I came upon a wonderful book this past winter, and was so moved by the story that I decided I had to find out more about the author. I then figured I should write to her and let her know how much I'd loved her work. If you don't know what to read next, pick up Sing Them Home, by Stephanie Kallos. Here's our correspondence:
Hello Stephanie,
I don't often write to authors, well, in fact, I never write to authors! But I am a big, big reader, averaging probably 30-ish novels per year. I scour list after list of winners, losers and nominees for the world's big literary prizes to make up my reading lists and spend many wonderful hours lost in the world of great writing.
A little while ago I headed to our closest city's book store with my teen daughter in tow, also an avid reader. She had a pile in her arms before I'd even made it to the "F's" in alphabetical authors. I had left my lists at home and was unfocussed in my search, but sometimes that's when the perfect gem turns up. And so it was with Sing Them Home.
I just finished it today, full attention to it for the past 2 days as I am abed with a cold. Beautiful. I could go on and on about images, musicality, settings, relationships - Bonnie, Larken and Gaelen, Blind Tom the piano refurbisher who gives the greatest gift of all, L., Hope and Viney and all the other sundry characters who populate this beautiful tale. I now know a little bit about the landscapes of lives in Nebraska, something I had no inkling about last week. I'm so happy this book was facing out on the shelf - I have a soft spot for any allusion to music in a book.
Above all, the sense of each character's rootedness, their being connected, the safety and comfort in where you come from. Thanks for a great read,
Sheila
....and a month later, Stephanie wrote me back!:
Dear Sheila,
Thank you so very much for taking the time to write, and for the kind words about SING THEM HOME. I loved hearing your story about the circumstances that brought you to the book; I'm a big believer in book-related "coincidences," that is, having the most unexpected books come into one's field of view at just the right moment.
A poet friend shared something wonderful with me after my first novel, BROKEN FOR YOU, was published. We were having beers at the Comet Tavern here in Seattle, and Paul was remarking about the many coincidences in the story. He said, "Stevie, have you ever hear this quote? 'Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.'" "No!" I said. "That's fabulous! Who said that?" His deadpan reply: "Anonymous."
Anyway. You might be interested to know that SING was the novel I believed would be my first. The story of three siblings and their vanished mother has been swirling around in my head ever since I saw a 1974 National Geographic photograph of a ruined baby grand piano in the middle of a milo field; it was the only thing to come down in any kind of recognizable form after a tornado descended upon – and completely destroyed - the 19th century farmhouse of some dear family friends who farmed just outside of Wymore, Nebraska, which is where I lived until I was five. My mother used to say, "How can a deep chest freezer just disappear? How can things like bathtubs and washers and dryers vanish? Where does it all go?"
I'd always envisioned SING as a book about unresolved grief; however, it became a very different, much more personal book after losing both of my parents during the writing process -and possibly a better book for having been deferred, and for the uncanny way that my own grief connected me to my characters.
I hope you'll continue to visit the website. It will have an updated look and new content soon, and I'll be keeping readers posted on my progress with Novel #3, KATIE AND MAGS. Again, Sheila, many thanks. Without avid readers like you, writing would be a very lonely endeavor.
All best,SK
http://stephaniekallos.com/about/bio.html