Susan Gambrell Reinhardt, author of Not Tonight, Honey Wait 'til I'm a size 6, has a quirky website bio, in which the first sentence reads, “[Reinhardt] is a bona-fide crazy woman with a fabulously huge heart to match her semi-huge bra size. She loves motherhood, laughter, old people and children.” Oh, but there is so much more to Reinhardt.
In addition to her novel (described as “a wild ride through the trenches of motherhood, marriage, fading beauty, and even a nip and tuck or two”) Reinhardt has a syndicated column through Gannett Newspapers, and is a full-time columnist for the Asheville Citizen-Times located in Asheville, North Carolina—“the prettiest town in America.” She has been a guest on many radio and television shows, and given dozens of speeches—and as her fans say “she’s as funny and charming in person as in print.” Major newspaper publications around the world have published her columns, including the Washington Post, Chicago Sun, Newsday, and Woman’s World. She is the author of two fiction novels that “are up for adoption,” and her new book, a sequel to Not Tonight…will be out in May.
Reinhardt’s short stories have been published by Story Magazine, Mademoiselle, and Writer’s Digest. She has won numerous awards for her columns, features, and fiction, such as, Gannett’s Outstanding Writer of the Year in 1998, Best of Gannett honors, and she was even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Born in South Carolina, reared in Georgia, and finally, transplanted to North Carolina, she holds a place in her heart, and in her writing, for the South and its people. Not only is she funny, she does not shy away from writing about loss, pain, fear, and has the touching ability, and Southern Strength, to poke fun at her own foibles.
R&T: Susan, your book, Not Tonight, Honey Wait 'til I'm a size 6, is in its fourth printing and is receiving rave reviews. Like the Velveteen Rabbit, do you feel as if all your fur is rubbed off and you are now “real?” In other words, with all of your success, do you feel validated as a writer?
REINHARDT: I wish the fur was rubbed off. I always "forget" to shave my hairy legs. As for validation, I felt better about being a REAL writer once I got a deal with Kensington for two more books after "Not Tonight Honey."
But until my novel gets published, I continue to watch out for the rabbit hole that I might fall into. All of us who write, as long as we do it regularly, should feel like real writers - whether we are published or not. Validation is a state of mind. Just stamp your head with a big V!!
R&T: Which came first, your humor columns or your fiction novels? And, which do you derive more “satisfaction” from?
REINHARDT: I tried fiction and was a finalist in a few magazine contests for fiction, including Writer’s Digest and Story. Then I wrote a terrible first novel called “Heartbone,” and stuck it under the bed when two agents told me the beginning was great and the rest fell apart.
Meanwhile, I had a second child and the editor at the paper didn’t know what to do with me because I had this offbeat sense of humor and writing style. So they gave me a column, which a year later Gannett “syndicated,” and a few other papers have bought.
When my fiction wasn’t selling, I turned to writing humorous, non-fiction books and did well. But I’m delving into fiction as soon as I complete this two-book deal with Kensington.
R&T: So, given copious amounts of time and money and all things great and wonderful (like winning the lottery), would you continue to write columns or turn to your fiction writing full time?
REINHARDT: I’d write one column a week instead of four, get out of the corporate world and write fiction or non-fiction from home full-time while eating Kit-Kats or drinking Dr. Pepper or Pinot whatever it is.
R&T: What does your writing life mean to you? Or, what drives you to write?
REINHARDT: My writing is release, its therapy, it’s my lily pad to land on when all else goes wrong: such as marriage, career, teens acting out. I need it like others need Prozac. I need my Wellbutrin, too!!!
Angst, joy, love – any emotion drives me to write.
So do mocha lattes with tons of whipped cream and chocolate anythings.
What also drove me was the desire to buy a condo and get out of a 17-year rocky marriage. This was the most difficult time in my life – all the guilt we women hang ourselves with - and when writing was the only way I made it through.
