Interview with Susan Gregg Gilmore

www.susangregggilmore.com

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

Will it sound too trite if I say I knew I wanted to be a writer ever since I was eight years old?? OK, it does, but it's true. You see I brought this silly little paper home, and my mother thought it was brilliant. She said, "You should be a writer when you grow up."

And I remember thinking in that very moment that being a writer sounded just right for me. I knew that was my destiny. Now convincing most of my English teachers of that was another story.

I was a very average English student at best. In high school, I remember turning in paper after paper, thinking for sure the teacher would be so impressed with my writing only to find a big red "C" written across the top. And I wasn't a very good reader either. And yet I loved words, playing with words, trying to create music with words.

Finally in college one of my professors stopped me one day as I was walking across campus. He said, "Susan, wait, I've been meaning to tell you that you a very good writer!" I have never forgotten that.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

It was a twisted road for sure. In college, I decided I wanted to be a journalist. I worked for my college paper and had a summer internship with a paper in Nashville. But it really wasn't until much much later that I landed my first newspaper job. My youngest daughter was about 6 months old when I went to work part-time for an afternoon newspaper in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That means I had to be at the office between 5 and 6 in the morning. But I was home by noon so it worked really well for me at that time in my life with three very young girls.

But about a year and half later my husband's job took him to California. I found myself at home full-time again. One thing led to another and I started free-lancing for the Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor, two very well-respected newspapers. It was the best thing that ever happened to me because it really forced me to become a better writer. And I got to do cool things like learn to surf and judge a rat show -- don't ask!

OK, now I am getting to the fiction part. After about three years of free-lancing I really wanted to try something new. We were living in LA so I figured I'd write a screenplay like everybody else in LA that wasn't acting. But I realized very quickly I wasn't well-suited to write a screenplay. It's obviously very dialogue driven with very little descriptive writing.

Friends kept telling me to write a book so, finally, I did. I had never written any fiction before Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. Very quickly, though, I realized that I had finally found what I was meant to do.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

I'm excited about the paperback release of my first novel, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. And I bet you didn't realize that you could find more at the Dairy Queen than just ice cream (and some of the best french fries in town!).

And it's the witty, sassy heroine of the story, Catherine Grace Cline, who goes to the Dairy Queen every week to think about life and plan her escape from her wonderful, quirky small town.

But if I can only tell you one thing (have I already done that??) then I would tell you to find out more about Gloria Jean, her loving neighbor who's been married five times and puts lighting bugs in her hair!

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

Definitely my father. My father was an amazing storyteller. In fact, some of my most vivid childhood memories are those special times when all of our family was together -- aunts, uncles, grandparents -- and my father would start telling our family stories. Some I'm sure I heard a hundred times, but I never, never tired of them.

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

Yes, they are. My husband, mother, sisters, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins are all very, very proud of me . . . very supportive, very proud. And they're a hard bunch to impress!

My daughters, although I know they're very proud, just think of me as mom, and I love that. I mean they've never known me any other way than sitting at my desk writing, so in their minds, well, what else would I be. And that's what's so special.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Potatoes -- fried, baked, mashed -- I love 'em all!

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Kiss my hubby, pee, make coffee -- and always in that order!

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

I have thought and thought about this -- even looked in my closet -- and I must be a total bore. There is nothing unusual except for the Christmas village I made out of cardboard one year. I got a little obsessed.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Absolutely Lavender. If you mix red, passion, with some blue, for those calmer/down days, you would end up with purple. Then add a little white, for that part of me that loves a clean/orderly space, and you get lavender!

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

Scooby Doo. Always has been.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

I'd like to say somebody cool and fun like Josie of Josie and the Pussycats fame but truthfully probably more like Wilma Flintstone.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I think it would be in the United States around the turn of the 20th century to sometime in the early 1920s. I would love to have been an active, vocal participant in the Women's Suffrage Movement and have witnessed first-hand the 19th amendment signed into law. Besides, and this sounds totally vain, I love the clothes of that period!

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

Tough call -- I live in Nashville and am surrounded by great country music and country music celebrities -- have run into Taylor Swift several times at the mall. I think I am most drawn to artists that write their own songs like Natasha Bedingfield. But I I love, love, love COLD PLAY.

I definitely do not listen to music when I'm writing -- it's just too distracting for me. I need quiet. Besides, before you know it, I'm so lost in my story that the only noise I hear are the characters talking in my head!

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

30 Rock! At the end of the day I love to laugh. And I think it's really funny.

My favorite movie, ok this is embarrassing, The American President. Don't ask me why, I just love it! It's almost like comfort food for my senses -- maybe because I went to high school in Washington, DC -- I don't know. I've quit trying to figure it out!

Last movie in the theater -- hmm -- oh yeah -- Step Brothers. Oh dear, you can tell my cinematic taste is not particularly discriminating!

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Listen to yourself, always listen to yourself. If you believe you're meant to do something or be something, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm not saying there won't be hard, tough days ahead, but you have to honor yourself!

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

Next year, my second novel will be released, Bezellia Grove. It's about a young woman, from a wealthy Southern family, named, you guessed it, Bezellia Grove. It's set in the 1950s, in the South, when African-Americans were not treated equally.

Bezellia has to deal with a very alcoholic mother, not-so-dependable dad, and a little sister with lots and lots of issues of her own. And somehow, through it all, and with the unwavering support of the two black people who work for her family, Bezellia is able to find her own happiness.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!