Oh Good Now This
by Susan Merson
GENRE: Women's Literary Fiction
BLURB:
Starting over is hard enough but when ghosts decide to hitch a ride into the future—things can get complicated.
Widowed Vivi leaves California for a new start back east landing in a college town near her old friend Vikram, now the local ‘spiritual’ leader and disappointing lover. But the two have old business which leads them to uncovering the ghosts they conjured long before and the ones that are haunting them now. Vivi reclaims her life, -- with the help of a couple different dimensions-- saying hi to the ghosts who choose to hang around, and growing a new garden and a new life.
Excerpt:
The night before she left LA, Vivi went out to the garden. She walked from the butterfly bush she planted when she got the garden show on cable tv, to the poinsettia tree that grew despite itself after Vivi left the Christmas plant discarded near the mulch pile. She moved from corner to corner, touching the leaves, murmuring that she had no choice, that she couldn’t take the entire garden with her wherever she was going and that she was grateful for the beauty that the garden had shared with her. The Dutch hornpipe was in bloom. That huge bulbous balloon of a flower was all puffed up and ready to burst into an elephant ear of color, reflecting all sound, all smell within its radius. It was an outrageous creation. It dripped like flesh when it opened, had no smell of its own, but instead an ineffable ugly wisdom that affirmed the truth that “as you sow, so shall you reap”. It was an extraordinary product of the garden and Vivi respected it, admiring how it took over the fence and nearby trellis with its ganglia.
That was the thing about California. Things grew. And Vivi had thought they would grow, too. She and Jake. They would grow together, like slices of grafted root trees, they would grow strong in one tall ascension. She had been sure that they could make it. But she had to admit, they never did.
Interview with Susan Merson
What made you want to become a writer?
I have always been a storyteller. I started telling stories on the stage as an actress and began to understand how one channels characters and their stories. How you bring information down and into and through you. What boundaries are needed and what walls need to be blasted away. This is where I started my storytelling work and that led me to the new play development world where I was asked to help writers bring their characters to life. Actors know what makes a story tick. They can tell you if the character is true and if what they want and need is clear, and how writers make them real… the way they speak, the worlds they reflect.
‘If it’s not on the page it’s not on the stage’… is a phrase that I grew up with in the theatre. From here it was a short jump to writing plays myself and then teaching others about the way in which stories are told in plays. And, as that skill grew I began to long for a more heightened experience. I wanted to be free to use language in its more descriptive form, use its poetry and rhythm to help create landscape and the worlds of my characters, and so now I am writing and teaching mostly fiction. It’s been a journey. The stories that are mine to tell, have always been mine to tell, are coming through me strong and clear and no other choice but put them in the world.
What inspired you to write OH GOOD NOW THIS
It’s been cooking for some time and marks my return to fiction. I had been a playwright and memoirist previously, but I wanted to bring together the fictional story of a woman surviving the crash-and-burn period of her life and how she comes to the next stage of survival and visioning her next steps. I believe the tools needed to make this return to living means one has to dip into more than one dimension – make peace with ghosts, appeal to better angels, set up a communication network with the Divine(!)—and fiction allows me to bring together all these elements, combine them with the foibles of silly living, and tell Vivi’s story.
You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
My very favorite authors are Colette and Willa Cather. I got introduced to them early and have even made pilgrimages to their home towns and the places that they brought to life so vividly. From here, I added Louise Erdrich to the list. I love the worlds they bring to life, the kindness of their points of view and their fierce understanding of the human condition that they each embrace from their own unique worlds. All three women speak with elegant simplicity and fierce compassion for the worlds that they know, the people that they see and introduced me to the way stories flow from the universal through the personal and back to the universal.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in OH GOOD NOW THIS?
They are all folks looking to reinvent themselves so they can shed the identities that limited who they were and who they could become. Everyone is reinventing themselves. Some succeed—like Vivi and Charles; some are silly and sad—like Carol/Anandamaia and Mark/Cheyenne; some waited to too long to enjoy their new identities—like Amanda; and some couldn’t make it—like Jake and even Vikram. Yes, that’s the key to many of the characters. How do we make it tomorrow and embrace life enough to transform?
