The writers participating in the SinC-IC Writers' Workshop know well this month's guest. She enthusiastically supported the concept of the workshop and worked hard to take it from concept to reality. And if anyone can pull volunteers in to help out with SinC-IC tasks, Alice is the one! She knows the buttons to push. Could that be because she was once a therapist? Now promotion of SinC-IC has been added to her list. Between behind the scenes Steering Committee discussions, learning new Web ways, and the Workshop, Alice has certainly been kept busy.

I asked Alice for something that would well represent her to Spotlight visitors and she sent two passages leaving it up to me to decide which to use. I chose both. Not just because I am a wimp, but because they are both worth a read. Her comment regarding the Thomas Wolfe quote: "This was written almost sixty years ago, so man was his noun. Today we would say human." Just like a feminist--or is it the therapist speaking? Have a look:

If a man has a talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won a satisfaction and a triumph few men can ever know.
     -- You Can't Go Home Again, by Thomas Wolfe

For every problem there is a solution which is neat, plausible and wrong.
     -- H.L. Mencken

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IC
Why these two quotes?

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Alice
I have the two favorites because somehow I feel they complement each other. To me, Wolfe says something very important about how to live one's life. Mencken makes me laugh, but he's telling me to take nothing for granted. Perhaps they're two sides of the same coin.

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IC
I understand you wander around the house trying to find the computer you last used. Is that true?

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Alice
Oh, dear, that is, indeed, true! I assure you nobody on the planet is more technologically challenged than I; however, I had to learn something about these infernal machines if I planned to enter the conversation at the dinner table. For the first 25 years I was married, I never saw my engineer spouse without a slide rule in his hand. I was sure he was born holding it in his little baby paw. Well, when computers came on the scene, he was convinced they had been invented for his benefit alone, and heaven help us! he infected his son with the fever. After we performed a slide rule-ectomy, he never looked back, and we have computers all over the house.

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IC
You are the current SinC-IC PR maven. Your first step in that direction was the Writers' Workshop. Tell us about that.

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Alice
I am terribly tempted to begin this story with: In a galaxy far, far away a girl was born, and as she grew, her first words were, "I must have been created to do publicity." Sweet reason prevails, so I have to confess the workshop was definitely a team effort with most of the team doing far more than I did. My part was advertising the endeavor -- and then getting out of the way. It obviously was an idea whose time had come, and the enthusiasm was astonishing. Even more surprising is the fact that enthusiasm has remained high for something over eight months. The level of writing is wonderful, and the critiques are insightful and generally on the money.

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IC
What is the most challenging aspect of being responsible for promotion?

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Alice
The challenge for me is determining what population we're trying to reach. I have no idea how many of our members are published authors and how many are readers only. Obviously, the authors want their work publicized, and the readers are eager to know what's being published. That's the easy part. I loved the Ask-a-Pro interviews and know they need to be publicized, so the hat trick for me is determining what information needs to go where. There's another facet, too, how much publicity is too little, how much is too much, and Goldilocks to the rescue - how much is just right.

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IC
Tell us the people who have most influenced you and how?

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Alice
I was in high school about the time the earth's crust was cooling, but I do recall the woman who taught Honors English. She was about 4'10", and every bit of that was brain. She taught me to cherish the beauty of our language. A bit farther down the road, my college advisor was chairman of the English department, and he honored academic integrity above everything else. He was certain if you held to that standard, you would find it impossible to lie or cheat in any aspect of your life. Dr. Owen was a crusty old goat whom I adored, and his influence nudged me into graduate school and ultimately into an interesting, albeit peculiar, career.

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IC
Oh? "Peculiar career." Just like an author, a grabber line. Tell us more.

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Alice
Oh, I'm a writer, all right, and I have the rejection slips to prove it, but I digress. I spent many years as a counselor, then worked several years as clinical director of a women's shelter. About the time I was beginning to suffer burn-out, the Superior Court in my county opened a mediation program and asked me to set it up. The program was to deal with divorcing couples who were having problems deciding how their children's time was to be divided. Notice I did not use the word 'custody' which to me always means somebody in prison. It was fascinating work because it epitomized that wonderful line from Busman's Honeymoon, Dorothy Sayers' book: "It gave me a comprehensive picture of Christian family living" -- and you can substitute Jewish, Muslim or whatever! The parents came in angry enough to peel the paint off the walls, and it took some fancy dancing on my part -- and a clear shot at the door -- to get them to come to an agreement. Ten years of this was about enough.

