Charlie Suisman Interview Published on: 21, May 2020

I read all the time as a kid. It was something that everyone in my family did. One of our inevitable questions to each other was "What are you reading?" But of all the things that reading taught me were imaginable, becoming an author wasn't one of them!

A friend of mine recently sent me a very short story (two paragraphs) that I wrote when I was in first grade and was reprinted (with others) in the school newsletter. It had a nice O'Henry twist at the end, lol.

I don't think I've become an author. I think I'm becoming one. I started writing for myself and then, when I was occasionally making myself laugh, I thought that maybe others might enjoy it, too.

It was a great, 28-year experience. I've now closed the publication down because the idea of 'getting the most out of NYC' is just not relevant for the foreseeable future.

Attrition. We just get plugging along and our overhead was comparatively low.

A combination of my living in the Hudson Valley for a period of time, and the 2016 presidential election. I was looking for a sense of community and a sense of humor that I wasn't finding IRL, as the kids say, so I decided to create a place I wanted to live.

It wasn't one person, but the kind of people who are passionate about something beyond what seems like all reason. I love those people, who feel so strongly about something, even if the fate of the world doesn't hang on it. And Jeebie grew out of that, but being completely flummoxed by the prospect of love is the thing I love most about him.

Writing. Rewriting. Editing. Showing it to anyone. All of it.

I put the things I love most in Arnold Falls: music, food, animals, colorful characters, but also travel and learning new stuff.

I'm in awe of people who can outline a whole novel and then sit down and write it. I can't do that. But I'm not a seat-of-your-pantser either. I have to have an ending in mind, a theme, a plot driver, and a few characters - at least that's what I had starting Arnold Falls.

In this case, it was that it wouldn't be funny to other people. People find different things funny, and different kinds of humor appeal to different people. So I was cognizant of that. I thought, well, if the humor can encompass wit and pratfalls, maybe that will work. And it's interesting to me what scenes or even lines people say they laughed out loud at - there's a range, for sure.

Once I decided to go the indie route, I had to get over my strong aversion to self-promotion. The way I get around it is to promote the book, not the author. The best part is I get to make all the decisions. I'm a bit of control freak, just like Jeebie in the book.

Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. The one-step-at-a-time approach is, for me, the only way to keep going.

Trying to write, walks with my dog, binge-watching Netflix et al, eating chocolate.

It was through the Alliance of Independent Authors website. I find the website very helpful, with lots of great resources.