Ask the Author: Randy Susan Meyers
Answered Questions (11)
Randy Susan Meyers
My grandfather was a bigamist—he had en entire other family hidden away; my grandmother discovered this when her younger daughter (my mother) was a baby. She cut him out of her life and then quite literally cut him—out of every photo. My mother spent her life wanting to see at least a picture of him. When I got older, she urged me (why me??) to find him. After her death, through Ancestry, I did find cousins from that missing side, though I've still to find his children (my mother's half-sisters and brothers.) I did find that I am related to a fairly well-known (now deceased) author. Are genetics at play?
Randy Susan Meyers
Again, please accept my apologies for not seeing your question before. I wrote this book for many reasons: the biggest was that I worked with men who were violent, physically, verbally and emotionally--and rarely did they see the dangers ahead of them. Also, I grew up in a home with domestic violence and it's a topic I often explore.
Before I expound on that, here's a link to a truly helpful book:
https://www.amazon.com/Verbally-Abusi...
Sometimes writers don’t recognize themes they’ve embedded in their work until after writing “the end.” Only by looking back do we recognize our sore spots and consistent curiosity.
By my third book, I can’t deny that exploring unintended consequences of actions fascinates me.
“But I never meant for that to happen . . .”
The ‘but’ can be anything from a child’s bruise which resulted from that basket of laundry you left by the stairs, to a house stripped of all valuables, because you didn’t lock the door . . .
. . . Or it can be your spouse lying in the ICU, fighting for their life, because road rage overcame good judgment.
Every move we make creates ripples within our circle of friends and family:
Tenderness and kindness engender waves of confidence and love.
Rage evokes fear and damage—sometimes as small as hurt feelings, sometimes avoidance, sometimes tiptoeing, and sometimes love is ripped apart.
In the worst of times, lives are destroyed. In Accidents of Marriage, for the damage he caused, Ben might as well have used a fist instead of his cutting words.
Another idea I find myself repeatedly visiting is the loneliness we can face, even in the midst of a seemingly intact group of family and friends. As a child, the problems my parents faced kept me from being embraced by a larger community or neighborhood, whether cultural, religious or social. Thus, I find myself looking at families where affiliations and beliefs may provide comfort, or may create isolation.
And then there is guilt. How far will we go to avoid admitting culpability?
Will we lie?
Will we pile hurt onto already broken people?
How brave can we be?
I write to find the answers to these questions.
Before I expound on that, here's a link to a truly helpful book:
https://www.amazon.com/Verbally-Abusi...
Sometimes writers don’t recognize themes they’ve embedded in their work until after writing “the end.” Only by looking back do we recognize our sore spots and consistent curiosity.
By my third book, I can’t deny that exploring unintended consequences of actions fascinates me.
“But I never meant for that to happen . . .”
The ‘but’ can be anything from a child’s bruise which resulted from that basket of laundry you left by the stairs, to a house stripped of all valuables, because you didn’t lock the door . . .
. . . Or it can be your spouse lying in the ICU, fighting for their life, because road rage overcame good judgment.
Every move we make creates ripples within our circle of friends and family:
Tenderness and kindness engender waves of confidence and love.
Rage evokes fear and damage—sometimes as small as hurt feelings, sometimes avoidance, sometimes tiptoeing, and sometimes love is ripped apart.
In the worst of times, lives are destroyed. In Accidents of Marriage, for the damage he caused, Ben might as well have used a fist instead of his cutting words.
Another idea I find myself repeatedly visiting is the loneliness we can face, even in the midst of a seemingly intact group of family and friends. As a child, the problems my parents faced kept me from being embraced by a larger community or neighborhood, whether cultural, religious or social. Thus, I find myself looking at families where affiliations and beliefs may provide comfort, or may create isolation.
And then there is guilt. How far will we go to avoid admitting culpability?
Will we lie?
Will we pile hurt onto already broken people?
How brave can we be?
I write to find the answers to these questions.
Randy Susan Meyers
Sorry for long wait in answer! Somehow I didn't see this. In my imagination of the future, which I suppose rests on optimism, Ben slowly changes--through joining a group to work on his issues and because he knows otherwise he loses everything. And they stay together--but only if he can change. Maddy improves enough to find work, still using her social work background, but working with those who suffer from traumatic brain injury.
Randy Susan Meyers
Hi Allison,
My next novel will come out April 1, 2017--a good choice for the release as the book centers on the way a man fools his wife, his children and all his clients for a long time--and then devastates them when the truth comes out. The tentative title (fingers crossed ) is The Widow of Wall Street. I also expect to publish a novella sometime this year! I'll announce it here!
My inspiration comes from a 'what if' dive bombing into my brain like a stealth missile. Once the idea sets in, if I can't shake it off, I follow it to the end. I become extraordinarily involved once I'm in the world. Thanks for your kind words!
My next novel will come out April 1, 2017--a good choice for the release as the book centers on the way a man fools his wife, his children and all his clients for a long time--and then devastates them when the truth comes out. The tentative title (fingers crossed ) is The Widow of Wall Street. I also expect to publish a novella sometime this year! I'll announce it here!
My inspiration comes from a 'what if' dive bombing into my brain like a stealth missile. Once the idea sets in, if I can't shake it off, I follow it to the end. I become extraordinarily involved once I'm in the world. Thanks for your kind words!
Randy Susan Meyers
Hi Peter,
All through my teenage and young adult years I plowed through novels set during the Holocaust, until it became so real that I worried each time I read any instance of anti-Semitism. (I still do.)
I believe very much the saying that if we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it and literature and other art forms are our most important ways of ensuring each generations learned the sins of the past.
Good luck with your novel. I will look for it.
Warmest,
Randy
All through my teenage and young adult years I plowed through novels set during the Holocaust, until it became so real that I worried each time I read any instance of anti-Semitism. (I still do.)
I believe very much the saying that if we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it and literature and other art forms are our most important ways of ensuring each generations learned the sins of the past.
Good luck with your novel. I will look for it.
Warmest,
Randy
Randy Susan Meyers
Thanks so much, Pamela. And isn't it amazing to rediscover a favorite from the past. I actually re-read it when writing ACCIDENTS OF MARRIAGE and i held up!
Warmest,
Rand
Warmest,
Rand
Randy Susan Meyers
My publisher is in charge of that and I'll ask them. (But I think that netgalley is for when books have not yet been released.) If you are a reviewer, you can contact the publicity department at Atria Books.
Randy Susan Meyers
Reading a great book, a book that takes me away, that leads me back to the page where I want to tell the stories crowding my head. Also, the newspaper, magazines, almost any form of the written word inspires me. Reading has always been my salvation.
Randy Susan Meyers
Almost every idea I have comes from either a moment in time that leads me down the 'what if' path. With ACCIDENTS OF MARRIAGE if I gave away that 'what if' I'd give away the book.
Randy Susan Meyers
Indulging in my the ways I most enjoy spending my time: Research (through reading) and spilling out a story. I've told myself stories since I was tiny; writing helps empty my head.
Randy Susan Meyers
There are only two ways I know to get past resistance to writing: 1) Pluck a book from my shelves of favorite books--ones I return to again and again. This helps remind me of my goals. 2) Give in as though it were the flu, but put a limit on how long I can indulge in it.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more