Photograph by Robert Scheer
Paul Brown displays a copy of his book about retirement planning.
By Cristy Shauck
They sneak it. They snatch it. They steal it away. That's how local writers find time to work on their craft, says author and Saratoga resident Audrey Lynch. "We all lead hurried, worried lives," she explains. "Write whenever you have a moment."
A guidance counselor at Bernal Intermediate School and an English instructor at Mission College, Lynch turned her admiration for California native son John Steinbeck into a 100-slide show and lecture she presents at community colleges and other locations. Her two-day sessions will be offered at the Saratoga Recreation Department in January and in April.
Grinning, she warns audiences, "We may meet again under different circumstances." Lynch also teaches traffic school.
Her published works include newspaper and magazine articles and nonfiction books, including a ghost-writing stint with the cook aboard the boat Steinbeck sailed to the Sea of Cortez. Currently Lynch writes articles for Travelers Tales, a series of travel books.
Los Gatan Dorothy Dowdell began writing for Trailer and Parent magazines after World War II. She and her husband collaborated on educational books, such as Tree Farms and Your Career in Teaching, during the Johnson administration.
But Dowdell wasn't satisfied with those accomplishments, so she attended summer school at Maren Elwood's School of Writing in Hollywood and took fiction courses at UC-Davis when the family lived nearby. What she learned resulted in five published romance novels, six historical novels and a mystery novel.
Ideas for fiction come from reading about real people, she says. Exhaustive research performed for the educational books provided Dowdell with background material for A Woman's Empire, a novel about the lumber industry, and Golden Flame, a novel about the mining industry.
"The basis of all fiction is conflict," says the author, "then genuine emotion. Be specific, concrete."
An editor told Dowdell that if she felt her throat thickening while reading, that made her realize the story had impact.
Now in her mid-80s, Dowdell confines her writing to shorter fiction, working at her computer from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. nearly every day. "Just get as much as you can out of every day," she advises.
Paul Brown of Saratoga labors over a book about his family's years spent in North Dakota during the Great Depression. His nonfiction book, From Here to Retirement, came out in 1988.
Brown, 72, writes about four times a week, maneuvering through daily distractions of a family, including four children and nine grandchildren and grabbing "a chunk of time that I know I'll be able to spend without major interruptions." Occasionally he slips away to a haven above Angels Camp. "It really helps," he says.
At her home in Los Gatos, Dorothy Skold writes articles for Western publications, San Francisco historical articles and chapters for a romance novel set in Parkfield, Calif., circa 1935. Skold has published more than 100 articles and children's stories.
Lynch's neighbor Pat Kaspar attended UCLA when there was no mass communications major, so she chose political science. Straight out of college she went to work for Time Inc. in New York City. "When I started, women weren't hired as writers, only as fact-checkers and editors--very patronizing times for women," she says.
Later, Kaspar began a career as a freelance editor and writer, producing articles, annual reports and manuals, and eventually landing her own column, "Trends and Tidbits," in High-Tech Careers. She writes technical documents for Ames Research Center and has been published in its newsletter, The Astrogram.
No stranger to the information highway, Kaspar joined the NASA Internet staff in the mid-1980s. Some of her writing appears on the World Wide Web.
Kaspar's children--a son in the Air Force, a veterinarian daughter and her twin, an assistant controller--are in their 30s.
To avoid interruptions, Kaspar writes at the office, although she says she has everything she needs at home. A Nike "Just Do It" sign hangs on the office wall.
What are the trials and tribulations of the writing life?
"The dichotomy between writing and hawking your wares," says Kaspar.
"Procrastination," asserts Skold, who reads to get in the mood to write.
"Finding the time," Brown responds.
"It's always hard to sit down and write," says Lynch. "Writing is an inner compulsion, yet rejection never gets any easier."
"Everybody has problems," Dowdell points out. "Just enjoy the good things you do have."
So why do they continue writing?
"Aside from the money, I'm achieving something," says Skold.
"The satisfaction of writing something you really believe in and enjoy. You have a vision of making a difference in someone's life. I got a lot of feedback from people who said my book was helpful," says Brown.
"I love organizing facts into a logical document; it's like a puzzle sometimes--creating a clear structure and format, describing a difficult concept in 'real people's' language and making it interesting," says Kaspar.
"It's my little slice of immortality," says Lynch.
For Aspiring Writers...
Critique groups and professional associations help writers make professional contacts and polish their craft.
These writers belong to the South Bay Branch of the California Writers' Club, a professional organization offering writers and aspiring writers of any genre and editors the opportunity to schmooze, offer encouragement, applaud achievements and attend a monthly lecture on some aspect of writing. The public is welcome to attend meetings, which are held at Mariani's in Santa Clara the second Wednesday of each month at 6:15 p.m.
The next meeting will be in December; for reservations contact Susan Edwards at 415/968-6483.
Skold and Brown also have long histories with the Cupertino Writers Group, a critique group which meets at Barbara Johnson's in Campbell, 370-2205. "I find them very inspiring," Skold says.
They invite prospective members to sit in.
Lynch and Kaspar belong to the National League of American Pen Women, a professional organization for women artists, writers and musicians that has headquarters in Washington, D.C. The public is welcome to attend the monthly Santa Clara County Branch meetings, which sometimes take place at the Saratoga Library. The program features a guest speaker from one of the arts. Contact Cristy Shauck at 733-1171 for meeting and membership information.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 4, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved