Ames Sheldon’s Second

World War novels explore how war impacts family life long after the guns have

stopped firing. Writing them realized a life long dream when her first book -

fifteen years in the making – won the Benjamin Franklin award as the Best New

Voice in Fiction.

Hi there, I’m your

host Jenny Wheeler and Ames talks about 

the challenge of balancing personal dreams and family life and why she

loves the creative process.

Six

things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

How Ames realized her life long dreamWhy 'writing what you know' worked for herThe family operetta that sparked it allThe challenge of work and family life balanceThe writers she admires mostHer latest project

Where to find Ames Sheldon:

Website: amessheldon.com/

Facebook: @AmesSheldonAuthor

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14651368.Ames_Sheldon

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Ames.  Hello there Ames, and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.

Ames Sheldon - Historic fiction author

Ames: Thank you.

I am thrilled to be able to talk with you.

Jenny: It's just

a real pleasure. So tell us all. Was there a Once Upon a Time moment when you

decided that fiction was writing was the thing that you had to do? And if so,

was there a catalyst for it?

Where it all began

Ames: Yes, there

was. It all started with the fact that I love to read. And when I was nine

years old, I was reading Stuart Little by E.B. White. And I loved that book so

much. I thought, I want to be a writer. So I proceeded to write a story, a

short story, a long, short story, and I've continued writing stories and poems

ever since I was nine.

I wrote a couple of novels. Neither of them were published. I spent years trying to get one of them published, in and out. Out to publishers and editors and back with comments, rewritten and out again. I did that for quite a number of years. And then I stopped. Throughout my adult life, I've had jobs that involved writing but non-fiction writing. I was a newspaper reporter and academic writer, a grant writer for a university for the Minnesota Historical Society, for the Minneapolis Public Library.

How non-fiction helped fiction

Not all of the same time, but one after another. And I

thought this was a way I could keep my writing tools sharp in terms of being

able to express my thoughts. This work helped my fiction in that I got used to

getting feedback, getting criticism, revising and revising and revising.

Jenny: So that

first novel that you've mentioned. Did that ever evolve into the ones that you

later published or was it something completely different?

Ames: It was

something completely different. And actually, it is the book that it is, I

hope, going to be my third published novel. I had discovered an developmental

editor along the way with my current novels and I worked with her to rewrite

it. And I am currently querying agents and publishers about that novel. And I

would be happy to tell you more about that novel maybe at the end or now what

ever you wish.

A thrilling new voice in fiction

Jenny: I think at the end. We will concentrate on the ones that we have been publishing so far. That will be your work in progress I think. So that very first one that you managed to get published  - and wonderful that you stuck at it with such determination. It must have been thrilling that you won the Benjamin Franklin Award as the Best New Voice in Fiction for that first book, which was Eleanor's Wars.

And I must when I first saw that title, Eleanor's Wars,

automatically my mind jumped to the fact that this might have a connection with

Eleanor Roosevelt, but in fact, it's a different Eleanor altogether, isn't it?

Ames Sutton, Eleanor's Wars.

Ames: That's

correct. Yes, it is a different Eleanor.