Ask the Author: Susan Buffum
Answered Questions (17)
Susan Buffum
Hi. I revised two books previously published under a pseudonym, one a chapter book now called Isabel's Initiation, and the other a new adult novel now called The Unwilling Witch. I also released two novellas for Halloween- The Magic of Cross and Crowe and The Girl With the Ivy Tattoo. Kelly and I put out a joint anthology, Disturbing, with ghost stories we wrote for Ghost Stories LIVE! Now, with Christmas approaching, I took the three Christmas anthologies previously published and broke them down into three independent novellas- A Major Production, The Winter Solstice Ball, and The Red Velvet Suit, and four small collections- Christmas Inspirations, Christmas with the Family, Christmases Past, and Christmases Present. My vampire romance, Out, was released in October. It's also about tolerance, so it's not a typical vampire book, nor is it a typical romance. Now it's NaNoWriMo month, so I'm writing the werewolf novel I promised Kelly. We have a writers group in Westfield, founded by Kelly and me, WhipCity Wordsmiths- for those with a passion for the written word. We have a lot of local authors who have joined- you can take a peek at us at whipcitywordsmiths.blogspot.com There is a members page with mini biographies, and another age with pictures of all our books that when clicked on lead you to a retail link. We just started meeting once a month in September. Meeting attendance is not mandatory. We stay connected via the blog and hooking up at local events. Next meeting at Blue Umbrella November 18th at 3PM. No December meeting. Meeting dates and times will appear on the blog. Hope you're well. Any new writing projects with you?
Susan Buffum
I woke to now familiar hollow rattle and racket that came through the thin walls. Yes, definitely, it was Mother in the closet again, cleaning the bones.
Susan Buffum
The death of my maternal great-grandfather bears some investigation. He was French Canadian, worked in a mill in a tiny rural mill village, and played on the town's baseball team around the turn of the 20th century. I have a group photograph of the team with him standing in the back row hanging on my living room wall, and his wedding photo with my great-grandmother hanging on the opposite wall. He was a handsome man with expressive large blue eyes and a mop of curly dark hair. He died in his thirties. No one in my family talked much about him, even though my maternal great-grandmother, another French Canadian with the family trait of precognition, lived with us when she was elderly in an "in-law" apartment attached to my family's home. She had remarried and buried that husband also by the time she moved in with us. I'd like to investigate his death and find some answers.
Susan Buffum
Charley Davidson and Reyes Farrow from Darynda Jones' series that began with First Grave and has now reached Eleventh Grave. Although he's the son of Satan he has a heart and a burning passion for Charley and she feels the same way about him. She is exasperating, reckless, daring, fueled by java and he is always there for her no matter how much trouble she gets herself into. And he cooks for her! What's not to love about Charley and Reyes?
Susan Buffum
Ah...I see. A teaser, not a spoiler! Got it.
Susan Buffum
Well, as usual a lot is going to happen so I really haven't revealed much of anything other than one facet of a multi-facet tale. It's everything that happens after this sneak peek that matters most, so I can't talk about that.
Susan Buffum
Wow-that's a long wait time even for publish on demand! But here's a good thing, the stories are all Kelly's and my favorites, and my sister loved Black Rose, the final story in the book (me too, of course!). I've been working on volume IV- have two more stories to edit and maybe one more to add before I'll call it done. Last night I was skimming through Rookdale and laughing. A young witch (early 20's) living at home still with her mother and grandparents is terrorized by a neighbor's cat. Zoe, the cat's owner, is a mean spirited, nasty girl who beats the cat. So Magellan decides to cast a spell that will turn the cat into a pig so it will be removed from the residential only property as a farm animal...only Magellan has imperfect vision and is dealing with antique numbered vials and confuses a number one and a seven. So when she lures the cat, who has escaped from Zoe's fenced yard, into her home she mixes the potion she's concocted with tuna fish. The cat eats it and much to her shock and dismay it turns into a male human being, not a pig! Turns out he's the last living heir of 1600's witch Mercy Cooper, that Zoe's grandmother, a witch, transformed into a cat years ago (Zoe is not a witch although she desperately wants to be- it skipped her generation!). So Magellan has a naked Ezra Cooper chasing her around the house in the dead of night- she doesn't know who he is yet but he thinks she does and believes that she's finally figured out he was changed into a cat and has freed him from the spell he was under. When she confesses that she had no idea he was a human being under a spell he gets miffed and stalks away from the house after calling her the most inept little witch he's ever met. Well- you know they're going to fall in love, and her changing him back is going to have serious repercussions in the seaside community...Anyway, hope to be working on this novel over Easter weekend. Hope this little peek into a new novel cheers you up some about the slow service from Amazon! Finally, if you consider buying any of my other books please contact me first at my email address which is on the about author page at the back of the book.
Susan Buffum
Thanks for the big boost. I needed it.
Susan Buffum
Feeling out of sorts at the moment. Just finished putting together the Massachusetts State Button Society Bulletin, my annual March project...didn't go as well as in the past nine years- no one contributed so the issue is ten pages shorter than usual. I'm resigning as editor next month- I'm just burned out and need a break from it after 10 years. Thanks for asking.
Susan Buffum
Hubby's doing fair at this point; thanks for asking. Meanwhile, I'm doing a read through of the new novel and writing little bits to insert between chapters to give certain characters a bit more depth. It's coming along. Will lose a day of writing tomorrow...they have to sedate me to do an MRA of my heart/thoracic aorta...I have an aneurysm they need a better read on (discovered by chance 2 years ago this April), and I totally freaked out during the 5 second trial run into the machine- I have severe claustrophobia. Sedation knocks me for a loop so I'll probably come home and giggle a lot (also makes me loopy!) and sleep in my chair! There's probably a story in there somewhere! Buffman is better than Buffin, Buffam (the hilltowns have a population of Buffams while here there are Buffums) , Buffon, Buffone, and my all time favorite, Buffoon (okay, in France the Buffums descend from a line of court jesters- it would be kind of ironic if I was one by blood but I'm only one by marriage!) Seriously, I was not offended by the mistake.
