Authors' Night at the Exeter Library

In honor of This coming National Library Week, Wednesday evening five local authors will be speaking at the Exeter Library. These people have produced books with a wide appeal, from historical western to poetry. Joins us at 6:30 P.M. Here’s a chance to ask questions you’ve always wanted to ask an author.

They are Mary Benton, author of Winds of Time and Plain Molly

Suzanne Clevenger, author of Pastures of Hope

Sylvia Ross, author of Acorns and Abalone, Acts of Kindness, Acts of Contrition and East of the Great Valley

Gloria Getman, author of Lottie’s Legacy

And Jeff Spalsbury, author of Hunt the Hunter and The Hunted Returns

John Noel, another Exeter Writer

I want everyone to meet John Noel, another member of the Visalia-Exeter Writers and contributor to Leaves from the Valley Oak.

Welcome, John and thanks for joining me on my blog. Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born in York, Pennsylvania, a small industrial city with a claim to being the first capital of the United States. I grew up playing in Penn Common, which had been given to the city by the Penn family.  Across the street from our row house Revolutionary War General “Mad Anthony” Wayne had executed mutinous soldiers. Confederate troops had camped on the common when York became the northernmost city captured by the Rebels in the Civil War. Perhaps such surroundings gave me my lifelong love of history.

My family moved to California as I entered high school, and I went on to Fresno State to graduate with a degree in history. I taught in the Exeter area for 39 years. My wife Patsy and I have five children and seven grandchildren. Other than reading and writing, my main vice is playing in rock bands with other old guys.

How long have you been writing, and what was the stimulus that got you started?

I started early. The men of my family were newspaper men of one sort or another, so writing was natural and encouraged. As I got older, my skills saved many a grade as I whipped out a credible paper on a Sunday for Monday delivery.  To supplement my teacher’s salary, I began writing part time for local newspapers.  Needing to fit the information within the limitations of column inches taught me how to whittle away excess verbiage and leave the good stuff.

But my real stimulus was teaching writing in the era of Whole Language. The movement emphasized metacognitive thinking: How do we learn to write? What do writers do? I read a myriad of how-to books on writing, reading, and organizing a writer’s workshop within the classroom. As part of the teaching process I wrote along with my students. They had to see my own trials and tribulations, my own successes and failures as I prepared pieces for classroom publication. We had to establish a community of writers within the classroom, a safe harbor where budding writers could take risks and rely on each other for support. One learns to write by writing. That’s what I did, and that’s what I hope my students took away from their time with me.

The stories and poems in the anthology are really fun to read. Where do you get your ideas?

Ideas have always been hard for me. I worked best in a newspaper-type environment. My editor would tell me what he or she wanted and give me a certain space to fill. These days I mostly write autobiographical vignettes that I hope my grandchildren may get a kick out of some day.

How did your upbringing color your writing?

As I said, my family was in the newspaper business. Even as a child I read two newspapers every day. My early attempts at writing were encouraged both at home and in school.

What books or authors have influenced you in your writing style?

I have always been drawn to nostalgic writers who tell of their youth with warmth and humor. Jean Shepherd (A Christmas Story) would be my go-to example. When I dabble in poetry, my style (but unfortunately not the depth of my talent) leans toward e.e. cummings and Charles Bukowski. I also write poetry for children in the vein of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky.

What’s been your most rewarding experience during the writing process?

I guess my most joyful single moment would have to be when I got the phone call from Children’s Writer that I had won the grand prize in their history article contest. But overall, my most rewarding times were when I was writing with kids. To see young writers making breakthroughs was priceless.

What’s your latest project?

I have two that I am polishing at the moment. Both are slightly embellished but mostly true stories from my youth. The Chronsiter Chronicles is about unrequited puppy love, and The Spelling Bee is the tale of childhood adventures with creative spelling.

Meet Patty Sabatier, a poet

I’d like everyone to meet Patty Sabatier, a poet who contributed several poems to Leaves from the Valley Oak.

Patty, your life has been an open book, literally, to those of us in the Visalia Writers’ group. Tell my readers a little about yourself?

I was born and raised in southern Louisiana, near New Orleans.  As an adult, after spending two years with the Navy as a nurse and 12 years as a Catholic nun, I traveled away from Louisiana. and gained a broader view of life. Learning to deal with a diagnosis of bi-polar mental illness at age 28 has been the biggest challenge of my adult life. Along with this, and through this challenge, I also learned the key to compassion as a nurse. Non-judgmental, active-listening to myself and others, has helped me become a better  person. I now work as a public health nurse with the Tulare County Health Department and am emerging in my personal life as a writer.

Where does the inspiration for your poetry come from?

Most of my poetry comes to me in the early morning hours when I rise to greet the day with prayer and meditation. Just reading one line from my favorite passages in the bible and other meditative books, stimulates me to wonder and wander in thought. Writing helps me ground this thought in reality and express it so that others can share these private moments in my life.

How long have you been writing poetry?

