GUEST PROFILE

An interview with Susan Reinhardt
by Kathy Schlaeger

Susan Reinhardt started her writing career as a reporter for the Asheville Citizen-Times.  Her humor column has won Best of Gannett in the newspaper chain. Her second book, Not Tonight, Honey Wait `til I’m a size 6, was published in the spring of 2005. She tells stories about her family, husband and a dog she wished she passed on getting at a distant town’s Taco Bell parking lot. She was a featured speaker in March at the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop in Dayton, OH, where she entertained the audience with her Southern charm. She has also appeared on the Mom Writers Talk Radio Show.

MWLM: How did you a get a column with the newspaper?

SR: I've been doing a column for about 11 years. I started out as a reporter and was terrible at covering boring meetings. I was more interested in what the council members were up to personally than whether or not they would extend the fire jurisdiction boundaries. My editor, who's from Georgia and a University of Georgia grad like me, said he saw shades of Lewis Grizzard in my features and Poof! Gave me a three-times-a- week column. He saved me from the despair of Water and Sewer Authority board meetings, God love him.

MWLM: How do you juggle being a mom and published author?

SR: I do most things half-baked. I had to quit exercising so my flesh now resembles that of a Crock Pot cooked chicken. I also quit doing a lot of cooking and eat out way too much, thus causing semi-poverty and cellulite. I try to limit my speaking junkets to no more than three days out of town because my kids really do come first. Even on the days they think I'm Joan Crawford in "Mommy Dearest!" and won't let them leave the table till they finish all their milk.

Lately, it's been harder. My husband and I have separated after four shots at marital therapy and 17 years of marriage. This has been awful, but I try to find humor in it and thus it's easier to get through. God may not have given me a size 6 body, but he gave me the gift of humor. It heals. Really, it does.

MWLM: What was the biggest challenge you have faced being a mom and writer and how did you overcome it?

SR: Rejection and guilt. I got lots of rejections in the first 10 years of my writing "career." I also feel guilt leaving the kids to speak or do a book tour. Now, I feel guilt about the separation. One of my friends says, "Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving," so I'm trying to sever that feeling. I just do the best I can and sometimes I hit a home run and other times I completely strike out.

MWLM: How do your family or friends feel about your book or writing ventures in general?

SR: My kids are proud and embarrassed at the same time. The titles the publisher gives the books are such they won't tell their teachers the names of the books.  And the next one is a real shocker. It's going to be called "Don't Sleep with a Bubba." I'm horrified and did NOT pick the title. But they paid me nicely so I have to behave, I guess.

Since my dad's a part-time Southern Baptist preacher, it should be interesting when that book comes out in the spring if he brings his congregation to the book signing. He did bring them to the "Not Tonight Honey" signing and told them, "There's always altar call if you feel the need after reading my daughter's book." He's hilarious.

MWLM: Do you ever get writer's block and if so, how do you overcome it?

SR: I do get it, and overcome it with Starbucks and chocolate. Or taking a break. Don't force it. Step away, take a walk, go ride go-carts with the kids. Sometimes a one-day break is a good cure. Don't go more than one day, though. You'll end up quitting.

MWLM: What is one piece of advice you would give a mom writer?

SR: Let your kids know you are not taking time away from them. Do your writing, and then occasionally reward them with nicechunks of your time and attention. Other days, always give them quality time - even if it's only an hour or so. Let them know how much writing helps you heal and feel good. Also, I've enlisted my daughter into writing children's stories. My son, almost 14, is on the golf course 12 hours a day and could not care less if I sit at the computer. But my daughter is 8 and needs me a lot. Give them time. And give yourself time.

Kathy Schlaeger lives in Liberty Township, OH with her husband and three daughters. She has been published in The Cincinnati Enquirer, CIN Weekly and the Pulse Journal.

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