Theres Nothing In This Book....

Penny Sansevieri:          Hello and welcome to the Fascinating Authors Radio Show and I am very pleased to have Paul Poundstone with us today.  Paula welcome to the show.

 Paula Poundstone:        Well thank you so much I'm so impressed with myself for being on a show called Fascinating Authors.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Well you are a fascinating author and you have the most incredible book Paula.  It's called There's Nothing in this Book That I Meant to Say and it is laugh out loud funny.

 Paula Poundstone:        That's so nice to hear.  It took a long time to write this book.  It took me something like nine year.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Nine years?

 Paula Poundstone:        Yeah.  You know I'm not a writer for a living and so I don't have sort of dedicated time you know to write and certainly one of the problems I wrote it by hand neatly.  That was another thing that slowed me down and as you well know my book is a series of biographies of towering historic figures and in the telling of their story I tell my own.  Therefore I had to research each figure and that slowed me up a bit as well.  Perhaps a fair amount of lack of self discipline might have been in there as well.

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Penny Sansevieri:

 Paula Poundstone:        I didn't know anything about Joan of Ark until I was wandering around a book store and looking for another you know character to biography and you know I found a book about Joan of Ark and well I know the name but I don't know anything about her at all.  Man, what a fascinating character.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Yeah.

 Paula Poundstone:        And so much like me in so many ways.  You know what would happen when I first sat down to write the book I made a deal with Crown the publisher and I think it was understood that it would be memoirish anyway and a funny book that was its number one goal was to entertain.  But I just felt so silly writing about myself it just seemed presumptuous because I hadn't died yet and I hadn't really done anything and so it just dawned on me one day I thought you know - I happen to have been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder a few years ago and one of the ways that manifest itself in me is that I cannot shut up for the life of me.  I can think about shutting up it's in my head all the time but I swear.  No matter what topic comes up it reminds me of something that happened to me once and of course I'm off and running again.

So as I sat one day staring at blank paper feeling foolish writing about myself it just dawned on me you know if I were to try to write about Abraham Lincoln I would not be able to shut up about myself and so that's exactly what I did.  The first chapter I ever wrote - it's not this way in the book it's in a different order but the first chapter I ever wrote was about Abraham Lincoln and it worked exactly like I thought it might which is that you know I no sooner told about Abraham Lincoln's mother dieing of milk disease before I thought gee my mother had a headache for a really long time.  You know then I would tell some things about my mother and then sort of get back to Abraham Lincoln as best I could.

 So when the reader puts it down they have read about seven towering historic figures and comprehensive biographies not you know not terribly detailed but more than one might know about some.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Yeah and how they relate to you.

 Paula Poundstone:        Well yes and the important part - how they relate to me you know.  There's Helen Keller - Helen Keller actually I had done a fair amount of reading about before I began this project and you know the parallel is there.  You know once again just leaped out - although thank goodness none of my children are blind and deaf.  My oldest daughter has astigmatism and doesn't listen.  So it's practically the same.

Penny Sansevieri:          You know when I first got your book I first just went to the chapter headings and you know I sat there and just laughed.  Well I've got my laughter for the day.

 Paula Poundstone:        Well that's so nice to hear.  They had to talk me into doing chapter headings.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Really.

 Paula Poundstone:        I didn't want to do anything that sort of like I said sort of - I don't know I didn't want to do anything that kind of kipped my hand about what you found when you began to read.  Then after I kind of you know struggled with them for awhile.  I figured out a way to do it that felt you know - that felt right.  I didn't want people - well of course when you promote the book and you explain to everybody what it is I suppose you've already kipped your hand but I don't know I just wanted the book to be kind of a surprise in a way.  It probably is somewhat surprising anyway because I don't think anybody - I think for example talking about Beethoven's mother it's fairly on tread ground.  That was one of the perks of doing it this way.

