cancellation of Ugly Betty, Lost, Heroes and 24, serialized shows seem to be a dying breed with the networks. The current trend is to use an over arching story theme that is serialized as a “B” story in each episode, while the main story (the “A” story) of the episode is a traditional stand alone one that is self contained. A perfect example of this format is The Good Wife. Each week something new happens in the continuing story of her husband’s legal troubles and the effect on her family, but the main body of the show is the legal case she works on. That case is completed within the episode and the next week there’s an entirely new case.

E.I. Ms. Sandler, please tell your readers about your book, “The TV Writer’s Workbook: A Creative Approach to Television Scripts.” What topics for the aspiring television writer are unique to your book?

Ellen Sandler: Most people know a good script when they see it; the real mystery is how the writer did it. In The TV Writer’s Workbook I show you how. I analyze the actual writing process from beginning to end and lead you step by step through it.

I have a favorite exercise that uses the 7 Deadly Sins to tap into your passions and find stories that are personally meaningful to you. I give a detailed breakdown of story structure and specific tactics for turning your ideas into great stories—it’s all based on my own work experience. I have a whole chapter on a practical approach to researching a show before you write it. It’s exactly the procedure I use to prepare myself for any show or project I’m hired to write. There’s a section on how to take a meeting and examples of how NOT to write a inquiry letter. And, of course, there are a lot of anecdotes about my personal highs and lows on the various shows I have written.

E.I. How can other writers working in other venues learn from television writers, when it comes to dialogue? Would you say the dialog is the most important component when writing for television?

Ellen Sandler: The dialogue is important, sure, and if you have fresh, funny and surprising lines for the actors to say, it definitely raises your script above average. But TV shows are first and foremost about story. Without a good story even the most sparkling dialogue wilts quickly. Story is action: a character with a clear motive in pursuit of a tangible goal, who makes choices and suffers the consequences of those choices until he comes to some kind of a resolve; that’s story.

Jokes are dialogue, and in TV comedy we certainly need to have great jokes throughout, but even the shallowest silly sitcom needs to have a story to hang those jokes on. If the story line and the character motivations are not believable—meaning that they are emotionally real and compelling, the jokes will quickly fall flat and the sound you hear will not be laughter, but the click of the remote.

E.I. What advice would you give to a writer who is pitching a pilot idea to major network? What is the process?

Ellen Sandler: Totally depends on your level of experience. Established writers –ie.writers who have been working on existing shows—will have the opportunity to pitch a pilot idea to a network and get a deal to develop that idea into a script solely based on a pitch.

A young or new (to Hollywood) writer will most likely need to write their pilot on spec for agents, producers and network executives to read before deciding whether or not they are interested in hiring that writer or putting the show on the air.

It used to be impossible to get people in Hollywood to read a spec pilot, but now that’s what everybody wants to read. Variety recently reported that the networks are buying more and more spec pilots rather than incurring the enormously wasteful practice of developing hundreds of scripts which for one reason or another, they never put on the air. This is good news for those who are anxious to break in. When networks are buying, agents are looking.

The best advice I can give on how to create an original spec pilot comes in the form of a day long seminar that I teach every few months in Los Angeles and which I will soon be offering on-line for those writers who live outside of Southern California. Schedules for those seminars and other events will be found on my website http://www.sandlerink.com.

E.I. Few writers have been able to stay on top through the tumultuous times of mainstream television and film. You saw the evolution from Miami Vice to CSI Miami in TV, and from Indiana Jones to Avatar in film. How did you survive and thrive?

Ellen Sandler: Survive and thrive comes from doing the work. Everyday. Lots of writing. Lots of reading of other writers—those much better than you and those maybe not as good as you. You learn from both. Talent plays a part, but craft and discipline are more important. Talent wastes away without craft—you’ve got to learn and practice the skills of the medium. However, craft without discipline will not keep you in the game—you’ve got to write and re-write and re-write again, whether you feel like it or not, whether you are inspired or not. And you’ve got to do it on a regular basis.

E.I. How would you characterize the film & TV industry trends in the 80s… 90s… 00s? Where do you see the medium going in the 2010s?

Ellen Sandler: It’s prudent to be aware of what’s going on in the business, but I think that if you let current trends play too big a part in what you choose to write you will usually find yourself behind the curve. By the time your script is ready the trend is probably waning. And more importantly, you will short circuit the development of your original voice, which is the thing that makes people interested in you as a writer. If you write stories you’re passionate about, while at the same time you respect the general commercial requirements of the television medium; then it’s very possible that someone will like your writing and your voice enough to pay you to write something completely different in their voice.

E.I. Ms Sandler, you have enjoyed a long and successful career as a writer, consultant and educator. In what seems like a flawless path to self-actualization, were there any major mid-course corrections, missteps or judgments you made -- or didn’t make -- that had an impact on where you are today? What is one thing you would change if you can do it all over again?

Ellen Sandler: I have made many mistakes. I’ve been fired, I’ve split with partners, and I’ve been heartbroken when projects were canceled for ridiculous reasons. I’ve worked on good shows with bad people, I’ve worked on bad shows with terrific people, and I’ve learned from all of them. I consider my missteps and my disappointments as much a part of my “success” as the exciting, happy times. Yes, going to the Emmys in a limo (okay, it wasn’t a limo, it was a town car), was fun, but I’ve also had my scripts ripped to pieces by my boss and that was not fun, I assure you. I learned a lot more from that, though. A rewarding and long career is about all of it – learning, growing, evolving, rolling with the punches and facing another challenge every day. In that sense, I don’t think about what I would change if I could do it over, I think about what I can change to do it again.

To learn more about Ellen Sandler, please visit her website

Photo of Ellen Sandler by Christiane Covington

To purchase her book, please visit AMAZON, Barnes and Noble,
The Writers Store and The Drama Book Shop, Inc.