Bookpleasures.com welcomes as our guest Charles Souby author of A View From The Borderline: A Collection of Short Stories. Charles is also the author of three novels, Winifred, A Shot of Malaria, and A Long Time Gone.

His short stories have appeared in The Saturday Evening Post Online, Story Teller Magazine, and Opening Line, and his poetry can be found in 5 Poetry Magazine, Bohemian Magazine, and the California Quarterly Review.

Born and raised in Chicago, he has lived in San Francisco and Alaska, and worked as a radio broadcaster, improv actor, and folk musician. He lives in Kappa, Hawaii.   

Norm: Good day Charles and thanks for participating in our interview.

 Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your stories, poems and books? What inspires you?

 

Charles: It’s a difficult question to answer; I guess I would say it’s an internal passion. To some extent I’m attracted to social satire and life’s unnecessary suffering as the result of self seeking but I’m also deeply interested in love and spiritual awakening; whatever that may mean to me at the time. I love discovering and developing characters.

Norm: What's the most difficult thing for you about being a writer? 

Charles: Often the actual writing process is like a purging of sorts and I find it really difficult. I will procrastinate or simply write a few sentences and walk away. On the other hand I love editing my work. It’s like being a sculptor. 

Norm: What did you find most useful in learning to write? What was least useful or most destructive? 

Charles: To free-write and accept whatever comes out without judgment. It is an essential factor in my process. Much of what I think is awful as it comes out turns out to be the source of my best work.

The most destructive practice for me is to try and force symbolism or “meaning” to a piece of work. I need to let the writing speak for itself. It often speaks to me as much or more than to the public and I have to accept that if it’s something I’m not happy with. I don’t have to present everything I like. 

Norm: Do you worry about the human race? 

Charles: Not worry, there is no solution in that, but I am concerned about the hatred and divisions in this world and the incredible obsession with consumerism and money. It is killing us as a species and all our problems are based on those misdirected instincts and fears. On the other hand I believe life itself will survive even if humans don’t – both here on earth and throughout the universe. It is ubiquitous as is consciousness which is the source of all life and being. 

Norm: What do you consider to be your greatest success (or successes) so far in your writing career? 

Charles: I love A Shot of Malaria but am very proud of this work and my newest novel, A Long Time Gone which is awaiting publication. I believe I’ve created sympathetic (though flawed) characters in both novels who, in different ways, face the desperation and unsatisfactoriness of living in today’s world. The latter discusses the environment from 1982 and the beginnings of the end of the “natural” world. 

Norm: What has been your greatest challenge (professionally) that you’ve overcome in getting to where you’re at today? 

Charles: Marketing. It is not my forte. I’m an artist first, and self-promoting comes very difficult for me. 

Norm: In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of writing short stories? As a follow up, what do you believe makes a good short story?

Charles: Short stories typically need to contain a full story arc and that is complicated to develop and complete successfully in a short work. The characters need to be developed enough to allow the readers to be affected and/or changed by what happens to them in the end.

The making of a good short story is too broad and complicated to dissect. There are as many good writing styles and practices as there are good writers. 

Norm: What would you like to accomplish as an author that you have not? 

Charles: To know I’ve reached and affected a large number of readers and either made them happy or shed light on the world for them. We each have our niche and point of view and the ability to share that with others and be open to others’ perceptions/perspectives is the greatest opportunity in human relations. To paraphrase the rock band the Grateful Dead, we are all the Eyes of the World. We each have a piece of the puzzle. Writing is my way of sharing that. 

Norm: What are your thoughts as to why people read short stories?

Charles: They are quick and easy ways to digest literature. Some great writer whom I can’t remember said, “a novelist is a failed short story writer, and a short story writer is a failed poet.” 

Norm: What do you hope will be the everlasting thoughts for readers who finish reading, A View From The Borderline: A Collection of Short Stories?

Charles: Their thoughts about it probably won’t be everlasting but I hope they think back on all the quirky and often sweet characters and smile and feel they generally know humans a little better. 

Norm: Where did the title A View From The Borderline come from and what does it mean?

Charles: It is the subtitle to the short story, “Christa’s Case.” Without spoiling anything it is a veiled reference to borderline personality disorder. 

Norm: I understand that for many years you struggled with addiction. How did this influence, if it did, the writing of your short stories? Is there much of you in any of these stories?

Charles: In many ways my experiences have taught me that we are all addicts and drug addiction is simply an extreme example of that addiction much like Vienna was for Freud when he began his practice of psychoanalysis. It warps our perceptions and creates an illusory world that is informed by our most desperate wants and fears rather than accepted at face value. Unlike my other books, nothing in A View From the Borderline directly discusses addiction but I think it is in the subtext of several of the stories. 

Norm: Where can our readers find out more about you and A View From The Borderline?

Charles: from my WEBSITE. It also contains a link to my blog, which contains several of my poems. 

Norm: What projects are you working on at the present?

Charles:More short stories and poetry and beginning a sci-fi novel that I don’t know if I’ll finish. 

Norm: As this interview comes to an end, what question do you wish that someone would ask about your writing, but nobody has?

Charles: About the relationship between my writing and improv acting which I did in San Francisco for 15 years, but it would be a full conversation in itself. 

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Thank you!

Follow Here To Read Norm's Review of A View From The Borderline: A Collection of Short Stories