Wild
Women Authors
welcomes back Suanne Schaefer, author of A
Different Kind of Fire,
and protagonist Ruby Schmidt.
Good
morning, Ruby. Tell us a bit about A
Different Kind of Fire. The
novel explores
my life. My unconventional choices mold me in ways I could never have
foreseen as I struggle to balance my artistic ambitions against
husband, family, and lovers against the backdrop of 19th century
America.
What
made you choose painting for a profession? I
was born with the need to paint. Sometimes when light strikes a
person’s face or a flower weeps in the rain, I’m driven to
capture it on paper.
Knowing
what you know now, if you had it to do over again, would you stick
with being an artist or do something different? I
can’t not be
an artist. I would definitely rethink marrying and having four
children.
What
is your biggest fear? There
are so many. Being unable to paint. Having another child die—I had
a miscarriage at seven months, then my oldest died in France during
World War I, my second child in the 1918 influenza outbreak. Losing
another husband—I divorced one and the second died when he was
thrown from a horse.
Who
is your favorite fictional character and why? Fanny
Hill of Fanny
Hill: The Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by
English novelist John Cleland. She’s a woman with a sexual
appetite and is unapologetic about it. Unlike our times when we women
aren’t supposed to be sexual beings.
What
is the best piece of advice you ever received? The
worst piece of advice I got was from a professor at the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts. I was told that my paintings were unladylike
and did not lie within the realm of womanly art. I was advised that
women
should nurture their husbands and offspring in a warm, loving home.
The best thing I ever did was to ignore
his advice. I think I was eventually able to paint what I wished—my
life in West Texas—and still nurture my family.
Ruby,
thank you for taking time to speak with us. Now, we'd like to chat
with Suanne.
Which
writer or character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have
had a major impact on your writing?
I am currently
in love with the movie Portrait
of a Woman on Fire. I’ve
watched it twice on STARZ. It’s beautifully filmed, with sparse
dialogue and rich movements of the characters in relationship to each
other. It is also remarkably like my own A
Different Kind of Fire
and the lifelong love that develops between Ruby and Willow while
they attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
With
regard to research, where did you start for this novel? Did that lead
you down different paths, thereby changing the original concept? A
Different Kind of Fire
is very roughly based on my grandmother’s life. She went off to
study art back east, leaving her family behind. While there, she met
a European nobleman and had to get married. She eventually made her
way back to Texas with two children in tow and married the rancher
next door. He had always said he would never marry unless he married
her. Then he waited seven years for her first husband to be declared
dead.
I
had always wanted to write my grandparents’ love story and started
it as a traditional romance with alternating points of view. As I
wrote and did research, it became apparent that this needed to be the
woman’s story—she was experiencing new things and being exposed
to suffragettes as well as a bohemian artist’s life. So I
concentrated on her attempts to reconcile her staid West Texas
upbringing with the liberal ideas she was exposed to in Philadelphia.
Ruby’s life is a constant struggle: her art versus her female
lover, the European nobleman, the cowboy sweetheart, city life versus
ranch life.
What
are you reading right now? I
am so far behind on my ARCS and TBRs that I finally sat down and made
a list of them by publication date. I’m trying to make a point to
read a current one, a middle-aged one, and an ancient one every week.
This week’s list: Master
Class by Dalcher, The
Crescent Stone by Mikalatos, The Half-Drowned King
by Hartsuyker. I’m also reading Investigating
the Body in the Victorian Asylum: Doctors, Patients, and Practices
as research for my fourth novel.
What's
next for you? I’ve
just gotten the rights back to A
Different Kind of Fire,
my first novel, so I’m reading it with an eye to revising and
putting out a second edition. I’m also revising Thunder,
Rain and Ashes, my
third novel, and will hopefully release it this fall.
To
learn more about Suanne Schafer and the stories she creates go to:
https://suanneschaferauthor.com
https://www.instagram.com/suanneschafer/
Suanne
brought an excerpt from A
Different Kind of Fire:
As
she walked home from church one invigorating fall afternoon, Ruby
encountered a demonstration in Logan Square. Ladies, dressed in
suffragette-white, waved placards exclaiming FREE LOVE in bold
letters. Men, leaning out the windows of nearby buildings, whistled
and yelled taunts. A row of policemen prevented on-lookers from
storming a platform filled with male and female orators.
Curious,
Ruby stood on the top step of a building, pressing herself against
the bricks to avoid the maelstrom while she listened to the speeches.
At
the podium, a petite woman, clothed in dove gray, spoke. “I take
this opportunity to introduce Mrs. Victoria Woodhull, who has
returned from England to seek the Presidency of the United States.”
She clapped enthusiastically.
Mrs.
Woodhull, garbed in somber purple, moved to the rostrum. Her serious
demeanor belied the brilliance of her personality. Melodious, yet
defiant, her voice rang out over the multitude. “Yes! I am a Free
Lover. A woman has the right to control her own body, to refuse her
husband if she desires. She has the right to remain unmarried, to
bear children outside of wedlock, to love whom she chooses when she
chooses. The state has no right to interfere with a woman’s—”
A
ripe tomato struck Mrs. Woodhull on the chest, splattering her
peplumed jacket. She raised her voice above the catcalls and jeers
and continued, “—right to self-determination.” An egg narrowly
missed her eye, its yellow yolk trickling down her cheek. Policemen
whisked her off stage and down a narrow alleyway. The speakers
remaining on the dais swiftly followed.
More
officers arrived, these on horseback, encircling the throng, trying
to keep the peace. Demonstrators dropped their placards—now
preferring anonymity to free political expression—and stole away.
Ruby
glanced at the pamphlets at her feet. She looked guilty. Any
policeman would assume she was a demonstrator. She should have gone
straight home. Wildly she peered one way then the other, seeking a
quick escape. Her arrest was imminent. Damnation. Mrs. Wheelwright
would condemn Ruby for sure.
Two
men swung their fists at each other, capturing the policeman’s
attention. “Move along, young lady.” He dug his heels into his
horse’s flanks and rode past her.
With
a sigh of relief, she stuffed a pamphlet in her pocket and raced
away, weaving in and out of the crowd.
Safe—if
breathless—in her own room, she studied the brochure. The front
comprised a political endorsement:
Victoria
Woodhull
for
President
of the United States of America 1892
Sponsored
by the
National
Woman Suffragists’ Nominating
Convention
...Coercion
should not exist within a marriage...A woman has a right to refuse
her husband should she not wish to bear a child...A woman has the
inalienable and natural right to love whom she chooses for as long as
she wishes, whether that person be male or female...
Ruby
wondered what the words meant. Bismarck had not forced himself on
her. She had chosen him as clearly as he had her. Nor did she believe
her father pressured her mother into bearing children. She did not
understand why two women—or two men, for that matter—would ever
choose to be partners. Confusing her further, the struggle for Free
Love was tied somehow to the battle for women’s rights, especially
the right to vote. She was uncertain where these movements
intersected or how they affected her.
To
purchase A
Different Kind of Fire—or
to check out Suanne's other books, go to:
This sounds really good!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed A Different Kind of Fire tremendously!
ReplyDelete