{"id":11234,"date":"2022-10-31T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T16:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=11234"},"modified":"2022-10-31T07:25:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T14:25:48","slug":"what-its-like-to-write-a-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=11234","title":{"rendered":"AN INTERVIEW WITH SUZANNE"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bob Sparrow and Suzanne Sparrow Watson<\/p>\n

We’re changing our format a bit this week.\u00a0 With the publication of the book Suzanne co-authored,\u00a0<\/em>Before All Is Said and Done, Bob thought it might be interesting to learn a bit about the writing process and how the book is faring now that it’s been on the market for a month.\u00a0 So, the following is a discussion we had about the book – how it was written and how it’s doing.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob:\u00a0 How is it you came to write a book with Pat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Suzanne: Pat is a good friend and for many years she was my next-door neighbor in Scottsdale.\u00a0 After her husband died, she experienced many problems, most of which she had not anticipated.\u00a0 As she spoke with other people, she discovered she was not alone – either they had similar experiences or knew someone who had.\u00a0 Pat is a seasoned journalist who has won numerous awards for her in-depth interviews, so her natural inclination was to talk with people and write about the problems widowed people encounter, and perhaps more importantly, with experts about how to avoid those problems.<\/p>\n

Pat knew that I had previously written a book, and of course is a loyal subscriber to this blog, so once she decided to write a book, she called me and said, “Here’s my idea and I’d like you to help me write it.”\u00a0 It was a daunting thought at first, but I love to write, plus it was smack dab in the middle of the Covid lockdown – what else was I going to do?\u00a0 So, I agreed to give it a go.<\/p>\n

Bob: <\/strong>\u00a0How long did it take to write the book?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suzanne:\u00a0 All told it took two years from that first conversation to the publication of the book.\u00a0 When we began the process, we weren’t certain what format the book would take or how it might all come together.\u00a0 We did some market research and learned that most books for widowed people either focused solely on grief or were written from one person’s perspective.\u00a0 We knew we wanted to include stories from a wide range of people on a variety of subjects.\u00a0 We began interviewing people to see what kind of information we collected.\u00a0 I conducted a couple of interviews, but it became clear that interviewing people was Pat’s forte, while writing was more in my lane.\u00a0 We sort of fell into dividing up the work that way and it worked out perfectly.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bob: What was the writing process like?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suzanne:\u00a0 It was a real eye-opener to me that how people express themselves in conversation during an interview is much different than how one reads.\u00a0 When you are speaking with someone you might jump from topic to topic, circle back to something previously discussed, or not discuss things in their logical sequence.\u00a0 That’s just how we all converse.\u00a0 But when you are reading a narrative there needs to be clarity and a logical order to the information.\u00a0 Pat would write the draft of the introductions and then sent me the transcripts of her interviews to weave into narrative form.\u00a0 That was challenging, but once I got the hang of it, it became easier over time.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bob: <\/strong>\u00a0How are sales going?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suzanne:\u00a0 Really well!\u00a0 We won’t get firm numbers until the end of the quarter (this is standard in publishing), but we became the #1 “bestseller” on day one in the Estates and Trusts category on Amazon and have remained there for the past month.\u00a0 Recently we have also been ranked #1 in the Grief and Bereavement and Love and Loss categories.\u00a0 The book is definitely striking a chord with people and we’re very happy that people find it helpful.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bob:\u00a0 Why do you think it has resonated with so many people?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suzanne:\u00a0 People have asked me that a lot this past month.\u00a0 The feedback I’m getting is that the book provides a vehicle to have conversations with a loved one or family members on a subject that typically has not been a comfortable topic of conversation.\u00a0 As a Baby Boomer myself, I’ve now come to equate it to when The Joy of Sex<\/em> was first published in 1972.\u00a0 Prior to its publication no one really talked about sex in the way the book suggested.\u00a0 It became a huge best seller so clearly people were willing to read about it, even if they didn’t openly talk about it.\u00a0 I think we have done the same thing for preparing for a death.\u00a0 Certainly not as fun, but just as thought-provoking!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bob: Can people only order the book on Amazon?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suzanne:\u00a0 People can order on Amazon, or they can order through their local bookstore.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bob: This is your second published book, what was your first one about?<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suzanne:\u00a0 My first book, In the\u00a0Enemy’s Camp,<\/em> was really written as a gift to my mother-in-law.\u00a0 She was a beautiful writer and kept a diary during her three years as a detainee in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War II.\u00a0 Her strength and courage were remarkable, especially considering my father-in-law was very sick much of the time and she had to care for her two children, my husband and his brother, who were one and four years old when they went into the camp.\u00a0 I took her diary and turned it into a book that incorporates the historical events occurring at the time.\u00a0 I published the book before my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday and she had a ball going to book signings and speaking at clubs about it.\u00a0 By far the best gift I’ve ever given! Amazingly, 17 years after publication people are still buying it on Amazon.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bob:\u00a0 Any future books in the works?\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Suzanne:\u00a0 Well, as they say, “never say never”!\u00a0 Pat and I have joked about writing a sequel.\u00a0 There are a lot of people who struggle after the death of a loved one with moving forward and creating a new life.\u00a0 We heard that a lot from widowed people – the “what do I do next?” problem.\u00a0 At this point we have no plans to write the sequel, but as we’ve learned, you never know what the future might bring!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If you are interested in learning more about the book, or purchasing it, here is a link to the Amazon page:<\/div>\n
https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Before-All-Said-Done-Practical\/dp\/1641467479\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1661984413&sr=1-3<\/a><\/div>\n
If you do buy the book from Amazon, please take a minute to give it a review.\u00a0 It really helps!<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bob Sparrow and Suzanne Sparrow Watson We’re changing our format a bit this week.\u00a0 With the publication of the book Suzanne co-authored,\u00a0Before All Is Said and Done, Bob thought it might be interesting to learn a bit about the … read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2497,3919,3956,3920,3921],"class_list":["post-11234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-amazon","tag-before-all-is-said-and-done","tag-dealing-with-the-death-of-a-loved-one","tag-pat-miles","tag-pat-miles-zimmerman"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/img_0381.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p31aN0-2Vc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11234"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11245,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11234\/revisions\/11245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}