About The Author:
Ross Ponderson is a retired IT guy from the USA. A former software developer, he now pens actual words in the hope that millions of people will enjoy them. The stories he loves to write are those depicting ordinary people meeting extraordinary challenges with extraordinary courage, strength, and determination. He's a firm believer in happy endings.
He has enjoyed writing since his grammar school days when essay assignments delighted him while provoking groans of pain from his classmates. He wishes now that he would’ve made a few extra bucks by ghostwriting essays for his classmates.
When away from his word processor, he enjoys reading (books on writing, wouldn’t you know!), railroading, Subway sandwiches, history, exploring the Internet, documentaries, museums of any kind, 1970s music, wishing he had become a professional musician, and strolling through the local malls in search of new story ideas. He ALWAYS brakes for McDonald’s Iced Coffee, book shops, and music stores.
“Child of Privilege” is his debut novel; his second novel is currently being first-drafted. Hopefully, many more will follow.
Connect With Ross:
Email: ross.ponderson@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RossPonderson
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23123410-child-of-privilege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ross-Ponderson-Author/441583685981864
Author blog: http://rossponderson.blogspot.com
In the age-old first date manner, tell me a bit about yourself.
I'm finally retired from a gloriously-checkered career as a software developer. But after tasting the cash flow realities of retirement, I'm taking classes at a community college in order to change careers (hopefully over to social media work) and re-enter the workforce as a freelancer. I'll probably be working at something or other until I'm a ninety-five-year-old curmudgeon!
My primary passions revolve around "that good old-time rock and roll" music (the classics which were--and still are--the soundtrack of my life), railroads and railroading history, museums in general, anything with historical significance, TV documentaries that actually teach me something, computers, keyboard musical instruments, and writing. I confess to the vices of eating (pizza, chocolate, Italian beef, McDonald's Southwest Salads, and Subway sandwiches), drinking (tea, coffee, beer, and the occasional glass of wine), being merry (several glasses of wine and meeting my writing quota help there!), and incurable procrastination (later!).
I can be counted upon to brake for McD's Iced Coffee, bookstores, and music shops.
I would love to meet J.K. Rowling someday--perhaps when she asks me to autograph one of my books for her. (I also suffer from extremely unrealistic goals and expectations!)
Who influenced you most as a writer.
There wasn't really a single dominant influence on my writing. Moving through the grades of parochial school, I had the fundamentals of composition, language, spelling, punctuation, and grammar relentlessly pounded into my skull as though by pile driver. Those nuns never let a mistake sneak by. To this day I firmly believe that escaping a federal Supermax prison is far easier than wresting an "A" grade from a nun!
In retrospect, I didn't fare too badly overall. Whenever extra-credit writing projects were assigned (which caused my classmates to hunch down and lower their heads to avoid the line of fire), I went out of my way to appear on the sisters' radars. I freely admit that I jumped at every opportunity they offered to write something; I really didn't care what the assignment was as long as I had a chance to write my little heart out. I hope I justified their faith in me.
My closest approximation to a mentor appeared in eighth grade in the diminutive form of Mrs. Porter. Even though I was a runt at that age, I towered over her. But the wooden pointer constantly in her hands was the perfect equalizer--the equivalent of a Klingon Pain Stick--and she wielded it with all the blinding speed and dexterity of a Fourth Musketeer. She was fast, she was precise, and she was deadly! You didn't mess with her if you wanted to graduate with two ears and ten fingers.
My survival instincts drove me to find a common ground with her--which turned out to be writing. At first she was lukewarm: she simply handed my graded assignments back to me, scowled, and said I needed to improve. I wisely did just that. I started coming to her after school for advice and criticism. For hours we would discuss the finer points of transforming thoughts, emotions, and dreams into words. She was an authority on both literary theory and mechanics, a veritable writing encyclopedia. Even now I wonder why she had never written a book herself.
Then the most wonderful thing happened: her scowls gradually softened to blank expressions and discreet nods of approval. It was shortly before graduation that one of my final assignments was finally rewarded with an enigmatic half-smile and a whispered "Nicely done."
Mrs. Porter died decades ago, but I often think of her as I write. I wish she could have read "Child of Privilege." It would be intriguing to see if I'd get a half-smile or a scowl--or maybe that wooden pointer across my butt!
