Interview With Author Georgia Saunders
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written three books. They have been unpublished for a few years. I recently republished one of them with an updated title.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Home Street Home: Virginia Beach Nightmare. This is the updated, republished version of Home Street Home: Virginia Beach Chronicles. I felt compelled to show the jeopardy journey of a middle class “proper” lady who fell into homelessness during the economic crash of 2008. Because we now have another crash looming, I felt the time was right to make this novel available again. I feel that it is a timeless historical record in novel form of the impacts of homelessness on those who fall into it suddenly from a comfortable life. Such unfortunate souls must learn the primal laws of the streets pretty quickly – if they want to survive, that is.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. Coffee, notebook and pen, computer to type in the text. Pretty standard stuff. But can’t leave out the coffee. Would be no more books without coffee.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The People of the Abyss by Jack London
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Scarlet by Alexandra Ripley
Anything by Kenneth Roberts, a wonderful historical novelist dealing with colonial and early America
What are you working on now?
I am polishing the updates of Volumes II and III of the original Home Street Home series published in 2011, having turned them into Books 2 and 3 of the updated series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I originally sent copies of my first novel, Home Street Home: Virginia Beach Chronicles, to the book review department of the Virginia Pilot, several area churches and the local library at the Oceanfront and in Norfolk, where I had written the novels on library computers. Dr. Reuhlmann of the Virginia Pilot (back in 2011) published a good review, saying (paraphrase) it was a uniformly rugged but redeeming novel about life among the homeless of Hampton Roads.
The local libraries added my gifted books to their shelves. One church in particular responded with great interest and set up book buying and book discussions for me. It was reviewed by Anne Meek, then board secretary for the Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads, who said “The book is realistic. It’s not amateurish, nor does it seek sympathy. There is definitely a market for this.”
As far as online promotion, I was involved with a group that helped authors review each others works. That was very helpful with getting reviews up on Amazon. Unfortunately, I don’t think they are still operating and the name was something like “Orange Tree Books”. I plan to look them up again to see what the situation is now. Maybe they are under a new name.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Edit and rewrite as many times as needed to get a polished product. Clean up the little spelling, formatting and punctuation errors.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To read good literature in abundance. I was encouraged in my (olden days) Massachusetts education to distinguish literature from pulp writing churned out to make a buck. As a writer, I aim to contribute to the body of literature.
Jack London’s “People of the Abyss” (1903) was not popular though he was already a recognized literary talent. Perhaps readers of the day did not like being shown the misery of the harried and harassed underclass of their great cities. But the work endures as a fine addition to literature.
What are you reading now?
I’m busy writing right now. But I hope to get some good histories read next year.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Promoting the updated Home Street Home series. Perhaps some side trips to get the real updated ambience of life in the streets today in the cities I am including as backgrounds to the dramatic stories of the novels.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Histories, I’m sure. I’m fascinated with history and historical fiction. That’s what I consider Home Street Home: The Virginia Beach Nightmare to be.
Author Websites and Profiles
Georgia Saunders Amazon Profile