Today we have the pleasure of being with author Lois Well Santalo to discuss her book. Wow, I lost my sense of humor. Thank you, Mrs. Santalo, for taking the time to be with us.
LWS: It’s my pleasure, Tamar.
PBR: You first published your book, “Whoops, I lost my sense of humor” in 2002. What made you decide to add something to it and publish it again?
LWS: It’s such a scary and powerless feeling to be diagnosed with cancer, and it’s happening to so many people these days. I wanted people to know that cancer is no longer a death sentence, that it is possible to survive for ten or even twenty active and productive years. I have survived breast cancer for twenty years and pancreatic cancer for ten, beating Steve Jobs who did it for four years. In that time, I published five novels.
PBR: In the book, you talk a lot about your love of opera. When and why did your love for opera begin?
LWS: My mother had lots of those old-fashioned opera records and she used to put them on in my childhood, and she would tell me the stories of the operas while we listened. I couldn’t wait to see and hear an opera. When I was sixteen, he finally took me to Chicago for Aida. I was ecstatic and never forgot the occasion.
PBR: How does opera inspire your writing?
LWS: As I learned more about literature, I realized that many of the opera stories are pretty silly as stories. However, the great theater and the great sincerity of the acting can take them out of the category of fools and make them very powerful. I think it helped me learn to make my characters overcome the limitations of the story and become larger than life.
PBR: Mrs. Santalo, you’ve had a few bouts of cancer. How have these experiences shaped your understanding of life’s purpose?
LWS: It is said that there are no atheists in the trenches. That can also be true for cancer victims. That terrible moment of hearing from the doctor that your mammogram or X-rays show cancer cells is a moment when you begin to think that there has to be more to the universe than you have previously realized. There has to be a reason why you’re here and you’re going through all of this. Life has no meaning in any other way.
PBR: How did your past illnesses hinder or delay your writing? How did you move on?
LWS: Surprisingly, my three episodes of cancer greatly improved my writing. He used to work for a literary agent and firmly believed that the path to literary fame and fortune was to learn what publishers are looking for and then do whatever it takes to provide it for them. I realized, under the pressure of illness and the possible shortage of time to write, that commissioned writing tends to be mediocre and lacking in passion. I learned from my illnesses that the right way to go is to find your own voice and then speak it loud and clear. Personal experience, and the conviction that follows from it, is far more meaningful than any editor’s suggestion.
PBR: How often do you write? Do you have a fixed routine?
LWS: I write for at least a couple of hours every day, and I mean every day! Even at Christmas I would get up early to write before breakfast.
PBR: What advice could you give aspiring writers?
LWS: You write every day. If you have no ideas, write a dream or describe a vivid memory. You may one day be able to use it in a memory and it will keep your mind focused. Writer’s block happens to people who don’t stick to a schedule. It happens when your critical capacity outstrips your creativity, and that happens when you take a vacation from writing.
PBR: Are you currently working on a new book? If so, when do we expect to be able to read it?
LWS: I have two books ready. One, a memoir of my grandparents who had a poor home in Michigan, is at the University of Michigan Press, and is being considered for publication. The other one I will probably send to iUniverse. The third mystery of Jill Szekely, is the story of the murder in a House of Crisis for Women. I was a night manager of such a house for seven years, so I can guarantee its authenticity.
PBR: Again, thank you for joining us today, and we wish you the best of success in every way.
LWS: Thank you, Tamar, and thank you to Pacific Book Review for “uncovering” Jill’s mysteries by selecting the first, Dorothea in the Mirror, as Book of the Month in 2010. That was very exciting and rewarding for me.