I began to write down my morning meditations in 2009, so that they could be critiqued by the Visalia Writers group. I have always kept a journal of my daily thoughts and actions, but never written in it for the purpose of sharing with others. In 2009, I left graduate school where I was focusing on becoming a therapist. I then turned to writing as a means of expressing a desire to do more with my life. The Visalia Writers group has helped me develop my writing into poetry.

How did your upbringing color your poetry?

As a child, I was often awed by the presence of God I found in simple things like the wind in the trees, or rays of light streaming from the play of clouds and sun. I felt very isolated and lonely, and this tendency towards intuitive, introverted thinking brought  me great joy and companionship. Today, my prayer life which is mostly introverted, intuitive meditation has blossomed into a desire to share this joy and inner companionship with others in writing.

What books and authors have influenced you?

In my young adult years, reading authors who taught about prayerful living like Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton filled my reflective time. They taught me how to approach prayer and God.  Then I developed an interest in Carl Jung and his second generation writers like Marie-Louise Von Franz, Murray Stein, and Monika Wikman and their stories of a Jungian approach to the spiritual life. I was particularly helped with my bi-polar illness by the writings of John Weir Perry, a Jungian psychiatrist.  I suppose that most of my poetry has been encouraged by these authors who try to express the mystical, mysterious side of life and personal growth.

 What’s your latest project?

I am in the process of completing my life story and how I used Jungian therapy and spirituality to heal my bi-polar mental illness. I believe this psychology of personal growth has many insights for people with mental illness and can give them tools for seeking a balanced and whole life instead of a life broken by neurosis or psychosis. I am hopeful that my story will also help therapists and families of the mentally ill.

What’s been your most rewarding experience during the writing process?

Having to verbalize and express in a concrete manner so that others can understand something as subtle and mysterious as a spiritual journey. Its healing force has encouraged me to discover the exact words and events that led to my growth. Writing my story as a book was not easy. Like the wind that you cannot see but you know exists, my spiritual life has been forceful in my history, helping me cope with disappointments, failures and even, at times, moments of ecstasy. 

The Visalia Writers group asked questions about the writing I shared and forced me to clarify and explain aspects of my healing and personal growth. Their questions led me to a firm grasp on my integrity as a woman, dedicated to a faith-filled life. I am very grateful to them for their perseverance with me as a writer.

Lianne Card, poet, travel writer

I’d like to you meet Lianne Card, another one the contributors to Leaves from the Valley Oak.  You’ll find her poetry in the book. She’s a longtime member of Exeter Writers.

Lianne, tell us a little about yourself.

I was born in Canada of Ukrainian ancestry and became a naturalized US citizen after September 11^th.  I grew up in a multicultural enclave in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a prairie city where learning was intensely respected by our immigrant communities. I knew from an early age that I wanted to experience the world as widely as possible. I moved to California in 1979 and spent 15 exciting years working in Silicon Valley during times of great optimism and growth in the computer industry. I have learned to love all of California with its diverse geography and people. I was able to enjoy living in Aptos, hearing the surf during winter nights, then appreciated the delights of Paso Robles wine country before moving to Exeter in 2003. 

How long have you been writing?

 I have been writing since primary school when I won a contest with a knock-off Nancy Drew mystery. I began keeping a journal in high school, a practice that persists until today. I have boxes of journals in the garage, and hope to live long enough to refine that raw material. My writing practice continues to be sporadic for my outer life has always been complex and many-faceted. I love writing getaways when I can be far from phones, people, and the Internet.

How did your upbringing color your writing?

My father loved poetry and committed hundreds of Ukrainian poems to memory. He would often recite to me. Later, I was coached to recite poetry as a performance art. I learned to respect the inner meaning of words, and project my voice to the back rows of the balcony. Wonderful English teachers in high school shared their love literature. Hearing the rhythms of language has always moved me. My mother and older sister both loved reading.

I love your poems. Where do you get your ideas?

Most poems come to me as an image or phrase from every day experience. I might glimpse a scene while driving, or be surprised by a phrase in an interaction with another person. If I can follow and explore the thread of the beginning, a poem will gradually take shape. Although the meter matters, I have also come to appreciate how a poem looks on the printed page.

What books and authors influenced you?

It would be difficult to narrow my influences, for I have read voraciously all my life. I loved the Beat poets – especially Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gary Snyder. I once had the good fortune to be able to be in a small group class with Alan Ginsberg. He emphasized the importance of randomness in poetic language. In a more traditional style, I still believe in Wordsworth’s assumptions about poetry. When you experience a place or an event, and recall it later, it then comes from a deep inner well where it has been stored. That “recollection in tranquility” filters out what is not essential. What is remembered is enhanced and sometimes more clear than what was grasped in the original moment.

Although I have focused on poetry in this interview, I also have been a great fan of creative nonfiction, especially literary travel and memoir. I love the works of Paul Theroux, Pico Iyer and Bruce Chatwin. All have the ability to tease out what’s universal and what’s unique about each place they experience. I appreciate how their perspectives simultaneously express the personal, the social and the historical.

