Q & A with Summer Festival Speaker Cheryl Sonstein and San Diego Writers Festival
SDWF: Please tell us about Isabel.
CS: The story that became Isabel was originally written for VAMP (an acronym for visual audio monologue performance.) VAMP is a monthly storytelling show hosted by the group So Say We All. Each month there is a theme, 7 or 8 stories are selected, workshopped with a writing and performance coach, and then (pre-Covid) performed at the Whistlestop Bar in South Park. Back in September 2016 the theme was “When I’m 64″—aging, relationships, catchy songs, interpret as you wish. So I submitted a story called, “When I’m 88” about the elderly woman I cared for.
The real life Isabel is a now ninety-two-year-old French woman named Micheline, still very much alive and currently living at SeaBreeze in La Jolla. Our friendship was the basis for the story that eventually became the award-winning film Isabel.
SDWF: Which writers have influenced you the most?
CS: My favorite contemporary authors are Wally Lamb and Lionel Shriver. I’m currently reading Lamb’s The Hour I First Believed, which puts fictional characters in the aftermath of the very real Columbine shooting massacre. Favorite book of all time will always be Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar because she captures what it’s like to be a woman in this world in a way no one has done since.
SDWF: What writing resources (in San Diego, if appropriate) have been most helpful to you?
CS: Thursday Writers meets weekly (on Thursdays- get it) at LeStats in Normal Heights (now on Zoom in the Covid era.) Led by Judy Reeves and Steve Montgomery. Each week there’s a prompt, about 12 to 15 minutes to write, and an opportunity to share (no feedback or critique given.) The whole thing is only about an hour long. Great to see what comes out in such a short time that often leads to lengthier pieces.
Dime Stories at the Ink Spot in Liberty Station, second Friday of the month (now also virtual.) Founded by Amy Wallen, currently run by Carrie Danielson this is an open mic where the only rule is prose (no poetry), THREE minutes or less. An absolute personal favorite as I delight in the true personal narrative and an abbreviated time limit.
So Say We All and VAMP as mentioned previously
SDWF: How has storytelling changed your life?
CS: Well, the success of Isabel has been a real pleasant surprise. In 2017, So Say We All partnered with the SD Film Consortium for the True Film Con Challenge—the theme being True San Diego. Teams had sixty days to produce a film based on a true story from So Say We All writers.
My caregiving story, “When I’m 88,” was selected and became Isabel.
It went on to win the True Film Con Challenge, three San Diego Film Awards (of six nominations), including best writing AND an Emmy nomination. It screened in LA. I have a Best Writer award on my mantle. Quite hard to imagine being at a film premiere or accepting an award and later watching the moment on KPBS. Very humbling and amazing!
I’d like to take a minute to thank the amazing director and actors who brought the story to life because I’m really nothing without them: Jonathan Hammond, Cristyn Chandler, Carla Nell, Annie Hinton, Ryan Roach, and Tiffany Tang—to name a few. And I also want to thank a big champion of the film—Jodi Cilley, president of the San Diego Film Consortium.
SDWF: Thank you Cheryl!