What are your favourite books and why?
I don't really have any "favorite" books as such. In fiction, my tastes harken back to the tried-and-true masters I was forced to read in order to graduate from school: Twain, Steinbeck, Dickens, Bradbury, Orwell, Hemingway, etc. Once in a very great while, I've been known to sneak a peek at Grisham, Cussler, and Steel. I stick mostly to nonfiction these days, primarily biographies (especially unauthorized!), tell-alls, and historical events. One book that is currently mesmerizing me is "To Sleep With The Angels" by David Cowan and John Kuenster. This work chronicles the horrendous 1958 fire that swept through a Catholic grade school in Chicago taking nearly 100 lives. From beginning to end, this story is absolutely heartbreaking, especially since so many innocent little children suffered and died so tragically.
Other nonfiction indulgences include "Little Girl Blue" by Randy Schmidt (an unauthorized biography of the late singer Karen Carpenter), and Charles Shepard's "Forgiven" which analyzes the rise and fall of the 1980s PTL television ministry and its founder, Jim Bakker. My remaining reading time usually finds me poring over books on writing, publishing, and social media practices.
When did you realise you wanted to be a writer?
I've been writing in one form or another for most of my life. As a child armed with carbon paper and a toy typewriter (I was always breaking the family's "real" machine), I produced a weekly "newspaper" and foisted it upon my family and neighbors. It consisted mostly of school and neighborhood gossip and the highlights of sandlot baseball games with my friends. Thank goodness we had very forgiving neighbors; their tolerance for my little carbon rag and me was downright saintly.
Next were piecemeal contributions to various hobby magazines and newsletters. I was engrossed with shortwave radio at the time, and many of those publications were literally homegrown (in the editor's garage or basement) and welcomed contributions to help fill their white space. Seeing my words in print was always such a thrill; you would've thought I was being featured in the "New Yorker."
I was fortunate enough to have a few short stories and essays published in a couple of literary magazines. Sadly, those platforms are largely gone now. Most of the editors were very generous with their constructive criticism and delighted in introducing unknown writers to the marketplace.
Around that time, I penned my first novel. It was--in all candor--total garbage. That also happened to be the consensus among the agents and editors who read it. The manuscript now reposes in a secured, lead-lined container deep in my storage locker where it can't harm anyone. "Child of Privilege" (my "real" first novel) would come later.
Do you have any interesting writing quirks?
I don't know if any other writers do this, but I'll frequently "act out" certain scenes in my living room. I'll physically play all the parts and deliver the dialogue in my characters' voices. As bizarre as this sounds, it accomplishes several goals: it verifies the physical placement of my characters in relation to the "set" and to each other; it ensures that my characters' movements and gestures, etc., are both credible and physically possible; dialogue can be scrutinized for realism and authenticity; and I get an accurate "feel" for the scene's emotional impact. An added benefit is the sense of involvement it affords me with the story--like I'm part of it. Maybe I'm really nothing more than a frustrated actor!
How did you become interested in the genre you write?
I'm not aware of J.K. Rowling ever writing a courtroom procedural drama. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, has John Grisham ever penned a story about wizards. My point? Play to your strengths. For instance, I would never attempt a classic romance novel because my sense of romance leaves a lot to be desired--namely, a sense of romance. Okay, not much potential there, but I do have something else going for me. I've always been surrounded by strong, capable women: my late mother and the other women in the family; those omnipotent nuns in school; colleagues; teachers; friends; bosses; romantic partners. Each one has--for better or worse--left the impression with me that women can be as strong, determined, resourceful, defiant, and courageous as a situation demands. That's why--at this point in my writing journey--I can't see writing a novel without a strong woman protagonist. THAT is my strength--and I'll keep playing to it until the Contemporary Fiction market tells me to stop.
I interpret "Contemporary Fiction" as a very broad umbrella allowing the marriage of multiple genres without emphasizing any one in particular. "Child of Privilege" is Contemporary Fiction that includes elements of Suspense, Women's Fiction, Romance (just an enticing touch!), and Family Drama. My second novel (currently being first-drafted) will also be CF.
I enjoy having the extra literary room to explore my characters and their stories without genre restrictions. CF allows me that room.
Tell me a bit about Child of Privilege.
