Nan Sanders Pokerwinski
Author Interview - Nan Sanders Pokerwinski
Author of The Utterly Unacceptable Atrocity of Isabelle Marsden
All Isabelle (Belle) Marsden wants when she moves from Chicago to Kansas is a place to retreat and regain control of her life after an ugly #MeToo experience. But a chance encounter with a free-spirited artist who carries a wallaby in a baby sling and makes assemblages from roadkill draws her into a community of eccentrics who soon have her lobbying to rescue their Summer Solstice parade, conducting surveillance at a roadside zoo, and visiting an outsider artist’s bizarre sculpture garden. Inspired by that mad creation, Belle starts her own peculiar assemblage, convinced it's the key to repairing her life, fractured by losses and trauma. As she uncovers her hidden creativity—and madness—her assemblage lands her in trouble with her landlady, the city zoning department, even the police. Her only path to balance relies on help from her found family of oddball characters—and on her newly redefined self.
Author Interview - Nan Sanders Pokerwinski
Author I draw inspiration from:
Gail Honeyman. I loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Author Interview - Nan Sanders Pokerwinski | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
In bed, under a fluffy comforter, in my log home in the woods.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Nancy Drew--the earliest books in the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene. The Nancy Drew remember from my girlhood reading is spunky, curious, and bold. In the elevator, she calmly assesses the situation and ponders aloud various action-movie escape maneuvers. But before acting on any of those, she takes a closer look at the elevator's control panel.
"Hmm. wonder what this one does," she says, pushing a red button marked "EMERGENCY ALARM." Apparently it communicates our predicament to someone who can do something. In no time, the elevator takes off with a bump and travels smoothly the rest of the way to our destiination, where the doors slide open as if nothing happened. The little adventure a secret between us.
Author Interview - Nan Sanders Pokerwinski | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I knew I wanted to be a writer long before I dreamed of writng books. In elementary school, I organized the other neighborhood girls to produce a weekly newsletter, "The Neighborhood News." We roamed the neighborhood gathering newsy tidbits and wrote them up. My mother typed our stories, and we ran off copies on a hectograph. That experience sent me in the direction of a journalism career. Only after I retired from that line of work did the idea of writing memoir and fiction books appeal to me.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
ebooks are handy and transportable, but I like the look and feel of paperbacks and hardbacks. Hardbacks are awkward to read in bed, so I opt for paperbacks and ebooks. I have trouble concentrating on audiobooks.
The last book I read:
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce. I loved the originality of the story, the assortment of characters, and the gradual unfolding of backstory.
Author Interview - Nan Sanders Pokerwinski | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Pen & paper for unfiltered free writing; and first drafts; computer for cleaning up and editing drafts.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Margery Benson, Miss Benson's Beetle, by Rachel Joyce. I could see myself signing on to accompany Margery on her quest for a golden beetle. Insects have fascinated me since childhood, and I studied entomology in college and grad school. Margery has her quirks, but I've always been drawn to unusual people. Many have ended up becoming dear friends.
Author Interview - Nan Sanders Pokerwinski | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Photographer. When I'm not writing, my favorite pastime is wanderinng around with a camera.Some of my photos have won awards.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
The sixties! Tie-dye, flower power, love beads--the vibrant, free-spirited fashions of my generation.
Place I’d most like to travel:
National Park of American Samoa. I lived in American Samoa in my teens and wrote about the experience in my memoir, Mango Rash: Coming of Age in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta. My husband and I had planned a trip there after the book was published in 2019, but the Covid shutdown, followed by health problems, foiled our plans.
My signature drink:
Organic cocoa in the morning, carrot juice with dinner, Alaskan Amber ale for special occasions.
Favorite artist:
Henri Matisse,for his bold use of color and simplified shapes to convey emotion rather than reproduce reality.
Number one on my bucket list:
Writing more of the stories I want to share with readers.
Anything else you'd like to add:
I hope readers will enjoy meeting Isabelle Marsden and her Soulstice Gang friends as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Find more from the author:
https://www.facebook.com/nancy.rossflaniganpokerwinski/
https://linktr.ee/nansanpo
About Nan Sanders Pokerwinski:
Nan Sanders Pokerwinski
Nan Sanders Pokerwinski is a former journalist who has appreciated unconventional art and eccentric people all her life. Her blog Heartwood (https://www.nanpokerwinski.com/blog) celebrates creativity, connection, and contentment. A daughter of the Heartland who grew up in Oklahoma and lived in Kansas, she spent one pivotal year on a tropical island, chronicled in her memoir Mango Rash: Coming of Age in the Land of Frangipani and Fanta (Behler Publications, 2019). Nan now writes from Newaygo, Michigan.
