Where are you from?

I grew up on a farm between Emmetsburg and Graettinger, Iowa.

How long have you been writing?

Twenty-five years.

What do you write?

Mostly, I write short stories, but I do write some poetry. I have written a few novels (The River Road) but I’m still revising some of the others.

Tell us a little about your publisher and agent.

My publisher is New Rivers Press, an independent press that focuses on literary books. Bill Truesdale started  the press over 40 years ago in New York City and then moved it to Minneapolis. After his death, the press moved to the University of Minnesota at Moorhead. Al Davis is the Senior editor. Donna Carlson and Suzzanne Kelly are managing editors.

 I don’t have an agent.

How many books have you published so far? I have published over 50 short stories  and ten poems in literary magazines. I’ve published two books. The Egg Lady and Other Neighbors, a collection, won The Headwaters Literary Competition sponsored by New Rivers Press. The River Road: A Novel in Stories was published last winter also by New Rivers Press.

What is your writing day like?

I get up at five and try to write for an hour before I get ready for work. I teach full time at Briar Cliff University and am editor The Briar Cliff Review, a national literary/arts magazine. Sometimes I find an hour to write at work—but that is rare as I’m reading papers and manuscripts, grading papers and preparing for class.

Can you tell us how you found a publisher and/or agent?

I read Novel and Short Story Markets, Writer’s Digest, Poets & Writers, The Writer’s Chronicle, The Writer and Best American Short Stories for each year.  I study the markets and talk to a lot of writers.

Do you have anything that just came out?

Well, The River Road: A Novel in Stories just came out in large print and audio tape this summer. The paperback was released last November. It was just  named a finalist and won an Honorable Mention in the Nashville Book Festival Competition.

I just had a short story—Gertie and the Visitors– published in Frontiers: A Journal of Womens Studies.  I have two poems coming out in Connecticut Review and a story—Eddie Ellingson—Egg Carrier and Organizer, coming out in South  Dakota Review.

What are you working on now?

I’m revising four things—a collection called Somebody’s Got To Do It, and another collection called Limbo Babies. I’m struggling to restructure a novel called Our Father.  Also I have a book for the middle reader—The Secret of Sister Jerome, which was one of four finalists in the Marguerite DeAngeli contest. Am still tweaking that.  Ah, it never ends….

What would you do if a publisher asked you to change a major part of your story, like the ending? (Is it more important to get published or to be true to your story?)

 I’ve done that in the past and guess what, they still didn’t take it.

 Now I just keep writing and revising and running it by my Writing Group, a great group of writers.

 Do you have some words of wisdom for us unpubs?

 Oh, it’s hard.   I have done 10 books and the first 5 were my “practice” books.

 Get a writing group with good writers that you trust. You want honesty. You want them to help you become a better writer.

Thanks again Tricia for the interview. You can find out more information about Tricia on her website http://www.currans-sheehan.com/index.html .

Next time we’ll find out all about Sammy Sloth Sport Superstar.

If any of my readers are published authors who would like some help promoting their work, please contact me at vagruv@msn.com to make arrangements for your interview. 

Virginia