Despite a childhood of fear, verbal and emotional abuse, and witnessing her father's physical assaults on her mother (not to mention the beatings she herself suffered later), nineteen-year-old debutante Dana Van Werner still clung to her gentle, endearing, kindhearted nature. The trappings of her gilded life--wealth, luxury, and high society protocol--did nothing to protect her from her powerful attorney father's uncontrollable rages. His malice toward his own daughter seemed to permeate the darkest depths of his soul--if indeed he had one at all. The Van Werner mansion was more a chamber of horrors than a family home for Dana and her submissive, long-suffering mother.
One night found Dana finally leaving her world behind and boarding a bus bound for anywhere. The "real world" education of this daughter of high society thus began, covering a curriculum discreetly avoided in Finishing School: buses, sexual predators, jail cells, exploitation, night people, honky-tonks, and fleabag motels. One night even found her stripping in a seedy bar to buy a bus ticket.
She knew she was being followed by private investigators hired by her father to bring her back under his control. One of those pursuers had a libidinous agenda of his own.
After fighting off an attack by that investigator, Dana found a home, refuge, and love in a bucolic rural town with a bachelor deputy sheriff.
But a stunning turn of events brought Dana back full circle into a violent and bloody confrontation with her father. Years of suppressed anger, humiliation, and pain finally erupted into a showdown that tore open a lifetime of concealed scars.
"Child of Privilege" is an adult book for adult audiences. It shines an accusing light on a modern-day epidemic spreading behind millions of closed doors. But it also showcases the bravery, strength, and determination of one woman who had finally taken enough. It's a story of our troubled times that begs to be told.
What was the inspiration behind Child of Privilege?
Would you believe a newspaper photo? I was browsing the society pages (for what I don't know!) and stumbled upon a picture of several debutantes attending some gala society event. They were a sight to behold: impeccably made up; flawless smiles; lavish, custom-tailored formal gowns revealing a socially-proper amount of skin; and not a hair out of place.
It was all so ... perfect. Too perfect, I thought. My writer side began asking some intriguing questions: What if one of those young women were hiding ... something ... behind her smile? What if her life beyond the public eye could shame Hell itself? What if she were living a lie for the sake of her family's image? What if absolute horror reigned behind the doors of her multimillion-dollar mansion? What if she were at her emotional breaking point?
I could sense Dana Van Werner begging me to bring her to life.
It didn't take long for the story elements to flash across my mind faster than I could scribble them down. Each one felt like a ready-made chapter. A week later, the master outline was done; the novel itself in about two years. I've learned to keep my mind open because the next story idea could present itself at any time.
Do you have another writing project in mind or in the making? If so, can you tell us a little about it.
My second novel is a classic case of "one step forward, two steps back." Despite my struggles to engage my author "tunnel vision" and keep the first draft moving forward, ideas for improvements keep sending me back to prior chapters for do-over after do-over after do-over, ad nauseam. This draft will likely go down as one of the most painful and prolonged births in self-publishing history. But what can you do when you have the chance to noticeably improve your story?
My superstitions prevent me from crowing about WIPs, but I'd like to share this with you: Novel #2 will be another Contemporary Fiction work with elements of Women's Fiction and Romance. It will also be MUCH sexier (but not erotica) than "Child of Privilege." My protagonist will again be a woman of quiet strength, blessed with an unmatched survival instinct. She's going to need it. In the end, her antagonist is going to get his comeuppance in such a wonderful way. I'm REALLY looking forward to writing that chapter. The rest? I'll be sure to let you know when the book comes out.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Be prepared to wear ALL the hats. You must be an author, editor, cover designer, publisher, social media maven, publicist, agent, accountant, blogger, marketer, and chief cook and bottlewasher. (Are there bottlewashers anymore?)
You'll need to write plot summaries, blurbs, author bios, synopses, review requests, and social media posts. Don't forget your author website or blog; it can be an effective advertising/reader involvement/sales tool. Take some courses in marketing/advertising, ad writing, and social media influencing.
Don't waste time and energy pursuing the latest hot trends; rather, start one of your own.
Most of all, develop the patience of a saint and a skin tougher than Kevlar (the stuff used in body armor). It can be tough out there.
And you assumed all you needed to do was write a book, right?
Wrong!
Good luck!
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