Today I have the great honor of interviewing fellow author and friend,
Smoky Trudeau Zeidel.
Smoky is the author of three novels:
The Storyteller’s Bracelet, The Cabin, and
On the Choptank Shores; a collection
of short stories, and two nonfiction works: Smoky’s
Writer’s Workshop Combo Set and Observations
of an Earth Mage, a photo/essay collection about her relationship with
natural, all from Vanilla Heart Publishing.
Her short story, “Breakfast at the
Laundromat,” was nominated for a 2013 Pushcart Prize. She has published
short stories and poetry in literary journals such as CALYX and
online e-zines such as The Foundling Review.
A native of Illinois, Smoky succumbed to her
bohemian spirit and need to live near the mountains and the ocean and moved to
Southern California in 2008, where she lives with her husband Scott and an
assortment of animals, both domestic and wild, in a ramshackle cottage in the
woods overlooking the San Gabriel Valley and Mountains beyond. An ardent
outdoorswoman with a deep reverence for nature, when she isn’t writing, she spends
her time hiking with Scott and their little dog Tufa in the mountains or desert,
camping in the Sierras, splashing in tide pools, and fighting the urge to speak
in haiku.
When you were a little girl, what did you want to “be” when you
grew up?
That depended on what day
of the week it was, or what I was reading at the time, or what I was studying
in school! I wanted to be a mommy, a nurse, a writer, an astronaut (although I
was told little girls didn’t want to be astronauts—this was right after John
Glenn went into space), a teacher, and a national park ranger. I wanted to be
Peggy Fleming and glide across the ice wearing a silk handkerchief dress; I
wanted to be Barbara Streisand and sing like an angel. I wanted to be Shirley
Temple and tap dance across the silver screen, and I wanted to be a mad
scientist and blow up things in my lab. I wanted to be a Cherokee Indian, or
maybe a Navajo. I wanted to be a zookeeper, a veterinarian, a marine biologist,
and the first woman to reach the North Pole. I guess that’s why I became a
writer. I can do all these things in my imagination, and turn them into
stories.
At what point in your life did you realize you wanted to become
a published author?
I guess it was about
fourth grade, however old that would make me. I read Harriet the Spy, and started carrying a little notebook around with
me, taking notes about what my siblings and neighbors were doing. My mom put a
stop to my spy activities pretty quickly, but I soon picked up my first real
diary—one with a lock and key—and have been writing ever since. I guess having
someone publish a novel I’d written was a fantasy of mine from those early spy
days, but that desire grew stronger once I started writing professionally as a
feature writer for my hometown newspaper. I enjoyed writing features, but what
I really wanted to write was a novel. So I did, and the rest is history.
You’ve been described as “eccentric” or “quirky”…. Give us a
definition or a tiny example of your quirkiness.
Hmmm, I’m quirky in so
many ways. I dress like it’s still the 1970s, long peasant skirts and blouses.
I went skinny dipping in an icy High Sierra creek a few weeks ago, not caring
if hikers strolled by (they didn’t). I name our garden plants and trees, as
well as the lizards that live under our deck and in our poppy patch. I once
named a tomato hornworm Spike. I talk to the trees—my grandmother oak tree in
particular—as well as to the snakes and birds and deer I encounter when I walk
around my hill or hike in the mountains. And they talk back to me; I can
understand the language of the trees and the rocks, and some of the animals. I’d
rather camp in our tiny tent than stay at a 5-star hotel. My stepson
Christopher calls me a hippie, and I think that describes me pretty well.
You are called the Earth Mage … how did you acquire this title?
From my blog, actually. I
often write about nature and about earth spirituality, and I drew a huge blog
following from these posts. Managing editor Kimberlee Williams at Vanilla Heart
Publishing, who publishes all my books, suggested I do a book based on these
blog posts. Observations of an Earth Mage
was the result. A friend of mine called me a Earth sage one time, and I
really liked that. Only I decided to change it to Earth Mage—meaning one who
knows earth magic. Not magic as in “abbra cadabbra” sort of stuff. Rather, I’m
someone who can see the magic in nature. I mean, I look up at the ancient
grandmother oak tree that towers above my house, and I look at the tiny acorns
she drops this time of year, and I think, “Wow … this fabulous tree came from a
tiny acorn just like this.” If that isn’t magic, I don’t know what is.
You have experienced a remarkable, life-altering event… beyond
the “normal” life-changing events that we all have. You were
actually struck by lightning and survived. I am sure my blog readers
haven’t heard your story, so please share your story with us.
I wish I could in an
interview, but the story is long and complex. I can’t do it justice in just a
few sentences. In a nutshell: On July 11, 1989, a bolt of lightning struck me
in the neck as I was walking from my suburban Chicago home to my car. I was
clinically dead; if not for the fast thinking of a witness, I wouldn’t be here
today. I’ve had more than 20 surgeries since that time to correct damage
received from the lightning, and I have peripheral neuropathy in my arm, a
heart condition, and other health issues that continue to plague me 22 years
later. But I try to make the best of my life, going on despite living in
constant chronic pain. I figure I’m going to hurt if I moan and groan and lie
in bed all day, and I’m going to hurt if I put a smile on my face and try to live
a normal life. If I’m going to hurt either way, I choose option B.
