Q&A with Amy Lorowitz

  

 

 

Amy Lorowitz is the author of the new novel Summer Husband. She lives in New York. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Summer Husband, and how did you create your character Lori?

 

A: I always felt that I had a book inside of me, but it wasn’t until my youngest daughter went off to college that I had the time to try writing a book. I joined the writing workshop of bestselling author Jennifer Belle in 2013 not knowing how to go about writing a book. I like to say that Jennifer skillfully and patiently guided Summer Husband into existence.

 

Lori is a mixture of my bungalow colony girlfriends, and the BFF’s I made later in life when I followed my two daughters to sleepaway camp for seven summers. She was easy to bring to life on paper because I hear all their voices in my head laughing about our experiences together in those collective hot summer days and nights.

 

Other than following my daughters to camp Summer Husband is entirely fictional.

 

Q: As you noted, the novel is set at a summer camp--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: I remember reading an article about the television show Sex and the City. The article pointed out that New York City was one of the characters. That stuck with me. I look at the camp Woodlands as one of the characters in Summer Husband.

 

Relationships, whether friends or romance, are heightened at a sleepaway camp because you are living and working together in a bubble that is 24 hours a day for eight consecutive weeks.

 

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify to you?

 

A: Originally, I wanted the book to be titled Camp Fires - two words - because of the underlying fires throughout the book: Lori can’t build a fire, she almost sets her room on fire, campfire karaoke and the fireplace scene and the heat between Teddy and Lori.

 

But I was told that Summer Husband places the book directly into the romance genre, whereas Camp Fires would be confusing and misspelled.

 

But I’m extremely happy that I chose Summer Husband. I thought it was relatable; many people have had someone they work with that they become close to and consider their work wife/husband.

 

Q: The author Nicola Harrison called the book a “warm, hopeful story of friendship, love, and rediscovery...” What do you think of that description?

 

A: Let me start with how flattered I am that Nicola agreed to read Summer Husband and give that spot-on blurb. She’s talented storyteller and blurb writer. Her fourth book, The Island Club, came out in April.

 

Sleepaway camp is when you discover yourself. For the first time your parents aren’t with you. You have to figure out who you are by yourself and during those eight weeks you make friendship that will stick with you for the rest of your life. It’s also a time for exploring your sexuality, it’s not unusual to have your first kiss at camp.

 

This is all happening to Lori, but as an adult who had never went to sleepaway camp. She rediscovers the person she lost when she became a wife and mother. She finally gets to have camp BFFs, and she gets her first camp kiss at the age of 39.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am up to my neck in lake water finishing a sequel to Summer Husband with the hope that one day my books will become a television series. I can picture it easily. I hope the reader will be able to also.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I am enjoying this chapter in my life. Being retired. Writing. Playing with my grandchildren. And being part of the writing community.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

May 20

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
May 20, 1882: Sigrid Undset born.

Q&A with Kim Sherwood

  

 

 

 

Kim Sherwood is the author of the new novel Hurricane Room, the third in her Double O trilogy, based on Ian Fleming's iconic James Bond character. She is also a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Edinburgh.  

 

Q: Hurricane Room is the third in your Double O series--what inspired the plot of this novel?

 

A: In Hurricane Room, the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance—US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand—develop an artificial intelligence programme known as Panopticon that harnesses the power of Q, MI6’s quantum computer, to spy on the world.

 

However, Colonel Mora, leader of terrorist organisation Rattenfänger, has plans to hijack Q and blind the West. Johanna Harwood (003) has freed James Bond from brutal captivity at Mora’s hands, and the Double O section need his help to bring down a traitor, but Bond no longer trusts his team – or himself.

 

The original seed for the plot was a conversation I had with someone peripheral to the intelligence world, who shall remain confidential, or else they’ll have to kill me…

 

After that, a significant turning point was discovering the work of Trevor Paglen, who makes art using spy satellites and underwater internet cables.

 

Visiting Bletchley Park was another key source of inspiration, and the legendary World War Two code-breaking site features as the location for a big set piece in the novel.

 

But ultimate credit goes to Ian Fleming himself. It was a throwaway line from Bond to M in Moonraker that triggered the start of the novel.

 

Fleming writes a scene where Bond sprinkles pepper on his vodka and says: “It’s a trick the Russians taught me that time you attached me to the Embassy in Moscow.” We hear no more of this period in Bond’s life, and Hurricane Room is my attempt to fill the gap.

 

Q: What initially inspired you to write the series, and how would you describe the relationship between your books and Ian Fleming’s original James Bond character? 

