Grows that Way got me in trouble the other night.
I was reading it in bed and kept laughing out loud and waking my partner up. I’m long past being a young adult but the original plot, feisty characters and fresh writing kept me reading — and stifling chuckles – until the wee hours of the morning.
Comox Valley author, Susan Ketchen, will launch her new book at the Muir Gallery this evening at 7 p.m..
Ketchen’s main character, Sylvia, is nearly 15 but looks like she’s eight due to Turner’s Syndrome. Being small makes her the perfect victim for bullying. But that’s not all that’s wrong with Sylvia’s life. Her parents aren’t getting along and grandpa’s bringing his new girlfriend to visit. A cousin has a mysterious disease and there’s a boy at school who makes Sylvia feel funny.
The only time Sylvia feels like everything’s right in her world is when she’s riding her horse, Brooklyn. But then they see something strange in the woods down by the river and, all of a sudden, trail rides aren’t so much fun anymore.
Although Grows that Way is the third in a series (Born that Way 2009 and Made that Way 2010), the book definitely stands on its own. But chances are, after you’ve read it, you’ll want to go back to book one and find out more. “Readers will want to spend as much time as they can in Sylvia’s world,” noted a Globe & Mail review of Made that Way.
In fact, the multi-generational cast of characters has spawned a new term that Oolichan Books calls family fiction. “I get emails from parents, grandparents and others who have bought a book for a young girl and end up reading it themselves and loving it,” says Ketchen.
Ketchen wrote her first short story in grade two, studied creative writing in high school with Jack Hodgins and later at the University of Victoria. But it wasn’t until she took a course at North Island College with writer Matt Hughes that she got serious about the craft.
“I wrote an adult novel and sent it off but when the publisher said they wouldn’t get back to me for three months, I thought, ‘I could write a young adult novel in that time,’” says Ketchen.
“I try to write a first draft of around 35,000 words quickly and with a minimum of editing,” she continues. “I aim for 1,000 words a day. Each morning I reread what I wrote the day before and go on from there.”
Then Ketchen goes over and over the manuscript reading parts of it to her husband, Mike. “Reading it out loud works well as it helps me catch all the repeated words and other things I normally wouldn’t notice.”
She edits the story until what she calls all the “cringe moments” are removed. At the same time, she adds detail and colour. “The most fun is when the magic of the creative process just happens,” she says.
Ketchen estimates it took eight drafts to fine tune Grows that Way and reach her goal of approximately 50,000 words.
When asked how she so aptly channels the thoughts and feelings of a 14-year old, Ketchen says she tries to remember how she felt at that age and also reflects on what the young people in her life are going through.
No matter what their age, Ketchen’s characters are a skillful blend of unique personality and quirky traits that everyone can recognize and relate to.
No doubt her 20 years as a marriage and family counsellor honed her observational abilities. “I don’t consciously draw on that background,” she says, “but I’m sure my training and the broad spectrum of people I met is an influence.”
“I get annoyed when I read fiction and it’s not psychologically accurate,” she adds. “I think authors do a disservice to their readers when they do that. It might create a dramatic situation but it doesn’t represent the way people really are.”
Ketchen’s no slouch when it comes to the horse part of the narrative either. She’s been riding since she was a youngster and is a member of the Comox Valley Dressage club. Ketchen and her husband share their rural acreage
with horses Huck and Lollipop, cats Archie and Cookie and several chickens.
And an animal training course in LA provided some interesting ways for her to interact with the animals.
To date she’s taught the dominant and formerly feral cat to let the other cat eat first. And the horses know the names of their various body parts, respond to yes and no flashcards, and Lollipop will even fetch. No wonder Ketchen’s stories are so genuine.
The book launch for Grows that Way takes place at the Muir Gallery, located at 440 Anderton near the Fifth St. bridge in Courtenay tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.. The event is sponsored by the Comox Valley Writers’ Society, Oolichan Books and Laughing Oyster Bookshop. Admission is free and includes refreshments.
Ketchen will also be signing books at Blue Heron Books in Comox on May 12 from noon to 2 p.m., as well as other locations outside the Valley.
Grows that Way (201 pgs., softcover) is published by Oolichan Books and retails for $12.95.