R&T: When you sit back with a good book, who are you likely to be reading?
REINHARDT: David Sedaris, Barbara Kingsolver, anything beautifully written or humorous. I used to be a nut for Anne Tyler’s fiction. I still like her. There are too many to name. I also love your [Kathryn Magendie] writing, as I’ve told you before. My all-time favorite comedic book is “A Confederacy of Dunces.” I read it three times.
R&T: Do you have a regular schedule for when, and how long, you write? How do you organize the many deadlines you are faced with?
REINHARDT: I am not organized. When working on a book, I rarely take a day off. At the paper, where I’m full-time, I’m always on deadline. So I gave up exercise and cooking. Hey, something had to go. I usually write four to five hours at a time. But even if I only have a tiny window of time – say an hour or less – I’ll write if a deadline looms or the mood strikes.
R&T: Any words of wit and wisdom for writers in regards to managing their time?
REINHARDT: Write every day. If you have kids and a job, you’ll have to give up something. If you can do it all, then that’s great. I couldn’t. That’s why my body went to pot. I do a few pushups and triceps dips at home, maybe a lunge or two and call it a day.
R&T: Do you ever get “writer’s block”? If so, what do you do to overcome it?
REINHARDT: Sure, I get it. I overcome it with food, or just writing awful stuff simply to get ink on the blank page. Eventually, the right words come. Some people exercise. I’ve been inspired by taking walks. That has helped or a double espresso.
R&T: What advice can you give our readers on finding that perfect agent, or acquiring an editor/publisher for their work?
REINHARDT: Don’t give up and “take to the bed,” if plenty reject you at first. I can’t tell you how many rejections I’ve had. More than in junior high when no boys would dance with me.
It took me 10 years to get an agent and good publisher. I never gave up. I nearly lost my mind, but I said to myself, ‘They aren’t going to beat me. I will get published!”
R&T: How long did it take you to write Not Tonight…”?
REINHARDT: I did it in four or five months.
R&T: When you felt Not Tonight was ready for publication, what was your next step(s)?
REINHARDT: I sold the book on 10 essays, then was paid (not so great since it was my first book) and wrote 22 more essays. I already had an agent who’d signed me up after reading my second novel, “The Recycled Virgin,” which he loved. We were rejected by 17 publishers. I still have the book and plan to recycle it, give it a new title, and send it out again, hoping they’ll forget they ever read it the first time. Ha!
R&T: What obstacles are you finding in regards to publishing your fiction novels versus the publication of your non-fiction book and columns?
REINHARDT: It’s MUCH easier, for me anyway, to sell my non-fiction. I haven’t succeeded yet at fiction, but I’m tenacious and WILL NOT give up. Fiction is like quilting. You have to know technique, plotting, all of that. If you miss a step or stitch, the whole book collapses.
R&T: Are there any insights you wish to give new writers trying to break into the publishing world?
REINHARDT: Put on an alligator coat of armor and get ready for rejection. Take it, learn from it, let it inspire you to beat them at their own game. You’ll succeed, but only if you don’t give up.
R&T: And finally, Susan, what are you, and your breasts, up to now?
REINHARDT: Honey, they fallen and can’t get up. Just kidding. The old pair hit my hipbones and were so ugly, even my best friend who’s totally against plastic surgery told me they were hideous and “pitiful” things. Now, they’re just right. Not too perky, not National Geographic centerfold material either. They look natural since they have a bit of sag.
For more on Susan Reinhardt visit her website.
Kat is too quirky-chaotic to survive in the real world, so she left behind her beloved moss-filled grandfather oak trees in South Louisiana and escaped to her mountain fiction world in North Carolina where she spins tales, drinks Deep Creek Blend coffee, an occasional glass of wine, an even more occasional glass of vodka tonic with lime, and contemplates the glow of old Moon. She is the author of three fiction novels, numerous short stories and essays, and a few hopeful poems. Visit her website.
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