 

A: I am a lifelong Bond fan and getting the commission from the Fleming estate to expand the world of 007 was quite literally a dream come true. I first read Fleming when I was 12 and he had a seismic influence on me as a writer.

 

My Bond is Fleming’s Bond, with his experiences, passions and problems, but transposed from the 1950s to the 2020s, which means finding viable contemporary explanations for his mid-century psyche.

 

That meant looking to his past—as an orphan, a widower, a man who loses the two great loves of his life, driven by willpower and devoted to a cause—to explain why he can’t commit to staying alive, let alone a relationship.

 

Q: Did you need to do any research to write the book, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you?

 

A: A ton! I’m a very research-inspired writer, that’s my joy. I was surprised to learn that cloud data centres are often built inside hollowed-out mountains to keep the servers in cool darkness. If anything cried out to be a Bond villain’s lair…

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: The emotional heart of the novel is Bond’s relationship with Harwood. The pair have been lovers, lost everything, and now must learn to trust again. I hope the conclusion of Harwood’s arc stays with readers.

 

I’ve also tried to write Bond as he’s never been seen before—in his mid-20, pre-Double O status, and his mid-40s, broken and scarred. I hope readers come away with a new angle on this beloved character.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’ve stepped into the world of screenwriting and I’m working on a few shows in the action-thriller genre. I’m also writing my next novel, which bridges my love of literary historical fiction and spy fiction.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m pregnant, due end of June – so Hurricane Room is set to come into the world a month before our baby does! It feels like an exciting and momentous way to end the trilogy.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Susan McGuirk

  

 

Susan McGuirk is the author of the new novel Dear Missing Friend. She has worked at HBO and Anthology Film Archives, and she lives in New York City. 

 

Q: You’ve said that an inspiration for your new novel came from your own family history--can you say more about that?

 

A: In a sense Catherine found me, not the other way around. While doing family research like so many people, I came upon an advertisement her husband Michael placed searching for her.

 

It wasn’t until I happened upon another advertisement placed by him four years later, still looking for Cath, that my imagination went into overdrive. Why didn’t she answer him? Was she alive? Why did he use her maiden name in the ads? A story was born.

 

The settings were places the characters actually lived, and I researched their travels and pursuits to follow the tale wherever it led me.

 

Q: Why did you decide to write an epistolary novel?

 

A: I spent years working in film programming for television and a museum. I read a lot of scripts and felt comfortable with dramatic writing. I’m also a big theater fan, so dialogue and images are how I thought about stories. When I had my own to tell, letter writing just seemed the natural way to express my penchant for dialogue.

 

Q: The Midwest Book Review’s review of the novel says, “McGuirk creates a powerful foundation for a story that embraces many elements, from history to mystery, using Catherine’s strengths and character to bring this era to life.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: My first thought was being grateful for the kind words. I did try to remain faithful to the time period and tried to stay as accurate as possible. My editor became exasperated at times with me insisting on mid-1800s usage. For instance, they did not use the word “work” for employment, using “labor” or “trade” instead.

 

Much of what Catherine endures is directly related to her place in history, so it was a natural adversary for her. The same problems she had are still with us, like prejudice against immigrants and women, but it was as though they were on steroids then.

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: The title is based on the Missing Friends column that was syndicated to newspapers nationally. It was where Irish people placed advertisements looking for lost relatives and friends in the new world. Michael used it twice looking for Cath, and his sister to find him. The “dear” was to signify the epistolary genre.

 

A hundred and fifty years ago, our lifespans were much shorter. Loss was a common occurrence, as medicine was primitive and indoor plumbing virtually nonexistent. As lives went along loved ones became missing, especially mothers giving birth and vulnerable children. There was a certain degree of expectation and acceptance of this – it was a different way to behold life from how we see it now.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I want to continue the story with a couple of characters in the next generation.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I’m very excited for my pub day on May 19 for Dear Missing Friend. Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you and for the thoughtful questions, Deborah.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

Q&A with Amy Friedman

  

 

 

Amy Friedman is the editor of the new collection A Secret Chord: Poetry, Stories & Art. It features the work of teenagers who participate in the POPS and PATHfinder Clubs for young people affected by incarceration, detention, or deportation. Friedman is a criminal justice activist and co-founder of POPS, and she is based in Los Angeles. 

 

Q: What inspired this new collection of poetry, stories, and art?

 

A: At The PATHfinder Club (www.thepathfinderclub.org), we are committed to annually publishing a collection of works created by the youth we serve—teens and young adults whose lives have been altered as a result of incarceration, detention, or deportation.

 

And so, the start of a new school year was initially the inspiration for A Secret Chord.