What is your latest project?

I have been working on a memoir of a trip I took to Europe and the Middle East in 1967. It is a coming of age story and a snapshot of a historical turning point for my generation. I hope to complete it soon.

Sylvia Ross, Poet, Author, Artist

Today I’m interviewing Sylvia Ross, another of the contributors to Leaves from the Valley Oak.  Sylvia not only contributed several of her poems and a memoir to the anthology, but she also helped with the production. She did the graphics on the cover and made all the interior pictures better. She’s a longtime member of Exeter Writers.

Sylvia, not only have you authored children’s books, you’re a poet and artist too. Tell us about yourself.

My husband and I chose a country life, but I was raised in Los Angeles. My mother was one quarter Native American, and my own number on the state’s Indian Roll was 30326. After high school, I worked for Walt Disney as a cell painter until my first child was born. Subsequently, I earned a B.A., and as our four sons grew older, their need for clothes, shoes, and music lessons drove me into a teaching career. I taught at Vandalia in Porterville, CA, where the kids from the Tule Indian Reservation were enrolled. I enjoyed finding connections with my own origins through the Indian kids and their admirable families. I was a good fit for the school and it for me.

How long have you been writing? 

Oh, since I first found out that my fingers could make marks in mud. I was an inarticulate child, but once I learned to use the ABCs to make phonetically correct words, I felt that I had a voice. That led me to being a girl too shy to give an oral book report but who earned the English award at 8th grade graduation, and to being a woman who struggled desperately through college speech class, but had the blue book proficiency to easily graduate with honors.

How many books have you written?

I’ve written four books: two cultural works for children, Lion Singer (2005) and Blue Jay Girl (2008 ) published by Heyday; a collection of poems and drawings for adults published this year and titled Acorns and Abalone; and a novel titled Acts of Kindness, Acts of Contrition.

I’ve also given many readings during the past ten years. My work was included in a cultural arts exhibit called Sing Me Your Story, Dance Me Home which toured museums and other venues, 2009 through 2010. With three other writers, I was invited to read at the Modern Language Association’s International Conference in San Diego in 2003, and I read at U.C. Irvine’s California Indian Conference in 2010.  I’ve written for an award winning quarterly magazine, “News from NATIVE CALIFORNIA,” for many years. I have poetry and short stories in the anthologies: The Dirt Is Red Here (2002); Spring Salmon, Hurry To Me (2008); The Illuminated Landscape, A Sierra Nevada Anthology (2010); Leaves from the Valley Oak (2011). An minor abstract from an article I wrote is included in the book: Seaweed, Salmon, and Manzanita Cider (2008).

How did your upbringing color your writing?

My mother’s people were storytellers; my early teachers were Irish nuns, fond of literature and grand storytellers all.  Parochial school exposed me to the rhythms and eloquent vocabulary of the Bible. I listened to the Latin mass weekly as a child and was also exposed to the sounds of other languages I didn’t speak or understand. I understood early on how sound could nuance content.

How do you develop your characters? 

 I don’t know. My characters are greatly altered but naturally are modeled on people I’ve known. I put them into fictitious situations and let them react as they might.

What books and authors influenced you?

The author Frances Hodgson Burnett, who wrote A Little Princess, brought me through a complicated childhood. My copy of her book was an old edition (1937) with illustrations by Ethel Franklin Betts. (Burnett’s book is still being printed but in an updated version - which is more politically correct and not quite the same.)

Later, all the great writers: Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Flaubert, William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost and James Joyce impressed me.  California’s John Steinbeck, England’s D.H. Lawrence and Paul Scott were influences. At the present time, Charles Frazier, David Gregory Roberts, Barbara Kingsolver, Neal Stephenson, Allan Furst, Elizabeth George, Gil Adamson, and Kazuo Ishiguro are still influencing me.  I am fond of books in translation and films with subtitles.

In college, I studied with the poet, Robert Mezey, and the novelist, John Stewart. They both went on to other campuses and greater honors. I was lucky to have been taught by them.

What is your latest project?

After completing the novel this past month?  I plan to give the house a good cleaning, lie on the sofa and read.

Where can your books be found?

They can be ordered through The Book Garden on Pine St. in Exeter, and at www.amazon.com. The books published by Heyday can also be purchased at www.heydaybooks.com. I can be contacted at sylviarossthistles@gmail.com or by regular mail at P.O. Box 44040, Lemon Cove, CA 93244

Our Leaves have finally sprouted

   It's finally published! After eight long months of work collecting, editing, and getting the art work just right, the Visalia-Exeter Writers anthology is launched! Mary and I learned so much in the process. I learned more about using Word for desk top publishing than I knew existed. When you have mulitple authors, the formatting becomes tricky, especially when you want the book title on one page and the author's name on the opposite page. Now that it's done, I can say it was worthwhile.
   The pictures turned out better than I expected. The graphics work my Sylvia Ross is splendid. And the stories and poetry are fun to read. It's going to be great for Christmas gifts.