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Suzanne Kamata


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Suzanne Kamata

Goodreads Author


Born
in Grand Haven, The United States
Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences
Marguerite Duras, Anne Beattie, Lorrie Moore

Member Since
September 2007


Five-time Pushcart Prize nominee Suzanne Kamata is the author of the memoir Squeaky Wheels: Travels with My Daughter by Train, Plane, Metro, Tuk-tuk and Wheelchair (Wyatt-Mackenzie, 2019); the novels Indigo Girl (GemmaMedia, 2019), The Mermaids of Lake Michigan (Wyatt-Mackenzie, 2017), Screaming Divas (Merit Press, 2014), Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible (GemmaMedia, 2013) and Losing Kei (Leapfrog Press, 2008); and editor of three anthologies - The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan, Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs, and Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2009). Her short fiction and essays have appeared widely. She was a ...more

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Suzanne Kamata Sorry! I didn't notice these questions until just now!!!

I think it's important to keep the creative part separate from the publishing part. When you …more
Sorry! I didn't notice these questions until just now!!!

I think it's important to keep the creative part separate from the publishing part. When you are writing, just immerse yourself in the story and the fun of writing, and don't worry about the rest. I know it's hard, but I think it's important to enjoy the process. I have to remind myself of this as well. Maybe 96% of manuscripts are rejected, but a lot of people don't get published because, well, they give up. Persistence is key, more than talent. It might also help if you have a writing buddy -- someone to exchange pages with on a regular basis, someone to keep you accountable and to encourage you when the going gets rough.

As for lack of ideas, I find that just going out and having new experiences can generate ideas. Travel, eat new foods, read in genres that you don't usually read in, meet new people, listen to podcasts, read the newspaper or news sites and take note of quirky or unusual stories. Use prompts to get started. Or rewrite a classic story from a different point of view or with a different setting. (less)
Suzanne Kamata I was inspired by the girl groups of Motown in the 1960s, like The Supremes, and also by the Riot Grrrl movement that took place in the Pacific Northw…moreI was inspired by the girl groups of Motown in the 1960s, like The Supremes, and also by the Riot Grrrl movement that took place in the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s, and by the incredibly creative people I've known in The South. (less)
Average rating: 3.9 · 1,544 ratings · 425 reviews · 44 distinct works • Similar authors
The Mermaids of Lake Michigan

3.64 avg rating — 202 ratings — published 2017 — 2 editions
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Gadget Girl: The Art of Bei...

3.91 avg rating — 183 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions
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Indigo Girl

3.83 avg rating — 166 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions
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Losing Kei

3.66 avg rating — 111 ratings — published 2008 — 7 editions
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The Baseball Widow

4.13 avg rating — 72 ratings — 5 editions
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Screaming Divas

3.44 avg rating — 86 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions
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Pop Flies, Robo-Pets, and O...

4.21 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 2020 — 8 editions
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Squeaky Wheels: Travels wit...

4.49 avg rating — 49 ratings — 3 editions
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Cinnamon Beach

4.30 avg rating — 47 ratings — 6 editions
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Love You to Pieces: Creativ...

3.82 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 2008 — 4 editions
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Rupi Kaur and Me at The Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet

[image error]Earlier this year I was invited to participate in the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet to help launch The Best Asian Short Stories 2017 anthology published by Kitaab International in Singapore. I would be appearing along with the publisher, Zafar Anjum; the editor, Monideepa Sahu, who lives in India; and Wan Phing Lim, a young writer from Malaysia who had contributed “Snake Bridge Tem

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Published on March 24, 2018 00:15
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In WONDERFUL HALF, the debut novel by Ari Ryn, three misfit teen-aged Japanese boys bond over one hot summer in a suburb of Osaka. Kentaro lives in poverty with his alcoholic single mother; Naoki, though raised in a loving stable home, has been bulli ...more
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Allan Gurganus
“Writing means being a fascinated slave to current events.”
― Alan Gurganus

Michael Cunningham
“A writer should always feel like he's in over his head”
― Michael Cunningham

Lorrie Moore
“If one publishes, then one is creating a public record of Learning to Write. ”
― Lorrie Moore

Tara Lynn Masih
“Being a doctor he didn't want for choices, but also being a doctor he understood the fragility of bone and sinew that encompassed the even more fragile organ of the heart. He envisioned Therese's as being wound in intricate, tight, vinelike veins that he would slowly make sense of and unravel.”
― Tara L. Masih, Where the Dog Star Never Glows
tags: love

Kim Thúy
“If I had known what it meant to love, I wouldn't have had children, because once we love, we love forever, like Uncle Two's wife, Step-aunt Two, who can't stop loving her gambler son, the son who is burning up the family fortune like a pyromaniac.”
― Kim Thúy, Ru

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Comments (showing 1-4)    post a comment »
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message 4: by Sarah

Sarah I guess it is a small world! Chances are I know your cousins, Big Rapids isn't very large. Where are you residing these days?


message 3: by Marie

Marie Hi Suzanne. Thanks for adding me as a friend. When I picked up Love You to Pieces and added it to my list, I noted all the great books you have on your list. Having lived in Japan from 1986-89, I'm always on the hunt for great literature about Japan or Asia, and you're a great resource! I'm also enjoying your blog (and I also love Vicki Forman's writing as well).
Cheers!

Marie


Suzanne Thank you so much!


Daniel
Suzanne, I've added The Broken Bridge, Losing Kei and your other book Love You to Pieces to my to-read list.


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