Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Sara B. Fraser Interview - Just River


Photo Content from Sara B. Fraser

Sara B. Fraser is the author of LONG DIVISION, a novel published by Black Rose Writing in March, 2019. JUST RIVER is her sophomore novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Carve, Wilderness House Literary Review, Salamander, the Jabberwock Review, the Forge, Stonecrop, and more.

        
  


Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
So many! Connecting with other writers, getting good reviews—which is validating—learning the whole marketing side of being an author, challenging myself to work at that, which I’m not good at.

Greatest thing you learned in school?
Graduate school? The value of education in promoting social justice
Elementary-High school? The value of doodling and looking out the window

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
My latest novel is about a mother and son from New Hampshire who move to Spain.

Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
because real life doesn’t have satisfying endings

Can you tell us when you started JUST RIVER, how that came about?
It was based on a short story I published in Carve way back I think in 2005.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
I hope they’re enjoying themselves, mostly.

What part of your characters did you enjoy writing the most?
Scenes! Also, I liked describing their fashion choices.

What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?
Work? Ha! It keeps me from so much!

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
I’m stuck on this one. Maybe I’d introduce Sam to Harry Potter. That would be fun. He’d like that. He’d believe Harry about all the magic stuff. But he’d have a hard time keeping his secrets

What was the last text message you received?
“Where are you?”

What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?
Try surfing

Best date you've ever had?
Surfing and then out to a seaside fish place for fish and chips and a beer

What was the first job you had?
Washing dishes in a restaurant. I was 15.

Which incident in your life that totally changed the way you think today?
Living in a foreign country, a small village, surrounded by the most authentic, generous people on the planet.

First Heartbreak?
My eighth-grade English teacher. Mr. Braunstein.

Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?
Definitely the former

TEN THINGS YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME.
10. Should not have had bangs, 9. I should have joined a club, 8. I should have played a sport, 7. I shouldn’t have done all those jello shots, 6. I wish I’d signed up for harder classes, 5. I wish I’d put in some effort in those harder classes, 4. Should never have worn that homemade lavender flannel poofy skirt, 3. Should’ve sat in the front. 2. Should’ve spoken more in class, and 1. Should definitely not have worn blue eyeliner.

Your Favorite Quotes/Scenes from JUST RIVER
Favorite scenes: 1) Inside Va Va Voom with Tina, 2) At the Wagon Wheel when Carol throws out her back, 3.) Sex scene with Ronaldo and Sam, 4.) In the bathroom with Tommy and Camille


Sara B. Fraser paints for readers how life in a nothing upstate New York town in the ’90s might look: bleak and gritty. Wattsville was a booming manufacturing town on the Otis River. But now, the mills are closed. The windows boarded up. The same people frequent the same bars every day without fail. What once was a prosperous place is now somewhere riddled with substance abuse, poverty, violence, and hush-hush secrets. But only the river bears witness to all these secrets — and only the river can divulge the truth.

At the heart of these secrets is one family. When Carol’s daughter, Garnet, is caught in the crosshairs of justice and her former boyfriend’s deceit, Carol and her best friend Sam plot to prove Garnet's innocence. Told with beauty and tenderness against the landscape of forgotten everyday America, Fraser’s JUST RIVER connects the complexity and danger we all contain.

You can purchase Just River at the following Retailers:
        

And now, The Giveaways.
Thank you SARA B. FRASER for making this giveaway possible.
1 Winner will receive a Copy of Just River by Sara B. Fraser.
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2 comments:

  1. Celebrating a friendsgiving with my Brit friend who prepared dishes from his hometown of Manchester, since my son was with his dad & their family.

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