A Not-So In-Depth Interview with Sofie Couch

Interviewed by Jayne Ormerod

As summer winds down I caught up with our founding blog-mother and cozy writer Sofie Couch.

Can you recommend a Beach Read?  

Does it have to be beach themed? If not, then pick up a copy of Pamela Morsi’s SIMPLE JESS. I picked up an older copy somewhere along the way to a writer’s conference and ended up skipping two whole workshops, because it totally sucked me in! (And I had paid good money for those workshops.) It’s an example of a well-written southern romance that will not disappoint.

What is your most cherished beach memory? 

Ahhh. We went to the beach every summer as a kid – until I was about 8 or 9 years old. Then my parents bought a little property on a tidal river and I can safely say, every weekend was an addition to a cherished memory. It was a place where a kid could be allowed out of her parents’ sight. By the time I was a pre-teen, I was allowed to take out the duck boat and paddle up and down the marshy inlets on my own. My older neighbor had a sailboat and he taught me how to sail on that river. So yeah, the beach vacations were all fine and well, but give me a good ol’ tidal estuary any weekend! (It’s also the setting of my books, MOONSHINE and ANGELS UNAWARES.) 

 With whom, (an author, living or dead), would you like to sip Mai Tais on Waikiki Beach?  

Well, if I have the power of resurrecting the dead, I’m not going to waste it on someone I don’t know.  I would bring back my neighbor at the river and we would sail to Yorktown and back and I would listen to his stories, because he was a great storyteller and I would hope for not a single puff of wind, so we’d just have to float back in on the tide – so it would take four and a half hours going out and four and a half hours coming back. (And I’d bring coffee and sandwiches, so we wouldn’t get sleepy.)

What was the worst non-writing job you ever had? 

So many to choose from. So little space. I guess the worst job I ever had would have to be working for a private postal pre-sorting company. It was in a basement room – no windows – and every morning you squared off against a teetering stack of boxes packed tight with envelopes – all of which had to be sorted by zip code. As incentive, for every three months that you worked, they gave a $.25/hour pay raise. (I didn’t last long enough to see my first raise.)

What’s your favorite quote or saying?  

“I wouldn’t wanna be a member of any club that would have someone like me as a member.” –Woody Allen quoting Groucho Marx in ANNIE HALL. I like to recall this quote whenever I’m faced with a rejection letter from an agent or editor.

Do you have a favorite song that you dance to (when no one is watching)?  

Heck. Go ahead and look! I have absolutely no shame, (much to the chagrin of my children). “If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it…” –Beyonce.

What are three of your favorite things?  

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles….” I have to admit, I’m a sucker for show tunes!

Can you tell us two secret vices?  

Food? Chocolate? I'm not very secretive about those. At the moment, I’m sort of addicted to free on-line classes. I’m registered for about ten of them, I just completed one and I’m starting two more in the next week… and I’m learning HTML through wikiversity right now. The beauty of it all is, though, they’re free, so if I decide I don’t like the class or I don’t have time to finish it, no biggie. If I make it through just half of the class, I’ve learned something more than I knew before starting the class.

What is your pet peeve?  

Those people who start free on-line classes and don’t finish them. They make me CRAZY!;o)

Let’s leave off with a brief bio.  

Brevity is not a strong point of mine, but I’m happy to ramble on. You just cut me off when I get too long-winded. I was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, but spent my weekends on the Poropotank River in Gloucester County, Virginia. I had an idyllic childhood and a pretty karmic adulthood. (Jinx.) I homeschool/unschool my two teens. I have a fabulous husband, a dog with way too much fur, and a psychotic cat. I enjoy home renovations, antiquing, and hearing a good story. I try to tell a half-way decent one. I love hearing from brilliant people at sofie@sofiecouch.com.

You can learn more about the life and books of Sofie Couch at: www.sofiecouch.com