 

Each year, as soon as we release a title, we open the door to submissions for the next year’s collection. Submissions come in slowly, and as they do, I read the poetry, the stories, the essays, the first-drafts and second; I study the paintings, drawings, collages, and other works of art.

 

And each year I’m struck by the marked differences that seem to reflect the mood of the nation and the rumblings of the world all around us, and that mood that colors the work is how I discover the theme.

 

In 2024/25, as work poured in, I kept hearing music, feeling a rhythm, sensing a collective composition emerging. By the time we neared deadline, this year’s theme was vividly clear.

 

Q: How was the collection’s title chosen, and what do you see as the connection to singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen?

 

A: The title came directly from the theme. Most people know Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah, even if they don’t know that it is Leonard Cohen who wrote the song because it has been covered by so many disparate artists—from Willie Nelson to Jeff Buckley, from Brandi Carlile to Yolanda Adams, and so many more.

 

Two things sparked the title of this collection.

 

First, the creators’ works kept playing music that rolled through my mind. The connection is less to Cohen himself than to that idea evoked in the line he wrote (and sang): “I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord…”

 

The extraordinary work by these young people felt like altogether they created a secret chord with their truths revealed, the melody of their many different, distinct voices, the rhythms of their language, and the heartbeat of their passions.

 

When I saw Ruby Pena’s photograph of the bird on a branch, once again Cohen’s words sounded from his "Bird on a Wire." That’s when the book coalesced, in a kind of magical moment that happens just once in a blue moon.

 

Q: What do you see as the importance of creative work at a challenging time in this country?

 

A: In a world drowning in misinformation and disinformation and the cruelty spreading of lies about our immigrant population, it is vital that we amplify true stories and nurture the abilities of young people to trust themselves and to use their innate talents, [and to] use art-making to better understand themselves and each other and to share those true selves with the rest of us.

 

As dark as these times so often feel, in the creative spaces that are these clubs, there is tremendous light and strength.

 

This is more than ever a moment when we all need to be creative in whatever ways we are able—to bring our best selves to each moment, and to support our youth in their creative and intellectual endeavors. Truth telling is cleansing; creating something out of nothing is inspiring.

 

I think of the recent moonwalk—the joy nearly everyone in the country felt as we followed the astronauts seeing what no human eye had ever before seen. That revelatory moment, just knowing that this was possible, healed and inspired something in nearly all of us. That is what creating does.

 

And creating forges connection. We see that in the clubs, and in these books. Everyone who has ever the TPC/POPS collections has found one or 10 or 20 pieces that seem say precisely, in words or visuals, precisely what that reader needed to hear and thus makes that reader feel less lonely.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the collection?

 

A: Joy and a deeper understanding of how very wise, deep, honest, and resilient these teens are. I hope that with that understanding, readers will experience the pleasure those of us who work with these young people experience—the hopefulness about our future; the curiosity to know more; and an inexplicable, invigorating relief.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Two things.

 

We are working on our 2027 release. The deadline has just passed, and I’ve just discovered the theme—and title, and cover—of next year’s book. For the moment, I’m keeping it a secret.

 

We are also working on putting together a collection based on the Best-Of from our earliest books that were self-published, between 2013 and 2019, prior to Out of the Woods Press (outofthewoodspress.com), which has published these collections ever since it was established in late 2019.

 

Separate from The PATHfinder Club but inclusive of some of the youth we work with at TPC, I’m working on a project I launched in December 2025, All-American Story (All-AmericanStory.com).

 

Each week on Substack (ourallamericanstory.substack.com), we publish true stories, artwork, music, and other creative works created by American immigrants, and 1st- and 2nd-gen Americans. So far, a number of young people who were previously published in our anthologies have been, and are about to be, published.

 

All-American Story will also be doing LIVE performances across the country. Our Live performances launched in Los Angeles on April 26 at The Wende Museum. I trust many more of these amazing young people will be published by AAS.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Only this: The immigration raids have traumatized so many of the young people we work with, and their strength, their ability to continue to go to school despite their terror and sorrow and losses mounting is astonishing. I hope everyone will buy these books and if they love something they read, send a letter to the writer c/o publisher@outofthewoodspress.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Amy Friedman. 

Q&A with Patricia A. Billingsley

  

 

 

Patricia A. Billingsley is the author of the new book Lorca in Vermont: The Spanish Poet and His American Lover. She lives in Delaware and in Massachusetts.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Lorca in Vermont?

 

A: It all began almost 20 years ago, when I picked up Ian Gibson's seminal biography of Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), a Spanish poet whom I knew almost nothing about.

