A Conversation With Dodie Cross Author of A Broad Abroad in Thailand

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest Dodie Cross author of A Broad Abroad in Thailand. Dodie has received several awards for her writing and poetry, among them the prestigious Southern California Writer's Conference First Place Award for "Best Nonfiction," as well as First Place in their inaugural Poetry Award. She has accrued first and second place prizes in her published articles.

 

 

Dodie has traveled the world, writing about her life in foreign countries such as Iran and Thailand, as well as American locales such as New Orleans, Orange County, California and Lake Chelan, Washington. Look for her next book: One Strappy-Sandaled Foot Ahead of the Mullahs: An Expat's Life in Iran Before and During the Revolution.

Good day Dodie and thanks for participating in our interview.

Norm:

What do you think over the years has driven you as a writer?  Has your environment and/or upbringing influenced your writing?

Dodie:

I'd definitely give a strong yes to that last question.  My aunt wrote children's stories and my mother wrote poetry, music and lyrics.  I remember at age 9 I asked for a typewriter for Christmas, which surprised my mother.  It was during the war years and money was very scarce.  However, she managed a second-hand Royal typewriter, which I loved so much I took it to bed with me and plunked away until the wee hours.  I wrote on and off over the years, always getting "As" on my essays in school, but really never got into a writing career until much later in my life, after I'd raised my four children.  I started writing melancholy poems after husband of 25 years died.  Then I joined a writer's group and began wholeheartedly writing and entering contests. 

Norm:

Please tell us a little about A Broad Abroad in Thailand.

Dodie: 

It's not your typical travel book, nor is it your typical memoir. Reviewers have called it: "Hilarious," "hard to put down," "laugh till I cried" and even "bawdy."   Because I see most of life and circumstances in a humorous vein, I tend to write that way as well.  I've been told I "write just like I talk" so maybe my writing comes across very honest.  Mind you, not all things that have happened to me were hilarious, but as time takes it toll, and looking back on the circumstances, I was able to see humour in them. I tried to make the book as honest and as close to what happened as possible. 

However, I'm sure as I wrote it, over ten years later, it was easier to see the humour. I think any woman who has ever traveled, or is planning a trip to a third-word-country, will relate to this book, and find it a "how-to" or  "how-not-to" live in a foreign country.  It's about accepting the country and the people who are hosting you, and making the best of the worst situations.  When you've travelled a lot, you realize that we humans are really all the same under the skin and the accent.  We all want love, acceptance and a happy existence.

Norm:

When writing A Broad Abroad in Thailand did you have a set plan or was it improvisational? Where did you get your information and ideas?

As a follow up, what did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Dodie:

I've always kept journals; sometimes they might be abandoned for a year or so, but always on a trip or moving to another place.  I used my journals, originally, to write a letter home to family and friends and fill them in on what was going on in my crazy life in Thailand.  So I really had a day-by-day log of everything that happened while in Thailand.  I think what I enjoyed most was that in writing and editing it, I was reliving some of the joy of living there.  There were some bad times, but unhappy things seem to fade as the years go on.

Norm:

In fiction as well as in non-fiction, writers very often take liberties with their material to tell a good story or make a point. But how much is too much?

Dodie:  

I think the memoirist must stay as close to the story as possible.  However, saying that and admitting that memory is a fickle friend, we must always fall back on the "Note to Reader" as I did.  Having a journal to recall times and conversation also helped me to bring back the memory of it all.

Norm:

What makes poetry come alive in a classroom? How can teachers foster a love of poetry, rather than a fear of it, in their students?

Dodie: 

I've never considered myself a traditional poet, but the few classes I've taken seem to lean directly on the instructor.  Her love of it, and how she passes that on to her students. 

Norm: 

What in your opinion are the most important elements of good writing?

Dodie:   

To tell a good story, to keep your readers wanting to read more. The best complements I received on my book were:  "Disappointment when it ended;" "Wanting it to go on and on;"

"…didn't want to put it down until finished."  I think any writer would love those compliments.   If I were to teach a class on writing, the first thing I'd ask them would be:  WHYWOULD ANYONE WANT TO READ YOUR STORY? 

What is it about? Why is it important to  tell your story? And, does it leave your readers wanting more?

Norm: 

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?

Dodie:   

Not in my memoirs, because I had my journals to fall back on.  But in essays I've written, it's a bit harder.  I think the term "writer's block" can be overused.  I try to write small, quick shorthand notes as I think of something important, IN CAPS, right in the middle of my page I'm working on.  It could be something I want to say but it doesn't quite fit in yet, or something that I may forget later on or want to talk about in a later chapter, anything that hits me while I'm writing. Some authors use sticky notes and put them on their computer to check on later.  I find that if I make a quick note in CAPS, and then keep going on my story, it doesn't take me away from my flow of writing.  I just go on.  Later, when I'm finished, I can refer back to them with a quick "search and find" which in turn triggers my muse to get up off her duff and get my mind going again.   

Norm:

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers? 

Dodie:

Before a writer can write, she/he must first be a "reader."  That's the first essential.  Writing classes are the second thing I would suggest.  Someone famous once said: "You need to know the ‘writing rules' before you can break them."  Classes are so easy to come by today. They're at junior colleges, some night-school classes, and online classes.  Writer's Digest has some wonderful "online" classes, offering every type of writing.

Norm:

Are you working on any books/projects that you would like to share with us? (We would love to hear all about them!)

Dodie:

I am into my second memoir: "A Broad Abroad in Iran: One Strappy-Sandaled Foot Ahead of the Mullahs, an Expat's Misadventures Before and During the Revolution.  I have included an excerpt from that book at the back of "A Broad Abroad in Thailand," so if they purchase that book, they'll get a look at what's next.

 I was in Isfahan, Iran during the 70s with my late husband and three children.  We had no idea that the revolution was working underground at the time.  We went on our merry way, enjoying ourselves and seeing the country. While there I thought I should do something constructive with my time and went to work at a large American helicopter company.  It was a US company that employed over 10,000 employees, most ex-Vietnam vets to teach the Iranians how to maintain and fly the big birds.  That's where I first learned that there was trouble brewing. 

I was administrative assistant to the head of security and it was my job to open the mail every morning.  As I was flipping through the mail, I opened an envelope that contained a Polaroid picture and my heart seized.  It was a picture of a Government of Iran bus, (the same buses that would transport our children to the American schools in less than a month), fire-bombed and torn apart with bodies lying about.  Painted in blood red, were the words: DEATH TO AMERIKANS, YANKE GO HOME.  That was the day I knew it was time to leave the country.  The book will have some humorous times, and there were many, but as we all know there were bad times, which I cover in my book, as well as our escape from a country where we Americans found ourselves persona-non-grata.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you?

Dodie:

At this time I do not have a distributor, so I'm doing all the leg work.  The book can be purchased on my website, Amazon.com, Peppertree bookstore in Palm Springs, and it will be in Barnes and Noble stores soon.  I guess I would just ask your readers to pass the word if they liked the book, and also go to Amazon.com and give me a review.