Q & A with Summer Festival Day Two Sponsor S. Kensington and San Diego Writers Festival

SDWF: What inspired you to write Just Another Girl on the Road? 

SK: We all carry emotional scars. My father brought his scars back from the war and kept them in a small cedar box. After he died, I opened the box. Amid the dog tags, and tattered letters, I found a woman’s white glove and an old news clipping about a WWII undercover operation. I decided to write a story about them.   

SDWF: What books are on your nightstand or stacked next to your bed? 

SK:  (loaded in my Kindle):  

Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh 

Things Can Only Get Feta by Marjory Mcginn 

Ballast Point Breakdown by Corey Lynn Fayman 

The Splendid and Vile by Erik Larson  

SDWF: What’s the last great book/play/poem you read? 

SK: An EXQUISITE and delicately written book: The Ink Dark Moon, Love Poems by Ono no Komachi and Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan. Translated by Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratani. 

My favorite poem from this collection is by Izumi Shikibu. It does not have a title, but begins: ‘In this world, love has no color—’  

SDWF: If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be? 

SK: Do not give up; things will get better. Believe in yourself. Be fearless in following your dreams.  

SDWF: What do you wish you’d known before you started out as a writer? 

SK: I have always written as a form of self -expression, even before it became my lifelong, joyful obsession. On deciding to write a book, I wish I’d known more about the marketing aspect—what a shock!!    

SDWF: What was the first piece of writing you shared with someone else? 

SK: I think it was in grade school and we were asked to write an imaginary story of being someone/something else. I wrote about being Bobby Muller’s left-side, rear molar. I had a crush on him and mistakenly thought this might make him more interested in me. 

SDWF: Where can we find your blog/website or any other online links (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)?  

SK: UK Author webpage:  https://cutt.ly/etEtSTk 

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/SKensington11  

Author email:  skensington.author@gmail.com 

 SDWF: Thank you!