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
I’m busy finishing up my next book about life during the Trump era and what can be healed and what story needs to be held, unfinished.
And since I am a Tarot counselor and teacher I am enjoying working with folks on Tarot for Writers, Tarot for How You Tick, Voicing: Writing What you Have to Say and on several editorial projects. More info on my blog at www.susanmersonauthor.net or www.susanmerson.com
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I loved the freedom of letting the natural world speak. Yes, resting in nature is what sets Vivi up for success. I don’t think I really believed that be true until I wrote this book.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Susan Merson began her career as an actress on and off Broadway, in television and film. Co-founding the LA Writers Bloc in 1985 with award winning writer Jane Anderson, she has mentored writers through the Bloc and through her private and university classes in Playwriting, Life Stories, Writing as a Spiritual Practice, Tarot for Writers and the popular VOICING Series. Her short fiction has been featured in The Jew in America, Nice Jewish Girls (Penguin), The Worcester Review, the Chicken Soup series and several other online platforms. As a playwright, her award-winning plays have been performed internationally, including her 8 solo plays featured and used as example in YOUT NAME HERE: An Actor Writers Guide to Solo Performance. (Amazon). Long form fiction available on Amazon is her award-winning blog, WHEN THEY GO AND YOU DO NOT and her first novel DREAMING IN DAYLIGHT. OH GOOD NOW THIS, her newest novel launches 12/1/21. She is a tarot reader and counselor, a maker of quilts, clothing and whimsy. Susan is a humble mother and a proud resident of New York City. www.susanmerson.com
BUY LINKS:
The author has also done a series of five videos regarding the use of Tarot for writers (for more information, visit her website):
1: Author/ teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/ Amazon) explores Tarot to jump start your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS #1: INTRODUCTION
An introduction to using your own intuitive powers to tap into the resonance of Tarot images, packed with archetypes and symbols, to jumpstart inspiration for your artistic projects.
**CORRECTION: The Raziel Tarot Deck is designed by artist Robert Place with commentary by Rachel Pollack. https://youtu.be/LGONsfOayJg
2: Author/teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/Amazon), explores TAROT cards to jumpstart your writing, TAROT FOR WRITERS #2: LANDSCAPE
Explore the landscape of story. Entering the world of the card offers visceral clues to the landscape of your writing. https://youtu.be/Mwq9x-I9oQE
3: Author/ teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/ Amazon) explores TAROT cards to jump start your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS #3: CHARACTER.
A brief exploration of character and how to find their first basic journey. Look deeply at the character clues in the cards and throw three cards to begin their adventure. https://youtu.be/CuovTNQ5ztk
4: Author/teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/AMAZON) explores TAROT cards to jump start your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS #4: WHAT STORY SHOULD I WRITE TODAY
On pulling cards to intuitively discover the story, the genre, the themes and the major turning points of a new story. https://youtu.be/eHm0mVSNaPo
5: Author/teacher Susan Merson (OH GOOD NOW THIS/AMAZON) explores TAROT to jumpstart your writing. TAROT FOR WRITERS/ #5 TIMELINES AND DEEPER DIVE INTO RELATIONSHIPS
Timelines and going deeper into relationships with pro and antagonists. The more cards you draw the more information you can gather. https://youtu.be/EClPq0e-H70
18 comments:
Great excerpt!
I love the excerpt and think the book sounds good.
What inspired you to write this book?
I enjoyed the excerpt. Thank you for the giveaway!
Have a super day!
Thank you for the giveaway!
Have a great day!
Have a great weekend!
Have a good day!
Great excerpt. Looks like a good summer read.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Hope you have a wonderful week
Do you listen to music when you write?
Thanks for sharing, I love the cover!
Really interesting excerpt, can’t wait to read this now!
Do you relax on the weekends?
What author do you most like to read?
What's your all time favorite book?
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