Get ready to learn more about the book Calling Her Home in this discussion with sapphic author S.E. Chandler.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz S.E. Chandler about Calling Her Home, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the Insta-Love category in the 2024 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write Calling Her Home?
The opening scene was a dream I actually had in real life maybe 1999 or 2000. I woke up feeling so deliciously undone by a complete stranger, I started spinning a story out of it. Which I never wrote until 2013. I had binged Orange is the New Black with my sister-in-law while visiting for a work conference. On the 6.5 hour drive home, the characters’ voices just started talking, showing me scenes, pouring out. That was in October. I jumped on National Novel Writing Month bandwagon and wrote the thing in 30 days. Well all but the final chapter. I wrote myself into a corner and didn’t finish it for 9 more years.
Who is your favorite character in the book?
The hot mess sister is my favorite. She’s not trying to play Switzerland, she’s just kind of forced there. She has this life she’s supposed to love with a husband and two kids, but during her one taste of freedom, she’s ready to give it all up. Life feels like that sometimes for me. It’s everything you wanted and nothing you can stand at the same time.
Then, at the funeral, she’s open to the experience and feels the magic of Tassajara Zen Center. She is the character who got the closure I wish I had.
What was the biggest challenge writing this book?
Finishing it! From concept to finish, it took me 22 years. I’ve narrowed that down to 5 or 6 weeks these days, but still. Keeping those characters alive and breathing inside me all that time is really exhausting. I was so happy to see them finally get their ending and let go of the space they occupied in my chest.
What part of Calling Her Home was the most fun to write?
Definitely the Tassajara Zen Center scenes. Loosely based on an actual Buddhist funeral, I could actually feel myself getting closure through the process. And the audience with the teacher was just showing the quirky and complex side of Buddhism I love so much.
How much research did you need to do for Calling Her Home?
So much! I actually went to Little Tokyo in L.A. to research the place I was writing about. That’s how I figured out the sushi joint was not much of a restaurant at all, so it really changed how I wrote about Maru and Vann meeting. Plus, the community there was beautiful and inspiring. I bought a Little Tokyo T-Shirt at a shop right next door to the sushi place as inspiration. If you’re in L.A., definitely go there. Cool place.
Where do you usually write, and what do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?
I am very picky about this. I have an enclave where I write facing a wall to limit distractions. It’s also a practice space. So my only options are to sit or write in the room. I have a very few inspirational photos visible and a giant wall calendar with my annual publishing schedule to keep my on track. I keep my affirmation within view as I sit to write: 1. People will buy books; why not mine? 2. When I make room for ideas, they will appear 3. Everyone deserves everything.
If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose?
Natalie Goldberg. 100%. I picked up her book Wild Mind as a teenager on a church trip (I was stuck at a mall and only wanted to be in the bookstore). That book changed my writing life. And how prophetic that I would turn out to also be a lesbian and later a Buddhist. I’ve read everything she’s written, even her books about her paintings, novel and memoir. I would love to meet her. Spending a day with her would blow my mind.
What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing, and by whom?
Brevity is virtue, by poet Red Hawk. I keep my writing only as long as it needs to be.
What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?
Inside my characters’ heads? Other way around. They’re inside mine and telling me what to say and write. I don’t have any influence. I either get out of the way and let them take the keys, or just stall until I can get to my next writing session.
What type of books do you enjoy reading the most?
I love reading in genre these days. I was almost always a nonfiction reader, but formerly enjoyed mystery, suspense and everything Stephen King. Hence, the cat named Wireman. Bonus points if you know who that is!
What books have you read more than once in your life?
Johnathon Livingston Seagull. I always come back to my home. The dreamer, the doer, the advocate.