 Do you know who Laura Numeroff is that wonderful children's author?  She's wrote a series of books.  One is called If You Give a Moose a Muffin and one is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and when the moose first comes to this kid's house I guess the kid gives him a muffin and the moose wants some jam to go with it and I don't know the jam reminds him of his grandmother's farm so he wants to write a letter to his grandmother and the kid has to get him some stamps and the stamp reminds him of something else and on and on and on throughout the book and it's my life story.  I am the moose.  Everything just one thing after another - everything reminds me of something else and something else. 

 So that was when I tried to explain what I wanted to do to my book agent who I think just suddenly felt perhaps we had nothing in common.  I sent her a copy of If You Give a Moose a Muffin so that she would gather because really I've ripped off Laura Numeroff.  It's the truth. 

 Penny Sansevieri:          Well you've done it so well in this book because of what you created.  You created something that I frankly couldn't put down.

 Paula Poundstone:        That's nice to hear.

Penny Sansevieri:          Well because I wanted to see what the next sort of - where your mind was going to go next and where the next connection was going to be between you and these figures.

 Paula Poundstone:        If there were any.

 Penny Sansevieri:          How did you find - how did you plan on these people?  Did Abraham Lincoln just sort of jump out at you?

 Paula Poundstone:        Well he kind of did.  I mean I guess I was looking for - I had a curiosity about Abraham Lincoln.  It was really based on - I actually love reading biographies and I love history although I'm not an aficionado of either.  But one of the things that I am always wondering is how do people live life correctly.  You know and of course that no one does.  But you know there are some figures in our lives that were presented as though they did.  You know - I mean once somebody has a statute that big of themselves and they're on the penny you got to figure he did something right.  Yet when you read biographies of you know really classic figures like that - really legendary figures like that they don't generally tell you any foibles you know they don't generally say well the guy really messed up here.  You know or here is a great weakness of his or whatever. 

You know and now that information I mean somebody may again write a book about Lincoln and they may decide to sort of look for the cracks a bit more.  But the truth is there's not that information lying around.  You know those are not the sorts of things they recorded about people back then.  Whereas now if you go to retell somebody's history that's one of our contemporaries oh my Lord, it's the bulk of what they write weren't they terrible and didn't they do this wrong and do they do that wrong.  You know with Lincoln you know the closest they come is that some modern biographers have the nerve to say that he was depressed which just makes my blood boil every time I read that. 

 Well his son died, really an earlier love of his life died and he was the President during the Civil War - that's not depression.  Oh that Lincoln he just can't get it together.  That's legitimate unhappiness you know that's reaction.  So that drives me crazy when they do that.  But I did think that in terms for my purposes I did him first and then I was going to do some sort of - at one point I was even going to do Dr. Seuss but I realized that I - it's funnier if their more austere and if they're further away from us you know in terms of time line.  We only know these really - you now they sort of generalized facts about them. 

 Although some of them it's funny I mean to me Joan of Ark who when she was 12 years old heard voices that she believed to be the angels of God.  I did not read anywhere that I read even an inkling of a suggestion that she may have been schizophrenic and I think that cries out.  You know if she had lived nowadays she'd be downtown with lots of jackets on I think.  She happened to live in a time where if you say God is talking to you you know you're not a lunatic.  Because apparently God was awfully chatty back then.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Exactly.

 Paula Poundstone:        There's probably a very good chance she had schizophrenia would be my guess.  The other thing France was in such a mess that you know it didn't matter how big a nut case came forward if they said you know gee it's my calling to help out here people are like you know what give it a shot.

 Penny Sansevieri:          That's absolutely right.  Now we are so thrilled here in San Diego.  You are going to be coming to visit us on Thursday.

 Paula Poundstone:        I am.

 Penny Sansevieri:          You are right?

 Paula Poundstone:        Yeah.

 Penny Sansevieri:          How lucky are we.  You know what we never get any of the great stuff in San Diego I don't know for some reason they always overlook us.

 Paula Poundstone:        That's not true you got those big boats down there people come down there all the time.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Yeah I know but you know we're so excited about having you coming in here now you're gonna be here Thursday, right?

 Paula Poundstone:        I believe so yeah on Thursday night.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Now this is part of - I was looking at your travel schedule and wow I mean you're just everywhere.  How hard is that being a single mom and taking care of the kids and being you.