Susan Buffum
Of course I can forgive you, happens all the time! Loved the review, by the way, and I thank you for that. It made me want to read the book again! (Not to mention get back to work on its sequel, My Charmed Life.)
Susan Buffum
Some character will spring to life in my imagination wanting to tell me his or her story. Sometimes it will be a name that sets off the creative process, or it could be a description. I occasionally see an interesting face in an advertising flyer and a story will pop into my head- and that anonymous face becomes a three dimensional fictional character living in a place that also springs from the bottomless well in my imagination. Also, on rare occasions, I will overhear a little bit of conversation and that will kick-start the creative process. Finally, I might see a place, a house or other building that will inspire me. It is fictionalized in the story, of course.
Susan Buffum
I honestly don't know where my ideas come from. They just come into my head of their own free will. In the past, anything could spark a story idea- a certain house, building, character or event. I don't really have to think too much. I just open up a new word document and start writing and the story just evolves. I have one story in which the characters suddenly began doing things I did not want them to do so they're sitting on a back burner while I stew about what they'd gotten themselves up to- it certainly wasn't what I wanted them to do!
Susan Buffum
I'm currently putting together three volumes of my annual Christmas stories for friends and family. Instead of a Christmas letter about myself and my family and what we've done since the last letter, I decided to write a little holiday story to entertain my relatives with. I began doing this in around 1999. I missed a few years from 2000-2003 as I worked through my grief at losing my mother way too soon (she was only 69 years old), but since 2004 I have written at least one yuletide story per year- sometimes more. My family and friends now expect a story and I try hard to oblige, writing right down to the wire sometimes!
As far as writing something new, I am struggling with Remy and Lissa who have a story to tell but I haven't gotten it just right yet. I have written about 9 short stories about them but their relationship develops over several years, so they really need to have their own novel in which they can evolve and develop but it hasn't happened yet. What I have done for I believe the first time in my life is actually begin writing a plotline. I've never used a plotline before. My novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories have all just sprung to life out of my head onto the page. My sister, who is also a writer, has always struggled with plotlines and whatever else writers use as tools and has probably hated me because my writing style is like direct dictation from the muse who resides in my brain. It will get written but this one will take more time.
As far as writing something new, I am struggling with Remy and Lissa who have a story to tell but I haven't gotten it just right yet. I have written about 9 short stories about them but their relationship develops over several years, so they really need to have their own novel in which they can evolve and develop but it hasn't happened yet. What I have done for I believe the first time in my life is actually begin writing a plotline. I've never used a plotline before. My novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories have all just sprung to life out of my head onto the page. My sister, who is also a writer, has always struggled with plotlines and whatever else writers use as tools and has probably hated me because my writing style is like direct dictation from the muse who resides in my brain. It will get written but this one will take more time.
Susan Buffum
Keep writing. It takes time to evolve as a writer. When I look back at stuff I wrote when I was younger I shake my head and think- Whoa! I was pretty awful! when I read what I write these days I can actually see how I have developed and become a better writer over years! People are, I think, born with a natural talent for writing, but like anything, that talent needs to be practiced and honed over time. The earliest thing I remember writing that had an impact on the audience was in fourth grade when I was given a classroom assignment to write about a fantasmagorical gadget. I invented a gadget that allowed me to time travel back to the Revolutionary War. I delivered a plate of fresh hot cookies that I had baked with my mother to a tired, cold and discouraged General George Washington at Valley Forge and his simple heartfelt gratitude at such an act of kindness impressed my teacher, Mrs. Green. I had to read the story aloud to the class because it was the best story written for that assignment. That's when I had an inkling that I had a good imagination and a way with words. Next, I won a writing composition award in sixth grade for a series of stories I wrote from a goldfish in a bowl's point of view- his droll remarks about what he sees as he swims about in his bowl. I just kept writing and over time I got better at it. So, my best advice is keep writing, keep striving to better your writing. Use a dictionary and a thesaurus- sample new words. Don't get discouraged. Develop a circle of friends you can trust to read and critique what you write. Every writer needs critical feedback in order to grow. Don't be afraid or angered by criticism. Nobody is perfect. Critiques are a tool to help you fix something you might not even be aware of that is not good. Just, keep writing!
Susan Buffum
The best thing about being a writer to me is the ability to entertain other people through the written word. I am a totally awkward speaker. I can't even remember the punchline of jokes! If I start to orally tell someone a story- I use too many words. But when I writer my words flow more smoothly. It's like painting pictures with words instead of oils and acrylics. I can dab words in to add more color, or sponge them out to make something stark or blunt. Like I tell my co-workers, if I have a bad day, I am not going to grab a gun and go out and shoot people because I'm mad or upset- I am simply going to go home and 'kill the puppy.' That just means that I am going to go home and write- make my characters cope with something unpleasant and deal with it. Writing can sometimes be the art of venting on your characters instead of on real people! But, essentially- the best thing about being a writer is being able to make other people feel something. I love it when someone comes up to me with a huge smile on their face and says, "I loved your story!" That is just so satisfying!
Susan Buffum
Writer's block plagues every writer. Sometimes our real lives are too busy, our minds too cluttered with the stuff we have to deal with in the real world. Basically, when writer's block hits I try to stay calm, remind myself that it's happened before and the next story will come whether in three weeks or three months- that I have not forgotten how to write or run out of ideas. I take a deep breath and move on- and down the road, something always comes along and I am off and writing again.
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