Cozy Library: I believe it was Lawrence Block who said that the hardest part of writing is revealing oneself. How did you acquire that ability?

Kris Radish: In order to be a fiction writer, you need to slice yourself open. My professional life has always been as journalist. One of reasons I was so successful is that I approached my work as a human being – in touch with emotions – first, then as a journalist.

My writing philosophy, that I have to share myself in a way that’s honest and revealing, has helped me become a better novelist. That and the richness of experience I’ve had as a journalist (I’m 52 now and been doing this since I was 13), traveling all over the world, covering the war in Bosnia, doing investigative journalism -- those experiences have given me a rich palette to draw from.

CL: My mall-walking buddy asked me to ask you how your “Wisconsin-ness” contributes to your writing.

KR: Your place, your environment and how you’re raised all help define you. I grew up here, lived away, then moved back and it’s true, in the Midwest, people are pretty down to earth, open, kind. Because I’ve been all over the place, I’ve learned women have common denominators. The emotions of women in Wisconsin are the same as women anywhere else. It’s easy, as a woman, to tap into those common denominators to cross lines, even international lines. I can walk into a restroom anywhere in the world and come out with five new best friends. That’s what women do. We’re together in a group, and in five minutes, we’ll talk about menopause or the last time we had sex. That’s the same wherever you live.

CL: How difficult was it to make the transition between writing non-fiction and fiction … and what do you see is the difference?

KR: The difference is I get to make everything up. (Laughs) I do research for the books but the intricate dates and times aren’t important. In some ways it’s easier, in other ways it’s harder. Writing is hard work … but after I drink my one cup of coffee and walk 50 feet into my office, I feel I’m the luckiest woman in the world.

A lot of what I write about is real stuff. Elegant Gathering …  was not my first novel. I have three or four hidden in boxes under old sheets in the basement that I hope to God nobody ever finds. Those were my trial efforts. So when I got to Elegant Gathering …, I was ready and everything came together.

Could I have written that book 20 years ago? I don’t think so. I think my work as a journalist – getting the facts straight – has made me a better novelist. I needed to pay my dues in a non-fiction “internship.” I’m still doing non-fiction work and have one non-fiction book finished. I see myself going back and forth between fiction and non-fiction. If I had to choose, I’d say I am a novelist.

My fourth novel is totally finished and I’m now working on the fifth. I’m lost in the story, thinking about the characters -- it’s like being drunk on words. I find myself losing my car keys and I can’t remember where I left my glasses 30 seconds ago. It’s a double whammy – menopause AND being drunk on words.

CL: I’m guessing you have opportunities to meet your fans. What can you tell me about them?

KR: Readers are the fuel that ignites me on a daily basis. I personally answer all my e-mail. I feel when someone takes the time and energy to respond to me, telling me how they’ve been touched, moved, changed by my books, that’s the ultimate compliment. I honor that. I like to think of my readers as friends because that’s what they become. They’re very important to me and to my work and I try to remember them every time I sit in front of the computer to write.

Each of my novels brings remarkable stories … about women who make life-changing decisions after reading them. The way I write encourages women and makes them feel they’re not alone. If they’re procrastinating about making a decision, the book helps them do it. I’m emotional when I talk about my readers.

CL: You have been quoted as saying, “I hate to edit--what is a comma?” When I have taught writing, I noticed that students who have been educated by nuns tend to over-use commas. How did you escape that fate?

KR: In school, my mind was always in another place … sixteen books ahead of what we were learning.  I was a little rebellious, so I guess it was a bit of defiance.  I wanted to put my commas where I wanted, dammit.

CL: What do you think of reviewers who categorize your fiction as “New Age blather.”

KR: I used to review books and can no longer do it because I find it hard to say something bad. Reviewing is subjective. I don’t dismiss reviews, but I don’t care what they say. I write women’s literary fiction. Anyone who reads it knows it’s not blather.

Some reviewers like to categorize my books as “chick lit.” I say women who read “chick lit” are probably buying their first van, their first home. My readers have bought fifteen vans, and their first motorcycle. The women I write about know who they are.  I write about the reality of their lives and tackle their issues head on. My girls have fun. That’s always been the lining in my life. I have wonderful friends. My books honor those friendships.

We’re at an age when we need to have a lot more fun … the world is here to enjoy we need to stop and smell the roses. I often speak about being at the phase of my life when I’m not giving up the last donut – you can go and get your own. My daughter can wait; I’m getting the next pair of shoes. We want our kids to have more than we have. I’m scraping to help my son with college, but I paid my own way - my parents were lucky to have food on the table.

CL: Who do you see playing Annie in Annie Freeman the movie? (I’m assuming she’ll be in it.)

KR: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have Susan Sarandon or Diane Keaton? Joni Levin, the producer, is working with A-list actresses most of whom who aren’t finding work.  Getting a movie like Annie Freeman’s produced will not be not easy. If Goldie Hawn has trouble getting her movie made, it’s going to be even more difficult for Joni.

When I interviewed Joni last Thanksgiving, we got to be friends in half an hour. We talk all the time. She gets the work and understands why it’s important. Just connecting with her on that level has been a bonus for me. I have a friend for life whatever happens.

When you option a book for a movie, the ball is in the producer’s court. The fun part for me is being a consultant, but Joni and I have an understanding: it’s her movie. She’s asked me questions about changes she’d like to make, and I’ve had to trust her intuition, trust that she will not desecrate the heart of the book. It will be fun to see what happens. It would throw me into a whole new arena, which would be wonderful … cool and fun. There’s already an interest in my new book, too, so I’m on a roll.

CL: Who are your favorite authors?

KR: I keep books around my office for inspiration. I prefer powerful, female A-list writers like Elizabeth Berg, Kaye Gibbons (Sights Unseen), Terry Tempest Williams (an environmental writer), Eudora Welty, Barbara Kingsolver, Dorothy Allison. A lot of my readers also read Elizabeth Berg and they put us in the same basket – we’re different writers approaching the same issues.

CL: Which writers most influenced your work?

KR: I would probably say all the women I mentioned in response to your last question. Eudora Welty was a huge influence because I met and interviewed her. I love the way she lived her life.

Another is Janet Frame, a New Zealand writer I stumbled across. The movie, “An Angel at My Table,” was adapted from one of her books. People thought she was crazy because she loved to be alone and lived in a shack. She was institutionalized and received electroconvulsive treatments. As doctors were preparing to do a frontal lobotomy (in 1952), it was announced that she had won the Hubert Church Memorial Award for The Lagoon, a collection of her short stories – the award was the equivalent of our National Book Award – so they cancelled the surgery. They thought, “She’s not crazy, she’s just a writer. She gets lost in her work.”

When I read her autobiography, I totally identified with her because sometimes I think I’m crazy because I think about my work all the time. I never leave the house without a notebook. I walk a lot and yesterday I went for a walk that should have taken about an hour, but it took two hours because of all the great thoughts. I’m really outgoing but there’ is a part of me that loves to go away, to isolate myself to blot out the rest of the world.

Audre Lorde’s poetry also was influential and I think Alice Munro is our greatest living writer. Her last book, Runaway is brilliant -- I loved that book. 

CL: What are you reading now?

KR: I love biographies … that’s the journalist in me.  I’m currently reading Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee by Peter Richmond. I’m also reading The Whole World Over by Julia Glass (which will be out in May); The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich and I just finished Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems, Volume I.  I usually read about four books at a time.