Interview with Susan Goldsmith

I had a chance to talk to Susan Goldsmith, author of a wonderful new fantasy/romance novel, Abithica. (Click here for my review.)

Me: Do you believe there are angels among us?

Susan: I sure as heck hope so!

Me: Which character was the most fun to write and why? The most difficult?

Susan: Writing about Eliam, a smart-aleck, troubled teen with ADHD who is too self absorbed to realize he’s in danger, was effortless. No really. All I had to do was let go, and give him the reins. Off he’d fly, spewing his twisted view of the world all over the page! Never thought I’d have so much fun writing in a male voice.
Abithica was much harder. I knew her intimately. I can’t tell you how many thousands of words I deleted because the Abithica on paper wasn’t matching the Abithica in my head.

Me: What’s your favorite book?

Susan: No fair! That’s like asking which of my children I love the best. My answer to that, by the way, is whichever one I’m with at the time….
My favorite book changes with my mood. Maybe if we tweak the question, and ask instead: What book/author has inspired you the most; it might at least narrow it down a bit.
I grew up reading Stephen King so he’d be way up there on my list. If I had to pick one of his books, it would have to be The Stand. Fell asleep every night to Neil Diamond telling the story of Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Man what I’d give to get my hands on that record! Yup, let’s add Jonathan Livingston Seagull to the tally. The Time Traveler’s Wife was the first paranormal romance I’d ever read. When I was finished, I thought to myself, hey, why can’t I write something like that?—Susie style, of course. So, let’s put that one somewhere near the top, and while we’re at it, let’s make some room for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. When my husband first read it, he actually thought (probably did some serious wishing too) I’d written it under a different name. Bryan and I met our freshman year in biology. He was my partner. (No he’s not a vampire! Sheesh!!!) But there were fireworks. Long story, but it was the excitement I saw on his face for that brief second before I rudely crushed his fantasy that keeps me at the computer even on days I don’t want to be there.

Me: What inspired you to write this story?

Susan: My vacuum, Thomas Moore and my very persistent imagination were the inspiration behind Abithica. Maybe I should explain that. You see, all my best thoughts have come while pulling a vacuum. Now enter Thomas Moore. He wrote a book called Care of the Soul. In it, he asked a very profound question: what is your worst fear? Hmmm, what is my worst fear, I wondered. Naturally, I grabbed said vacuum and unleashed my imagination.
Losing my husband and children was the answer. Oh, but what if I was taken from them without their knowledge and they didn’t even know I was gone? Ouch! That would definitely suck. But what would suck even more is if another soul took my place and I was there, unseen, invisible, watching their lives continue as if I had never existed.
I was getting closer to my worst nightmare, but I wasn’t quite there yet. It needed a little something more. Got it! What if the body I was in had never really belonged to me in the first place? What if it was me who had been the intruder all along? I had been borrowing the woman’s life… and now… she wanted it back.
The question became an obsession, and my vacuum and I spent a lot of time together. Soon, the idea of “switching” was born. It grew legs and arms and even acquired a face, Abithica’s face.

Me: What kind of research did you do?

Susan: Oh boy! This is where I should probably give a shout out to Google! If you somehow hacked into my computer, you’d see some pretty strange sites dealing with things like, angel conspiracy theories, demons, funny names for the male anatomy (Eliam!); angelic script… the list goes on and on.

Me: This book had a strong religious feel to it, without being overly preachy. Is that important to you? What message did you hope readers would take away from your book?

Susan: Nobody that knows me would define me as religious. Spiritual hits much closer to home. I guess you could say Abithica is you and me. She is anybody who has ever asked the questions, why am I here? Is there a God, a purpose, a cosmic plan? With that said, I guess hope is the take away.

Me: What are you working on now?

Susan: I’m 47,000 words into the sequel.

Me: Is there anything else I should have asked?

Susan: Come visit me on Goodreads, facebook, or even my website. I love talking to readers!

Me: Is there anything you wish I hadn’t asked?

Susan: Nope. Already fixed it by changing the: What is Your Favorite Book question. My bad?

Me: No, you were absolutely welcome to interpret the question in any way that made sense to you! It was a pleasure having the chance to interview you. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today.