Ask the Author: Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
Answered Questions (7)
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, Mike and I bought a house in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York…. In the middle of nowhere. We drove down winding roads for 40 minutes just to go grocery shopping, and most of our neighbors were only around in the summer or on holidays. It was a nice little house, next to the creek, and in the kitchen mounted on the wall was an old-fashioned dial phone with a coiled cord.
When we first moved in I picked up the receiver and heard a quiet conversation between two women about hair dye. I didn't want to eavesdrop so I said "Hello? Who is this?"
The ladies stopped talking. Then one said, " Did you hear that?"
"Yes, is someone there?"
"Hi, Can you hear me?" I said. Then it was silent, no voices, just a faint dial tone.
I quickly decided this old phone was somehow hooked up to an old-fashioned party line. After that we used the phone very little, preferring our cordless phone hooked up in the other room. The handful of times I did use it I could hear whispered voices in the background, always assuring the other person that the line sometimes "picked up" other calls.
A year and a half passed and we mostly forgot the phone was even there. Then in September of 1999 Hurricane Floyd passed through our area, leaving us without power and the road with large impassable trees blocking the way. Fortunately, we were already prepared. We had stored food and clean water in a paranoid frenzy for Y2K and we desperately needed it all. We bathed in the creek, painted in the day, and played board games by candlelight while waiting for our power to be restored. After a week the road was clear but still no power, and it was getting tedious for Mike and me (though, one-year-old Chloe was loving it!). I lamented that we couldn't call my sister as the cordless phone didn't work without electricity when we heard an unfamiliar ring. It was the wall phone in the kitchen. I raced to it and I heard the faint voice of my sister. She was just checking in on us and invited us up to her place until our power came on. So off we went for five days and when we returned, everything was back to normal, and I was so glad we had a hardwired phone that didn't rely on electricity!
A couple of years passed and the phone was mostly ignored, except by three-year-old Chloe who thought it would look better covered in sparkly stickers. The power went out at least once or twice a summer, usually just for a few hours. During one of these outages Mike decided to try the phone in the kitchen to make his call, but it was dead. Concerned he drove up the road to the local country store and called AT&T's service line. I believe it went something like this…
"Hello, yes, my phone has stopped working."
"Can I have your account number?"
"Yes, it's xxx-xxxx"
" I don't see anything wrong here"
"Well, we don't have any power right now."
"Well, that would be the problem."
"No, but we have an old-fashioned dial phone hooked up in the kitchen, it should still work."
"I'm sorry, but according to our records you have no phone in the kitchen."
"Yes, we do, we've used it."
"No, you don't. If you do it's not connected through us."
"Oh. OK."
After this Mike came home, walked into the kitchen, and pulled the phone off the wall. The only wire on it was about 3 inches long and attached to nothing. It never was hooked up! (Spooky music plays now).
When we first moved in I picked up the receiver and heard a quiet conversation between two women about hair dye. I didn't want to eavesdrop so I said "Hello? Who is this?"
The ladies stopped talking. Then one said, " Did you hear that?"
"Yes, is someone there?"
"Hi, Can you hear me?" I said. Then it was silent, no voices, just a faint dial tone.
I quickly decided this old phone was somehow hooked up to an old-fashioned party line. After that we used the phone very little, preferring our cordless phone hooked up in the other room. The handful of times I did use it I could hear whispered voices in the background, always assuring the other person that the line sometimes "picked up" other calls.
A year and a half passed and we mostly forgot the phone was even there. Then in September of 1999 Hurricane Floyd passed through our area, leaving us without power and the road with large impassable trees blocking the way. Fortunately, we were already prepared. We had stored food and clean water in a paranoid frenzy for Y2K and we desperately needed it all. We bathed in the creek, painted in the day, and played board games by candlelight while waiting for our power to be restored. After a week the road was clear but still no power, and it was getting tedious for Mike and me (though, one-year-old Chloe was loving it!). I lamented that we couldn't call my sister as the cordless phone didn't work without electricity when we heard an unfamiliar ring. It was the wall phone in the kitchen. I raced to it and I heard the faint voice of my sister. She was just checking in on us and invited us up to her place until our power came on. So off we went for five days and when we returned, everything was back to normal, and I was so glad we had a hardwired phone that didn't rely on electricity!
A couple of years passed and the phone was mostly ignored, except by three-year-old Chloe who thought it would look better covered in sparkly stickers. The power went out at least once or twice a summer, usually just for a few hours. During one of these outages Mike decided to try the phone in the kitchen to make his call, but it was dead. Concerned he drove up the road to the local country store and called AT&T's service line. I believe it went something like this…
"Hello, yes, my phone has stopped working."
"Can I have your account number?"
"Yes, it's xxx-xxxx"
" I don't see anything wrong here"
"Well, we don't have any power right now."
"Well, that would be the problem."
"No, but we have an old-fashioned dial phone hooked up in the kitchen, it should still work."
"I'm sorry, but according to our records you have no phone in the kitchen."
"Yes, we do, we've used it."
"No, you don't. If you do it's not connected through us."
"Oh. OK."
After this Mike came home, walked into the kitchen, and pulled the phone off the wall. The only wire on it was about 3 inches long and attached to nothing. It never was hooked up! (Spooky music plays now).
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
I walked with my 5-year-old on the beach at dusk, and I spied the perfect shell in the sand just on the edge of the surf. "Go get it!" I whispered, but as she turned and came running back to me I saw she had it strapped to her face-a ratty and worn N17 mask.
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
I really enjoy writing most of the time. When I'm writing a story it's almost like sorting through a puzzle and finding the picture. When I sit down to write I'm either working on one of my ongoing stories or sorting through "story seeds" in my notebook to expand on. Most of the time if I'm not writing I'm working on different stories in my head.
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
I would go over the wall, in Sarah Rees Brennan's "In Other Lands". Such a brilliant and hilarious book. I really would like to see that world, though they might just kill me there. It would be worth it however just to see a harpy in real life.
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
I'm currently writing a webcomic/comic book series called "After The Robots Died". It's for YA and is about children born on a distant planet-They traveled there as embryos from a ravished Earth and were being raised by robots, that are now dying.
Also, I'm illustrating a children's picture book called "Andy and the Mask of the Dead" about the Day of the Dead.
Also, I'm illustrating a children's picture book called "Andy and the Mask of the Dead" about the Day of the Dead.
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
It's very important to read the genre you want to write for. It's also important to read other genres and as many books as possible. As for books on writing, I recommend Stephen King's book "On Writing" and Libbie Hawker's "Take off your pants! Outline your book for faster, better, writing".
The other really important thing to do is collect "story seeds" in a notebook and then start working on expanding them. Writing as often as I can.
The other really important thing to do is collect "story seeds" in a notebook and then start working on expanding them. Writing as often as I can.
Carolyn Watson-Dubisch
I've never had writer's block where I was unable to write anything at all. If I get stuck with a story I just switch to something else until I sort it out in my head. I'm usually writing several things at once including my bog.
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