 Paula Poundstone:        We have one of those little cat doors so the kids are able to go in and out so that's a big burden off of everyone.  I think I mean I haven't really figured it out hour for hour and maybe I'm fooling myself but I'm gone about eight nights a month and I really - there would have to be an incredibly good reason for me to be gone even a minute more than that and they're not in a row it's you know a night here two nights there kind of thing throughout the month.  Then when I'm home which would be the remainder of the month I am you know I'm totally here.  I bring them to school I pick them up from school I take them to their gymnastics and I you know so I think it's probably about the same balance as any other working parent has to make. 

You know with the exception of the travel and that is a little bit grueling but we've kind of I don't know.  It's all my kids have ever known for one thing and you know we kind of have a rhythm - I've had the same babysitter for 12 years which is a great help.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Oh that's great.

 Paula Poundstone:        Yeah I'm really hoping that you know she can just remain satisfied to be my babysitter for the rest of her life.  I have a funny feeling that it really won't be fulfilling enough.  I try to encourage the children to be stimulating so she doesn't feel she needs to go elsewhere.  I tell them to talk about highly academic subjects so she doesn't notice the conversation is just with little kids.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Now are you doing any book tours along with the event list that you've got going on or?

 Paula Poundstone:        You know they're kind of co-mingled.  I haven't gone on an official book tour.  I go in book stores on each trip we have book stores come and sell the books at my shows which is really nice.  Yeah just sort of a mixture of the two because in fact I can't take like a separate period of time to go on the road to promote the book.  Actually this seems to work out pretty good anyways because I'm often promoting the book to people that would be interested in buying it as opposed to people that would wonder why I was talking to them.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Well and it's a great thing to sell these at your event because everybody should get a copy of this book.  I mean it is such a great insight into you and into these historical characters.

 Paula Poundstone:        Well that's so sweet of you I really appreciate it.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Yeah absolutely.  Any more books on the horizon nine years from now?

 Paula Poundstone:        Oh man just the other day I said to my book agent I said you know what do you think about a sequel because I'm always thinking about another character and another character that would be fun to do but I don't know I think I have to finish cleaning my room first.  Which I put off for the last couple of years and has you know.  Now my house looks like the one that my Aunt Stormy live in that whenever you went there you went geez how did she let it get like that?  Now I know.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Well we are really looking forward to having you coming into San Diego and you can get tickets at ticketmaster.com.  It's Thursday, February 22, 8:00 pm at Montezuma Hall and take a look at your website which will be linked off of the Fascinating Author's Page paulapoundstone.com.  It's fun.  It's a fun little trip into your world and they can ask your cat a bunch of questions which is great.  I have several of them lined up so you'll be getting those shortly.

 Paula Poundstone:        Great well you know Happy's available.  Better get her before she moves all the way into her declining years.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Yeah exactly. 

 Paula Poundstone:        She's starting to be a little cantankerous where you know you ask her a question and she doesn't answer right away.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Well she's getting her wish she's got her own web page her own Q&A I mean she's going to need a secretary.

 Paula Poundstone:        I know well my lizard Daisy, my Bearded Dragon lizard is about to have his own webcam so -

 Penny Sansevieri:          Really?

 Paula Poundstone:        Yeah, I'm really sorry about that.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Oh that woman has to bookmark your site and check back and see -

Paula Poundstone:        He's a thing of beauty and I know - I know there's a cheese wheel in England that's gotten a lot of attention that's a webcam.  Just a big wheel of cheese and when I heard about it I said well wait a minute.  If they can make a star out of a big wheel of cheese then why is my lizard hiding his light under a bush - bushel - excuse me not a bush.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Yeah that's exactly true, that's exactly true.  Well I will be looking forward to that.  Paula thank you so much. 

 Paula Poundstone:        See you in San Diego.

 Penny Sansevieri:          Okay, bye bye.

This interview was brought to us by FacinatingAuthors.com and Penny Sansevieri - thank you!

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