Katheryn Cushman
Q: I understand you are coming to Calhoun, do you make it to the south very often?
A: I have to come for the fried food (laughs). I actually have family in Tennessee and we lived in Atlanta for three years.
Q: Your new book “Leaving Yesterday” just came out Oct. 1. It deals with some pretty heavy elements. Can you give me a brief summary?
A: It was sort of a “Mom Quandry.” It is the story of a prodigal son, a young man who has turned his life around. But then, his mother finds evidence that he might have killed a drug dealer. It is her dilemma, what does she do with this information? It is more of her journey through right and wrong.
Q: Where did you get the idea for “Leaving Yesterday?”
A: It actually sparked from a conversation with my editor. We were wrapping up what was to be my next novel when this idea came to us. It came from a scene in the novel I was working on. One of the characters discovers some information and destroys it. My editor thought that was such a great scene. He really pushed me to go with it.
Q. All of your novels seem to have an underlying theme, a subtext. What would you say the theme of this novel is?
A: The biggest one- every time you make a bad choice or a bad decision, it gets easier to make an-other bad decision.
Q: Where do you get the ideas for your novels?
A: It usually starts with a germ of an idea. And then I start digging out characters and plot. Before I begin I will write a page or two of summary and include the ending. I have learned not to write without an ending.
Q: When do you find time to write?
A: I have a couple of kids at home. I write when they are in school.
Q: Does time ever become an issue?
A: (Laughs) Oh yeah. The assumption is, because you are a write and you’re writing from home you don’t really have a job.
Q: What have you found to be hardest part of writing a novel?
A: The hardest part of writing a novel? (Pause) The hardest part is writing the first draft. Finishing that part and turning it in. After that I usually go back through and change the flow, the rhythm of sentences.
Q: From start to finish, how long does your process take?
A: This current novel is the fastest I have ever written, and that took me five months, but usually, about a year.
Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer. I went to pharmacy school and was actually a pharma-cist when we lived in Atlanta. But when my husband’s uncle was diagnosed with cancer I had a thought, ‘What would I regret the most if I was dying?” Of course the idea of not being with my husband and children is awful, but I think I would also be the regret not doing something I always wanted to do.
Q: I understand that you are working with “Bridges of Hope,” a ministry that provides hope and care to children in Africa who are suffering from AIDS. Tell me a little bit about that partnership.
A: Bridges of Hope is something very positive. For each copy of “Leaving Yesterday” purchased through my Web site (kathryncushman.com), or through Borders Books, a $1 donation will be made to “Bridges of Hope.”
Q: You are going to be coming to Calhoun for a signing. Do you get to interact with fans often?
A: Not as much as I would like. Usually I have a big book signing in Tennessee and then one in California. But this time I am getting to go on the road and that is exciting.
Cushman will be at Jacob’s Well on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. Jacob’s Well is located at 431 Highway 53.
Post a Comment