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IC
If you had your choice of one of three stuffed toys: a vulture, a teddy bear, or ET, which would you choose and why?

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Alice
Oh, by all means the vulture. It would fit right in with the piranha in the fish tank and the alligator in the bathtub. Obviously it isn't enormously wise to rile me. As I was writing this, my daughter was reading over my shoulder. Her comment, "Get a grip, Mom. You're the teddy bear type." Whose word are you going to take?

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IC
(I took her daughter's.) What's the first book you recall reading?

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Alice
Actually, it was a series -- every one of the Oz books.

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IC
What are the "Oz" books?

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Alice
"We're off to see the wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz." The author of the series was a man named L. Frank Baum, and I've forgotten how many were in the series, but take my word for it -- a lot, and I loved every one of them.

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IC
If you could live in any other time period, past or future, what would you choose and why?

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Alice
I would love to live a hundred years from now. My grandmother lived to see the progression from horse and buggy to the airplane. I have lived from the time of propeller planes to a man strolling on the moon. Any computer purchased today is out of date by the time you get it connected, so think of the wonders that may be ahead.

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IC
Is there anything you'd like to see changed in the publishing industry?

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Alice
I would like to see new authors given a fighting chance. I read somewhere that about six writers are given enormous amounts of money and publicity. That's all well and good, but how many new writers fall between the cracks because they don't receive the help, the push if you will, from the publishers?

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IC
What three things most influence your choice of what to read?

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Alice
This is a tough one. I read reviews, of course, but since I don't always agree with the reviewer, I tend to take them lightly. I look for new writers and am so delighted when I find a gem. Finally, I read the blurbs and two things turn me off completely: one is "translated from..." although I can't precisely define what bothers me about that. The second thing is I find most hard-boiled efforts hard to take. Blood all over the floor, described in graphic terms, isn't to my taste at all.

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IC
Are you a "there must be a body in the first ten pages" reader?

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Alice
Absolutely not! My all-time favorite book, Gaudy Night, has no body anywhere in sight.

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IC
Did you ever do anything as a kid that you wonder now how it is that you survived to grow up?

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Alice
Well, there was the time my car and a horse met. It didn't do the horse much harm, but it surely didn't help the car much. My father swore to his dying day the horse got up, shook its mane and muttered, "Another damned woman driver."

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IC
Do you have a favorite rejection slip?

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Alice
I always think of Hillerman's rejection slip which told him to "get rid of that Indian stuff". My favorite said something to the effect that more research was needed concerning psychotherapy. The rejectionist -- if there is such a word -- found what I had written unbelievable, and all I could think was he didn't know what he was discussing and I did. Oh, wel-l-l-l, as the kids say.

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IC
Had you mentioned your credentials (experience in the field) in your query letter?

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Alice
Oh, yes, indeed. I had the distinct impression no one had looked at that.

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IC
Do you write what you read? By this I mean if you read cozies, do you also write in the cozy vein?

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Alice
You betcha! In the course of my career I saw more tough stuff than I wanted to, so cozies are my entertainment and what I write. Perhaps "fluff" is a better word, but I've always felt the world probably didn't need another War and Peace. Come to think of it, I'm not sure the world needsthis one.

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IC
Here is your chance to wing around on any subject you wish: your favorite peeve, fervent wish, what you dream or scheme; anything.

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Alice
Pet peeve time? Goody! The people who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions send me into a fit. The British refer to this as "dumb insolence" -- the concept that you made me do it. Or your job is to make me happy. Baloney! You and you alone are responsible for your happiness. I can do something that you like or you dislike, but how you process it is your responsibility.

Gee, I certainly feel better. Thanks...

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IC
And your closeout comment to our guests?

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Alice
Use the talents you've been given. If only the thrush sang, the woods would be very quiet.

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My thanks to Alice for braving the interview process. She doesn't have a web page yet, but there is always hope for the future!