Jesmeen Kaur Deo on Writing About Female Body Hair Stigma

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview.

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Jesmeen Kaur Deo, author of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove, a charming rom-com about high school debater who—after becoming the subject of an ugly meme—makes a resolution to stop shaving, plucking, and waxing, and prove that she can be her hairy self and still be beautiful

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

I do remember the idea to write a book about body hair stigma came to me all at once. But I don't remember exactly how, or what I was thinking at the time. I think it had something to do with discussions I'd been having with a friend about how ugly women are rarely afforded love stories. That, and the culmination of my teen years wondering how all these female YA protagonists never seemed to care about or mention their body hair at all, were big catalysts for this book.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I'd always wanted to write a story about high school debate, but hadn't found the right angle for it until the body hair stigma idea came to me. I wondered if the two concepts could co-exist in the same story. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. And so debate became the structural basis for the plot. From an emotional standpoint, I knew where I wanted TJ to start and where she should end up; a lot of the main beats of the story got filled in with debate related things!

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Many times! The bones of this book didn't change from what I wanted it to be, although it grew more nuanced and refined as time went on. But other stories I've written for sure have changed a lot. Sometimes the vision in your head doesn't translate well on the page because there are so many things you're forced to think through when actually writing it down! And sometimes I start out with a vision but quickly realize I'm not passionate enough about it. That it needs something else, which I can only figure out by writing through it.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Very hard to come by. I'm not one of those amazing authors who can develop new ideas at the drop of a hat. If I'm lucky, I get 1-2 new book ideas a year. But I'm also a slow writer, so it's fine!

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

Part of it is my mood and what's going on in my life at the moment. For example, sometimes I need to write something light when life is challenging (such was the case with TJ, actually), and other times I want to write something heavy precisely because life is challenging and it's cathartic. Another factor in my decision making is strategy. I look at what's going on in traditional publishing, what's selling, what's hot right now, and then look at my WIPs and try to figure out which one might have the best shot at getting published in the current climate. I would try to prioritize that one. But sometimes, I can't control it. If my heart is set on a particular story, and just that one thing, then strategy be damned. I will chase that story that speaks to me.

I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

That sounds adorable! I don't have any pets, so I don't know whether I'd find them distracting. I do know I don't like writing with other people. I need it to just be me and the story. Some writers find that lonely, and I completely get why. But I love it!

Jesmeen Kaur Deo grew up in northern British Columbia, where she spent most of her childhood daydreaming. She loves books that can make her laugh and tug at her heartstrings in the same paragraph. When not wrapped up in stories, she can be found biking, playing the harmonium, or struggling to open jars. TJ Powar Has Something to Prove is her debut novel.

Is Fiction Ever Really Fiction?

By Dianne C. Braley

There is a saying in fiction writing that nothing is entirely fiction. I’d be interested in speaking to someone who disagrees with that statement. Even in writing the wildest of science fiction or fantasy, there are sprinkles of people and pieces of places with which the author is familiar; I’d venture a guess. In my women’s fiction novel, The Silence in the Sound, I knew I was writing fiction, but there were undoubtedly some things inspired by events, places, and people in my life. What I didn’t realize was the twists and turns it would take, and I ended up writing a much different story than the one I set out to write. It’s odd because I ended up in the same place, and the ending was what I envisioned, but I took a much different road to get there. I began writing from a child’s eye, the child being me and my perspective of mine and my father’s relationship. I had intended to touch on this, but I did much more than touch after thousands of words and many chapters later. 

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why this may have happened. I clearly had a lot on my mind. My father’s and my relationship was complex, and when I found I was able to tap into my feelings from then, those thirty-five years ago—Yikes. . . I kept going until I was done. Of course, a sea of emotions flooded me. Writing about all of this now as an adult, I felt vulnerable and raw, but I continued, moving through it and being gentle with myself. Oh, and I also reached back out to my therapist but writing this all was more cathartic for me than the best of therapy. I tapped into a place that I didn’t think was possible; my character’s relationship with her father was more accurate than I anticipated, and being under the guise of fiction, it somehow felt safer. 

 I grew up in an alcoholic home. My father was not any functioning alcoholic, and my mother would say that we were lucky because of him being the way he was, we couldn’t hide him the way others sometimes do. That way, we were forced to seek help—us going to Children-of-Alcoholics and her to Al-anon. While I don’t deny these did help, although I resented every minute of it, I never felt lucky. My brother and I just wanted to be normal, like the other kids, and with any luck, we hoped we would one day, and one day, we were. Dad got sober and stayed that way for seven years. That was lucky.