 

Fortunately, Gibson’s comprehensive account of Lorca’s eventful life and tragic death included a short description of his unlikely friendship with a young Vermont poet named Philip Cummings in the late 1920s.

 

As Gibson explained, the two first met in Spain in 1928, then spent 10 days together in Vermont the following August during Lorca’s summer break from his studies at Columbia University in New York City.

 

Gibson’s version of the story seemed straightforward, but it left me with a host of unanswered questions I couldn’t get out of my head: Who exactly was Philip Cummings and where did he come from in Vermont? What drew him to Spain in 1928 and how did he get there? Most importantly, how did he meet Lorca and how did they become friends?

 

I started searching for answers to these questions very casually at first, but as I began to learn more about both men, I became intrigued by the mismatch between the prevailing view of their relationship and the information I was finding.

 

Many Lorca scholars seemed to treat Cummings as nothing more than an avid fan of the poet, and the Vermont episode as a completely inconsequential time in Lorca’s life, but it became increasingly clear to me that there must be more to the story.

 

I began to suspect that Cummings and Vermont had played a far more significant role in Lorca’s life and work than was commonly assumed, and I resolved to follow every clue and connection I could find that might help me better understand what had happened between them.

 

Q: How would you describe the relationship between Lorca and Philip Cummings?

 

A: Lorca and Cummings were two young, gay men with much in common when they first met, but they were at very different points in their lives when they reunited in Vermont in August 1929.

 

Lorca was 31 years old and already well-established as one of Spain’s most important young poets. But even after several painful, unrequited attempts to find a man who shared his desire for a sustained romantic attachment, he still held out hope that such a relationship was possible.

 

Cummings, however, was only 22; he had just finished college and was eagerly anticipating his move to a new city and the start of his teaching career. While he treasured his friendship with Lorca and enjoyed their sexual encounters, he had no interest in long-term commitment or in challenging social conventions as part of a same-sex couple. 

 

As Lorca gradually came to terms with their fundamental differences, he expressed his deep sense of loss and disappointment in the only safe way he knew, through his poetry.

 

Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: I started my research by reading every book and article I could find about Lorca and Cummings, but soon realized I’d have to dig deeper.

 

I began searching for relevant original source documents in archival collections across the United States and Spain, and was able to visit many of those archives in person.

 

I talked with Lorca scholars and biographers who had known Cummings personally, several of whom gave me unpublished materials they had never shared with anyone else.

 

And I spent as much time as I could in the places where Lorca and Cummings had been together, especially northern Vermont.

 

The most surprising thing I learned was the importance of Lorca’s time in the Catskill Mountains of New York State to the story. I knew that Lorca had traveled to the Catskills to visit friends immediately after he left Vermont, and wrote multiple poems during his stay there.

 

But it was only when I started examining how the mood and content of those poems reflected Lorca’s experiences in the Catskills that I began to see how they also revealed the longer-term impact of his time with Cummings.

 

Q: How would you describe Lorca’s legacy today?

 

A: Lorca was only 38 years old when he was executed by Nationalist forces in Spain in August 1936, but even now, 90 years after his death, he remains an iconic literary and cultural figure in Spain.

 

In addition, his poems, plays, and essays continue to attract readers and inspire writers, musicians, and social activists outside the Spanish-speaking world. For example, Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen credited his teenage discovery of Lorca's poetry for his own decision to become a poet, and to name his daughter Lorca.

 

In 2009, Lorca was one of the first 20 people awarded a permanent plaque on San Francisco's Rainbow Honor Walk, a city landmark that honors men and women whose lives have inspired greater tolerance and social change.

 

In 2016 and 2017, Simon Stone’s award-winning adaptation of Lorca’s play Yerma enjoyed wildly successful runs in London and New York. And in 2020, the New York Public Library included Lorca's Poet in New York on its list of the 125 books that best embody the city and its people.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on a series of short essays on topics related to the book. Some are about various people and places mentioned in the book that I want to explore in greater detail. Others are about the many unexpected connections, coincidences, and discoveries that happened over the course of my research, a series of events that inspired me to continue even when I had no idea what might result.

 

For more news about current and upcoming book-related publications and events, please see my website: www.lorcainvermont.com.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I began this project knowing almost nothing about my subjects, only that I wanted to understand more about their lives and their relationship. I simply followed the story wherever it led, with no preconceptions about what I might find.

 

I encourage others to do the same, to pay attention when something about a historical account seems illogical or incomplete, and see where your curiosity takes you!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb 

May 19

 

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
May 19, 1930: Lorraine Hansberry born.