WOW! Women On Writing Blog: Bonnie West

Interview with Bonnie West: Spring 2019 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Tuesday, November 05, 2019

Bonnie West’s stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including The Minetta Review, Women’s Day and Redbook Magazine. She has a children’s bilingual Japanese/English children’s book Hideki and Kenji Save the Day and Boyfriends, a short story collection from a small press in England, are available on Amazon or at www.bonniewest.net.

Before you read her interview, be sure you read her story Book by Book, then come on back!

---- Interview by Nicole Pyles

WOW: First of all, I loved your story Book by Book. I loved how you weaved in the plot lines of other boos into the life of your character! What was the inspiration behind this story?

Bonnie: I first wrote the story about 20 years ago. I was with my husband in a library he frequented often and where I rarely went. I noticed he was all chummy with the librarians and I thought for the first time, wow, I would never know! During the same visit, I found a book on the shelf on affairs, which I thought was serious serendipity. It was an anthology of sorts and I thought again, wow, who would ever tell. And that was the beginning of the story. (I didn’t actually read that book.)

WOW: What an inspirational moment! I have to say how impressed I am with how you wrapped up this story. How did your story transform from the first draft to the final draft?

Bonnie: I am not certain how many revisions it went through, but there were many. And I think the ideas for the affairs came to me from simply thinking about affairs and all their convolutions: where people have them; what happens how they think they are secretive; how some people really must get away with it and how some people must want to be caught. And actually how many people do really leave for the affair. In the end I decided since the main character had stated she is looking for her story by being in the library she would have to find it. So the last story I use is more her story although obviously not the same. But she realizes it is the end. Whether or not she is really poisoned by her own husband doesn’t really matter. (I like to think she is!)

WOW: Ha, I love that twist at the end! I loved reading on your website that you are a writer that doesn't write enough but loves writing! What advice would you give to another writer who says the same thing?

Bonnie: I really am that writer who loves writing and doesn’t write enough. I have analysed it and talked to other writers and find it is not such an unusual thing but I am still and always struggling with it. I think part of my problem is thinking that I really should be doing something else. Something like being with friends or cleaning the house or cooking a nice dinner. I also think that is crazy! I should be doing what I really want to do. So that is one thing. Another is that when I get going I write for hours and hours and hours. And I am annoyed if I am interrupted or stopped for whatever reason so I tend to just not start. Good luck. I can only hope that someone who might read this will comment and help me out with this one!

WOW: If you ever find out how let me know. I struggle with the same issue! What writing tip stayed with you the most?

Bonnie: The writing tip I use the most is one I use during revision. (I love revision and revise and cut and revise and cut many times.) Once I have written the story and think maybe it’s finished I look at it and ask myself, what is the story and what is the plot. And always I find good reasons to revise several more times. I see the plot right away but often don’t see the “story” by which I mean, the truth of what I have written. What is it REALLY about? Is it about betrayal? Is it about honesty? Is it about loss? And when I figure that out I can go back and put write some of the more difficult parts. In this story it was not such a problem because the story is I think is less serious than others I write. I wrote a story not so long ago that also was in the top ten at WOW which was called One Side of the Vase and that story was, for me, very difficult and very important to figure out what it was really about opposed to simply the plot.

WOW: That advice helps me a lot actually! What are you currently working on? What can we expect next from you?

Bonnie: I am currently and slowly working on a collection of connected stories. My book, Boyfriends, is a short story collection but they are in no way connected and I would like to have a more cohesive collection (to use the words from Project Runway! Ha)

It takes the characters from my final story in Boyfriends, which is titled, Sunrise, Banana, Chair and gives them a more complex story with lots of other characters involved. It is very definitely in the beginning stages.

I’m also working on a few stand alone stories written a few years back which I am revising just to get them finished. I have lots to do so I had better get writing. Being runner up in this contest has perhaps given me the boost I need.

WOW: I am so glad it did! Congratulations again and I can't wait to see what is next for you!