People can read the
entire harrowing tale by downloading my short bio “In a Flash” from Amazon for
Kindle, Barnes & Noble for Nook, or Smashwords for any other eBook format.
It’s just 99 cents, and it really is a compelling story.
I can’t imagine the many ways in which that experience changed
you and shaped you, but can you tell us a few things that come to mind?
Well, the most obvious
thing is that I was studying to be a therapist, but since I was so badly
injured I was unable to complete graduate school, I took up writing
professionally. I had an understanding editor at the newspaper who knew he
could get kick-ass stories from me when I felt well enough, so he’d let me take
a pass on assignments when I was feeling sick or in the hospital.
The lightning also has
made me more in tune with the natural world and the spirit world. I think it
opened my eyes to see the possible where before I’d seen the impossible. For
example, my dad came to visit me a few days before he died to say goodbye to
me. He didn’t literally, physically visit me—I’m in Los Angeles and he was in
an assisted care facility in Indianapolis. On top of that, he had dementia from
multiple strokes. But he came and spent a day at my side, and I knew he was
saying goodbye to me. I was very grateful I got that opportunity.
How many books have you written? How many are
currently published? What can readers expect to see from you in the
near future?
I’ve written three
novels: The Storyteller’s Bracelet, The
Cabin, and On the Choptank Shores (formerly
titled Redeeming Grace). I’ve also
written a short story collection, creatively titled Short Story Collection Vol. 1. I’ve written three nonfiction books:
Observations of an Earth Mage, which
I’ve briefly spoken about already, and two books about writing. Those books
were combined last year into my Smoky’s
Writer’s Workshop Combo Set. So I guess that’s a total of eight books, if
you count each of the two writing books separately and as the combo.
As for the near future,
I’m currently about a third of the way into my fourth novel, The Madam of Bodie. A real,
honest-to-g*ddess Western, set in the California gold mining town of Bodie,
which at the time of the Gold Rush was considered “the baddest town in the
West.” And it was! I’m also collaborating with my husband on a
photo/essay/poetry/story collection called Trails.
Another short story collection is in the works—this one, variations on one
theme—and finally, a sequel to The
Storyteller’s Bracelet, called The
Storyteller’s Daughter.
What are some of your favorite books/authors?
There are so many,
it’s hard to know where to begin! I love the Portuguese author Jose Saramago,
particularly his Death With
Interruptions. I love anything by Willa Cather or Eudora Welty. I like to
read books about nature; some of my favorites have been Walking With Bears by Terry DeBruyn (how could he not be a bear
biologist with a name like DeBruyn?) and Silent
Thunder by Katy Payne, which is about African elephants. My husband and I
enjoy reading poetry, particularly anything by Billy Collins or Mary
Oliver.
To whom would you say that your writing style is similar?
I think I’ll leave that
for my fans and my critics and reviewers to decide. I write like me, in my own
voice.
What are the top three things on your bucket list?
1. Learn to speak Spanish! I
live in Los Angeles, for pete’s sake. Everyone here speaks Spanish.
2. Visit Machu Picchu in
Peru, preferably hiking there along the Aztec Trail from Cuzco
3. Visit Italy with my
husband, and attend mass at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome (and I’m not
Christian, let alone Catholic!).
If you were told you could only have one more meal and then
you’d never taste food again, what would that meal be?
My husband is a gourmet
chef; we’re real foodies, so this would be somewhat of a disaster! But I’d have
to say Scott’s eggplant parmesan, tomato salad with arugula pesto, fresh
peaches from our peach tree, and his egg custard pie for desert. Then, I’d want
seconds.
Congratulations on your Pushcart Prize nomination! Tell
us a little about the book that has been nominated.
It’s a short story
called “Breakfast at the Laundromat.” It’s the somewhat autobiographical story
of a lost soul and a free spirit who find each other in, of all places, their
neighborhood laundromat. I’m crazy about this story; I had so much fun writing
it. I’m glad Vanilla Heart Publishing thought it worthy of a nomination—the
Pushcarts are a big deal, and just being nominated is an honor.
Where can readers find you on the internet and where can they
purchase your books?
I’m all over the Internet
these days; if people can’t find me, they aren’t looking very hard! But
seriously, here are the links to my pages and places my books can be found:
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/mUvjpC
I’d sure like it if
readers would stop by and subscribe to my blog, follow me on Twitter and
Pinterest, and become a fan on Facebook and Goodreads. If you’re on all these
places, great! If you’re only on one or two, that’s fine, too.
I appreciate your time
conducting this interview, Susan. Thank you very much for having me today.
In the Just Call Me Angel series, Angel encounters many
difficulties in her relationships with her grandfather, Giovanni; as she
struggles to acclimate to her new lifestyle in a Mafia world. She tries to bring balance to Giovanni’s
perspective, which is no easy task.
Despite tempers flaring, guns blasting and the occasional Tasering, in
the end Giovanni and Angel always come to a place of resolution. Why?
Because they are family and everything they do stems from an urge to
protect and love one another. They may
not always go about it in the best way, but at the center of their heart lays
the best of intentions.
