Interview with the author of “A Changing Marriage”, Susan Kietzman
1. Where did you get the inspiration for “A Changing Marriage” and do you have personal experience with this type of married life?
The inspiration for this book came out of conversations with friends and acquaintances, especially those who were home with children. Some will think it’s autobiographical because I’ve been married for 28 years and have three children I stayed home to raise. The emotions Karen is feeling – of being unappreciated, of missing more intellectual pursuits, of envy that her spouse can live the same life with children as he lived before them – will ring true, I think, with many women. And Bob’s rise to power in the business world will resonate with men and women alike.
2. Are Karen and Bob completely fictional characters or are they taken from people in your own life?
This is a question I get asked a lot. Because I am the author, people assume that I’ve drawn from my own experience to write the book. They next assume, therefore, that the book is either 1) about me, or 2) about people I know. And while I certainly do draw from my experience, I don’t write consciously about friends and family. My characters and storylines come from a number of sources in addition to my life experience: what I observe in others, what I read, what I see on television or at the movies or by simply going about my daily tasks, conversations, what I imagine might happen in one situation or another, etc. Fiction has to be viable and sound true to the reader or it doesn’t work.
3. I found the ending to spark a possible new beginning between Bob and Karen, especially in the deli scene when Bob remembers back to the first time he saw Karen in their school’s student center. Would there be a possible sequel in the works? Do you think the two will try to rekindle their marriage despite their both already being married for a second time?
I don’t have a sequel to “A Changing Marriage” – or to my first novel, “The Good Life” – planned. But this doesn’t mean it won’t happen! It’s hard to say what Bob and Karen will do. I purposely left the ending of the book open, so the reader could decide for her or himself. Life can be messy and unpredictable, so it seems to me that believable fiction should be the same.
4. If no sequel, could you tell me a little bit about your next project?
I have another two-book contract with Kensington, so I am now working on my third novel. It’s a family story that takes place at a shoreline cottage over the course of two summers 30 years apart. It’s scheduled for release spring/summer 2015.
5. Which authors have you felt have been your mentors over the years?
I belong to a book group at my local library and we read a wide variety of authors. When I was in college, most of the authors I admired were men. And now they are women: Elizabeth Strout, Barbara Kingsolver, Carol Shields and Ann Patchett – although I’ve read two books in the past year by Denis Johnson, whose stories are off-beat with hard-to-like, but memorable characters.
6. Finally, what advice would you give aspiring writers like me?
Take it seriously and write every day – if you make it a priority in your life, it will take you wherever you want to go.
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