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Interview with Bonnie West: Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Tuesday, February 05, 2019

Bonnie’s Bio: Bonnie West’s stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including The Minetta Review, The Talking Stick, Woman’s Day, Redbook Magazine, The Austin Chronicle, and the anthologies, Still Going Strong and The Ultimate Dog Lover. She has four mini-mysteries for children published by Carol Rhoda Press and a bilingual Japanese/English book, Hideki and Kenji Save the Day, published in collaboration with Diane Carter. She lives with her husband in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

If you haven’t done so already, check out Bonnie’s award-winning story “One Side of the Vase” and then return here for a chat with the author.

WOW: Congratulations on placing in the Summer 2018 Flash Fiction Contest! What excited you most about writing this story?

Bonnie: This story was written for a writing class in which we were to take our storyline from one of several suggested methods, a postcard or photo, a conversation we'd overheard or something we'd read in a magazine or newspaper. The next day I read an article, only a few lines, about an operation wherein the incorrect kidney had been removed and knew I had a story. The newspaper did not say who it was or which hospital was involved or how on earth it happened. But I became obsessed. I had no idea the real situation of the story but I knew in my story the doctor had to be a man. (What woman makes such a mistake?!) I also wanted it to feed into the doctor/father/god syndrome so her reaction (had to be a young woman patient) would seem realistic. And as for his childhood story I'd had that scene in my head for years and years and was delighted to find a home for it.

WOW: What a good combination of ideas to create this story! Did you learn anything about yourself or your writing while crafting this piece?

Bonnie: I learned, and was surprised to find with this story, once I began I wouldn’t stop until I had finished it. Usually I get going after a long drought and write for hours and hours but eventually I come to a stand-still and put the story away for months or years because I’m stuck, most often by the plot line or lack thereof. So in this case, having essentially been given a plot I was able to work on revising the story which happily is my favorite aspect of writing. With every rewrite I would think, No need for this! No need for that! So the short, short form is ideal. I absolutely loved trying to figure out what this doctor could possibly say to his patient and if and how he would possibly be redeemed.

WOW: Sounds like a positive process for you this time, almost like a game. We’re glad you persisted with your revisions! In your bio you mentioned that you wrote a bilingual English/Japanese book Hideki and Kenji Save the Day. Could you tell us more about your collaboration on that project?

Bonnie: Hideki and Kenji Save the Day was written for a Japanese friend whose family survived the Tsunami and subsequent earthquakes several years ago. She told me her boys were frightened and had trouble sleeping at night after the incident. I cavalierly said I would write them a book and her response was so grateful that of course I had to follow through. I collaborated with a friend who was studying Japanese with me and together we wrote the story of two little boys who befriend an earthquake-causing baby dinosaur. We attempted to find a publisher but the necessity of it being bilingual and immediate made it impossible so we self-published. The process turned out to be interesting and worked well, although we should have titled it something a bit easier to search for online. (A tip to you self-publishers out there!)

WOW: I love hearing the stories behind the story! Thank you for sharing that with us. What are you reading right now, and why did you choose to read it?

Bonnie: Right now I am re-reading Robin Black’s wonderful collection of short stories If I Loved You I Would Tell You This and trying to figure out how she does it!

WOW: Great! I hope you learn something new and useful. If you could give your younger self one piece of writing advice, what would it be and why?

Bonnie: No doubt like many other writers I would say: Believe in yourself. But I would add: Perhaps you should consider actually sitting down from time to time and writing just a teeny bit more. (I need to give that same advice to my older self today.)

WOW: I could benefit from that advice lately, too! Anything else you’d like to add?

Bonnie: Absolutely. I want to thank you for these questions and WOW for this opportunity.

WOW: You are very welcome! Thank you again for sharing your stories and for your other thoughtful responses! Congratulations again, and happy writing!

Interviewed by Anne Greenawalt, who keeps a blog of journal entries, memoir snippets, interviews, training logs, and profiles of writers and competitive female athletes.