Author Spotlight: Sarah Stonich
The spotlight is shining on Sarah Stonich, author of Vacationland in the Visual Arts category and Fishing! (Film), the first installment in a trilogy filled with hilarity, heartbreak and charm about a woman who takes a job as a consultant for the first all-women talk show about fishing on public television (or, as one viewer’s husband puts it, “Oprah in a boat”). Find out why Sarah decided to write her new trilogy, who she'd love to be stuck in an elevator with, a novel she's recently read and recommends, and more! Why did you decide to write your new trilogy? I wanted to write feminist chick lit for a somewhat younger audience of women. It seems like publishing has really underestimated this millennial demographic and aim a lot of dumbed-down books with covers featuring champagne flutes and high heels with a rom-com vibe at them. I felt that women want and need stories with more substance. Describe the first and second novels in the trilogy and give us a hint about Novel #3. In 'Fishing!', RayAnne Dahl finds herself in the pilot's seat of the first all-women's talk show on public TV, quite different from the sexist arena of pro sport fishing she's finally left for good. Between her beloved Gran who is a former Sinatra-era chef, her new age mom, and her goth-girl assistant Cassi, RayAnne has the support of three very dynamic women. Though this journey is her own to navigate, she discovers the potential the show has as a platform for change for her tribe: women. In 'Reeling' RayAnne and Cassi take the show on the road to New Zealand to meet interesting Kiwi anglers, among them a legendary fly tyer; an Anti-fast-fashion fashionista, and a dog trainer with outlandish methods. Gran's ghost seems to have stowed away onto RayAnne's personal devices, occasionally popping up with scraps of advice or just to remind RayAnne of her mission. It takes a few days alone on a remote beach for RayAnne to catch up with herself and the grief she's staved off - just as some silly, flu-like pandemic cuts short her journey. I'm still just plotting out the finale, 'Leaping', but there are few paths RayAnne will travel. Now that the show is 'sort of a hit', there's time to focus on her personal life. Hal, who IS the actual guy, wants more - but how much more? Struggling with the 21st-century, first-world question: 'Can a woman have it all?', RayAnne has to ponder what 'all' even means. Once that is defined, is she a freak for not wanting it? Name an author (past or present) you’d like to be stuck in an elevator with. What would you ask them? Dorothy Parker, preferably with a shaker of martinis. I would ask about the tone of the male-dominated world of writing and publishing during her era, which I suspect wasn't much more enlightened than other fields. I bet she'd have stories. What’s your writing routine? If I had one, I'd probably have a lot more books written. I'm not being coy. I've only recently sat down to plot a book from beginning to end, intending to write it in a linear fashion, with a set routine and deadline. All of my other six novels were born of a lot of scattered thoughts that come together in some typed form that somehow, with a ton of editing, isn't gibberish. Most of writing is an alchemy I do not even want to understand. What does success as an author look like to you? Having a following of readers who CANNOT WAIT for my next book. Name a book you’ve enjoyed recently and would recommend. Hamnet, the imagined story of Shakespeare's son's passing from 'black death', told from the POV of the bard's wife, healer and herbalist, Anne Hathaway. Hamnet surely inspired the character of HamLET. The novel made for some interesting pandemic reading by one of my fav British writers, Maggie O'Farrell. What is the most surprising thing about the writing life you’ve discovered as a published author? What a privilege it is to be able to write - to play all day with words? Really? The work is poorly paid but has a lot of great perks: meeting readers and hanging with book people, not to mention living in the realm of whatever next novel story has moved into my head like an overbearing roommate. What’s your favorite pastime – besides writing? And reading? I'm supposed to say fishing, but really, it's swimming. And hanging with dogs. I love a good dog and don't mind dog breath. My son's boxer puppy, Fergal, helped my family get through the pandemic (and worse) in 2020. You've just won ten million dollars in the lottery. How will you spend it? I buy a resort, or a chateau or small abandoned village on some shore and turn it into an artist's colony. Have dinner every night with artists and musicians and writers. There is good wine and cheese. If you could give your younger writing self one piece of advice, what would it be? I'd tell myself: Don't wait for it to feel 'right' to start. Just do it and start much, much earlier - like 'before' you're ready. I didn't publish a book until I was forty. Damn. If you could give an aspiring author one piece of advice, what would it be? Writing isn't precious - your every word is not a gem. Don't be afraid to slash and burn: write for the sake of story, not for your own ego. If you simply wanna be writer, then don't bother - it has to be for the love of the writing, not yourself. Okay, so that's like three things, which I should really edit down but just to drive home the point, I won't.