During that time and even in the darkest times, my relationship with my father was much more profound than most would expect. We navigated his disease. I showed him my anger, disappointment, and resentment freely and loudly, and him, already feeling that way about himself, could deal with this, and we’d talk. For him, it was much easier to deal with someone who had given up any hope for you than to deal with someone who didn’t, as he didn’t have any hope for himself in active disease. The rest of my family had the hope, the one thing I learned early in life you should never have when dealing with addiction. I gave up on that at the ripe old age of eight. And when he got sober, it was the biggest surprise, but I did the second thing I found you should never do when dealing with the disease of addiction. I got too comfortable, and then seven years later, after my father became a drug and alcohol counselor and helped countless people in their disease picked up again and not long after succumbed to his. I wished for so long he was here to talk, even in our anger and resentment way that we did. In writing about him, I finally was able to; inspired by him and me and our way together.   

While The Silence in the Sound is a women’s upmarket coming-of-age novel with some celebrity and love and is set on Martha's Vineyard, its premise is about growing up in addiction and the devastating and long-lasting effects. Actual events inspired the book as I was the nurse for Pulitzer-prize winner William Styron, author of Sophie's Choice on the island, and caring for him inspired me to become an author. 

What's incredibly exciting is I have partnered with the Robert F. Kennedy Community Alliance organization here in Massachusetts, and part of the proceeds will go to their division that helps children and families affected by addiction. I think it's so essential for the public to hear from both those who suffer from addiction and the children and others in their lives. While we each have our own experiences and opinions, mine expressed here are mine alone; I think we can agree the children affected by this disease need much more support. My mission is to give them a voice, and I hope that I've done so in my work. I’ll let you; the readers be the judge. 

Dianne C. Braley is a registered nurse with a passion for music, poetry, and literature. Dianne has been featured in various online and printed publications, including Today’s Dietician and Scrubs Magazine. Her nursing blog, Nursing the Neighborhood, was named one of the top nursing blogs of 2018 by Nurse Recruiter.

Editors are not Optional

By Helena P. Schrader

I am often astonished when I hear of people who believe they can write and publish a full-length book without the aid of an editor. In my experience, editors are more essential than publishers. After all, nowadays, it is possible to self-publish a book. But no one can self-edit. Editors are not only essential, they should also be your friends, your fans and your harshest critics. Let me explain.

No one, absolutely no one, is capable of complete objectivity when looking at their own creations. Nor should they be! The same object drawn by different artists will always look different and that is that subjectivity that makes art so intriguing, exciting and inspiring. 

Yet our subjectivity also makes us blind both to outright errors and features that might offend, bore, irritate, or outrage some viewers/readers. Thus, editors have two broad purposes and help an author at two levels. 

First, at the pedestrian and most obvious level, editors help by catching unintentional errors. No matter what our message, poor grammar, bad spelling, incorrect formatting, missing words or misplaced punctuation will not help get the message across. It doesn't matter how brilliant an author is, or how nit-picking and good he/she is at finding the mistakes of others. No one sees all their own errors all the time.  You see, as authors, we know our own text so well that we are inclined to see what we meant to write rather than what we wrote. E.g. since an author knows that the text should read "she was not there,” but in haste writes "she was there," the author will literally see "she was not there" when proofing the manuscript. 

On a higher level, however, a good editor can also guide an author to develop a book to its greatest potential. A good editor challenges the author's original concept, asks provocative questions about structure, character development, setting, back-story, pacing, plausibility, historical context, themes and more. Receiving negative feedback before a manuscript is published, gives an author the chance to correct and revise before investing in printing, ebook formatting and marketing — and then seeing those crushing reviews on amazon and from important review sites like Kirkus.

No editors aren't cheap. They shouldn't be. They are professionals providing a valuable service. The question is: what will cost more? A good editor or bad reviews?  

When I first started publishing, I expected my publishers to provide detailed feedback on the content of my books. I thought the publisher would point out apparent contradictions, areas that needed 'tightening up' or more explanation, etc. It didn't happen. All I ever received from a publisher was proof-reading, and that only up to a point. I continued to find errors in the sixth and seventh proof. 

When I first started self-publishing and hired free-lance editors, I was pleased by the meticulous proof-reading they did, but it took me three editors before I found one that was willing to be critical of the content. Finally! At last, I had a reader who was willing to challenge me, question me, and make me justify my writing decisions. Critically, I was having this discussion at a point when I still had the chance to re-write, refine, and so improve the manuscript. Furthermore, I was having this discussion with someone who cared about the book.  

A good editor doesn’t take money for services, they invest their time, skills and reputation into your book. They get absorbed in the story. They care about the characters. They want to see the book published and praised. They want the book to succeed.  They are the authors' first fan and the more critical they are, the more they help make the book the best that it can be. Never underestimate them and never, never try to do without them!

Helena P. Schrader earned a PhD in History from the University of Hamburg with a ground-breaking biography of a leading member of the German Resistance to Hitler. She served in the financial service industry before joining the U.S. diplomatic corps, where she served in a variety of posts in Africa and Europe. She retired in 2018. She has since published numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, several of which have won one or more literary awards.