Ames Sheldon – Realizing Dreams

Ames Sheldon’s Second World War novels explore how war impacts family life long after the guns have stopped firing. Writing them realized a life long dream when her first book - fifteen years in the making – won the Benjamin Franklin award as the Best New Voice in Fiction. Hi there, I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and Ames talks about  the challenge of balancing personal dreams and family life and why she loves the creative process. Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: How Ames realized her life long dreamWhy 'writing what you know' worked for herThe family operetta that sparked it allThe challenge of work and family life balanceThe writers she admires mostHer latest project Where to find Ames Sheldon: Website: amessheldon.com/ Facebook: @AmesSheldonAuthor Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14651368.Ames_Sheldon What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. Jenny: But now, here’s Ames.  Hello there Ames, and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us. Ames Sheldon - Historic fiction author Ames: Thank you. I am thrilled to be able to talk with you. Jenny: It's just a real pleasure. So tell us all. Was there a Once Upon a Time moment when you decided that fiction was writing was the thing that you had to do? And if so, was there a catalyst for it? Where it all began Ames: Yes, there was. It all started with the fact that I love to read. And when I was nine years old, I was reading Stuart Little by E.B. White. And I loved that book so much. I thought, I want to be a writer. So I proceeded to write a story, a short story, a long, short story, and I've continued writing stories and poems ever since I was nine. I wrote a couple of novels. Neither of them were published. I spent years trying to get one of them published, in and out. Out to publishers and editors and back with comments, rewritten and out again. I did that for quite a number of years. And then I stopped. Throughout my adult life, I've had jobs that involved writing but non-fiction writing. I was a newspaper reporter and academic writer, a grant writer for a university for the Minnesota Historical Society, for the Minneapolis Public Library. How non-fiction helped fiction Not all of the same time, but one after another. And I thought this was a way I could keep my writing tools sharp in terms of being able to express my thoughts. This work helped my fiction in that I got used to getting feedback, getting criticism, revising and revising and revising. Jenny: So that first novel that you've mentioned. Did that ever evolve into the ones that you later published or was it something completely different? Ames: It was something completely different. And actually, it is the book that it is, I hope, going to be my third published novel. I had discovered an developmental editor along the way with my current novels and I worked with her to rewrite it. And I am currently querying agents and publishers about that novel. And I would be happy to tell you more about that novel maybe at the end or now what ever you wish. A thrilling new voice in fiction Jenny: I think at the end.