You know what they say, timing is everything! And what good timing it is for us to have Ellen Sussman on Women’s Fiction Writers today to celebrate the launch of her latest novel, A WEDDING IN PROVENCE. Ellen shares exceptional insight and advice with us, perhaps no words better suited to me than these: “Write the best damn book you can.” It seem obvious, but can become an oversight when we get wrapped up in other parts of being a writer and author. So, thanks, Ellen. Simple words are often the most meaningful. And the smartest.
Please welcome Ellen Sussman back to Women’s Fiction Writers.
Amy xo
Ellen Sussman Says There’s More Than One Way To Write A Novel (Even For Her!)
Amy: Welcome back to Women’s Fiction Writers, Ellen, and congratulations on your fourth novel, A WEDDING IN PROVENCE! Can you tell us what sparked the idea for this novel–and what came first–the characters, the setting, or the situation?
Ellen Sussman is the New York Times bestselling author of four novels, A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons, and On a Night Like This. She is the editor of two critically acclaimed anthologies, Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave and Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex. She teaches through Stanford Continuing Studies and in private classes. www.ellensussman.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/ellensussman
twitter: @ellensussman
Great interview, Ellen and Amy. A WEDDING IN PROVENCE sounds wonderful! Good luck, Ellen!
Great interview. I’ve read a couple great reviews on A Wedding in Provence, and I can’t wait to read it.
Yes, I agree that “there’s more than one way….” My first novel (About Face) was inspired by a singular moment I experienced, a reaction to what I’d thought was a professional success but turned out to be something else. And I built the story around that moment. There were some flashback scenes in that book to the protagonist’s time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. So many people commented on how much they loved the Africa part that I built the second book (Deadly Adagio) around Africa as a setting. I’d never looked at it that way, ie different impetuses (is that the plural of impetus?) but, in fact, that’s exactly what happened. Thanks for the insight and for the interesting interview.
What a terrific interview! I particularly liked this insight into the domestic novel, which is the sort of novel written by everyone from Jane Austen to Tolstoy to Sussman: “great books about domestic lives force us to consider our own lives, our own choices. What could be more important than that?”
Ellen, what a refreshing reminder to focus on WRITING rather than WORRYING about how well (or not) our books will do once they’re launched. Yep, we should be part of our publishers’ marketing teams–no other choice, in this age of social media, where authors have to cultivate their own brands just like any other business owners–but our jobs really are to write. I’m going to keep going back to this interview to remind me. Thank you, Amy, for bringing Ellen to your wonderful site!