Behind The Book
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Select from the choices below to delve deeper into ONE SEPTEMBER MORNING.
ONE SEPTEMBER MORNING Q & A
Interview with Rosalind Noonan (11/2008)
What first sparked the idea for ONE SEPTEMBER MORNING?
There was a gut-wrenching moment in my local coffee shop in September, 2004. I had moved from New York City to the Pacific Northwest a few months before that, and I was still feeling tender from the terrorist attacks of 9-11. The conversation moved to recent news events, including the war in Iraq, where the death toll of U.S. soldiers had reached one thousand that week.
“One thousand . . .” A friend of mine shrugged it off. “It’s not really that high.”
I was aghast. How could this normally kind person minimize the deaths of others with such ease and alacrity? Whether or not he approved of American involvement in Iraq, did he really think one thousand lives were dispensable?
That got me started. I’m an advocate of non-violent solutions, but I also have the utmost respect for people who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. I grieved the loss of those soldiers, Americans trying to do the right thing, lives ended prematurely. My heart ached for the families of those one thousand service members as I tried to imagine their grief and pain, one thousand times twelve, times twenty, times fifty. . . .
That day I knew I wanted to write a story that lent support and paid tribute to people who had chosen to serve our country in the military, both the soldiers and their families. I wasn’t sure precisely what the storyline of characters would entail, but my creative search started there.
Were any of these characters based on you or people you know?
A piece of me exists in every character I write. To do a character justice I need to get under her skin for awhile, imagine a typical day in his life, and identify her dreams or his worst fears, even if those things never come to fruition in the story. That said, a writer has to use what she knows and feels as a springboard and launch the imagination from there. I could feel Abby’s pain, though I was never married to a soldier. I have not worked as a journalist or visited Iraq, so I had to incorporate research and imagination to create Flint’s experience as an embedded reporter.
Sometimes, for a minor character, I’ll use a friend’s name and one or two personality traits. For example, while reading over the proofs, I noticed that I used the childhood nickname for one of my husband’s friends – Killer Kelly – when referring to one of John’s football buddies. We never meet the character in the book, but I did crack a smile when I saw the reference.
Was John’s character inspired by Pat Tillman, who left a career in professional football to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces?
When I started writing ONE SEPTEMBER MORNING there wasn’t a lot of information available about Pat Tillman – which was frustrating for me. I couldn’t get the facts – probably because the truth was still hidden at that point in time – but I was alarmed by witnesses’ accounts of his death in Afghanistan and moved by the shining purpose that drove the man. I tried to capture Tillman’s commitment to doing the right thing – that was a source of inspiration for me. Also, by making John Stanton a celebrity it helped raised the profile of the incidents within the novel, raising the stakes.
In the years since, more of the details of Pat Tillman’s death have been revealed, in large part thanks to the steadfast persistence of his mother Mary and his brother Kevin, who served in Afghanistan with Pat. Some of them correspond to the plot of my novel, others diverge. From everything I’ve read, I admire the diligence of the Tillman family, who pursued the truth despite many obstacles. A few readers have asked me why I didn’t contact the family and try to tell Pat Tillman’s story, which is rich and moving and heroic in its own rite. The truth is, I’m a fiction writer, not really worthy or experienced enough to do his biography justice.
The villain of the novel is absolutely chilling. How did you come up with his character?
My husband expressed interest in a nonfiction book he was reading called The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout, which I snagged as soon as he was finished. Although nonfiction is not usually my thing, I found this book riveting, well-documented, well-researched, and yet insightful and entertaining. As I tend to look for the best qualities in a person and I want to believe that humans are a benevolent race, Ms. Stout’s work helped me understand that there are people in the world who have a completely different moral compass – or none at all. She defines a sociopath as a person who does not feel guilt or remorse, a person who would kill to reap some personal benefits as long as he thinks he can get away with it. This profile of a sociopath stuck with me as I was fleshing out the villain of One September Morning.
After I read Ms. Stout’s book, I realized I had come dangerously closed to a few sociopaths during my lifetime. Only a few, but even one is enough, don’t you think? It’s a very creepy thought.
How do you approach the process of writing a novel?
Since I was fired up with an overall idea for this book, certain scenes came to me right away – such as Abby opening her door to two soldiers who notify her that her husband has died in combat. Other scenes eluded me until I was doing rewrites.
As I was writing, I was very pleased with the way certain characters came alive, particularly the Stanton family. I enjoyed writing Madison’s defiant, youthful voice. Jim Stanton’s point of view and backstory grew richer with my research of the Vietnam War. And Noah Stanton’s story was a gift. There was the obvious juxtaposition to the lives of his father and brother, but beyond that Noah’s voice was strong in my ears. I had to work a little harder with Sharice, who’s a bit of a control freak, but by the end of the writing process I was feeling her pain, too.
When I first had an idea, I sent my editor a one-page story pitch or concept, which he thought was worth pursuing. Then I developed it into an outline, a rather detailed chapter by chapter description that ran over fifty pages. Once the outline was approved, I began the actual writing, which also involves some expansion.
For example, the outline included an otherworldly element that had John actually speaking to Abby in a ghostly voice, warning her about the man who was trying to hurt her. My editor advised me to take this out – sage advice – as he thought it gave away too much of the story and might be a little weird in its actual execution. On the other hand, in the outline Jim Stanton didn’t have much of a backstory or a voice, so as I was writing I explored his past and gave him some scenes of his own that tied into John’s story. Of course, the novel varies from the outline. In the end, the outline is a framework – a road map for what becomes an amazing adventure, but a road map, nonetheless, so that the publisher and the writer share a sense of where the book is going.
The book immerses us in the lives of military families. Were you an army brat as a kid?
My father served in the Signal Corps, but he was a civilian by the time I was born. When I was in fourth grade an army family moved on our block, and I quickly befriended the Captain’s daughter Julie, who was a year older than I was. Their family of nine had just come from an assignment in Panama, and the neighborhood kids were mystified by such an exotic background. In the ensuing years Julie and I became best friends, and I fell into her family. I worried when her father was deployed to Vietnam. Her mom took us everywhere, so I was exposed to activities on the local army base. I think there’s a reference in the book to getting out of the pool for TAPS at Fort Hollabird, which is where we used to go swimming on those steamy Maryland summer days.
Then, when I was in high school, my father took a position with the Department of Defense, working outside Stuttgart, Germany. Although our family lived in a small farming town, we were allowed certain military privileges at the military bases– the commissary and PX, the Officers’ Club, the on-base movie theaters featuring films that were showing in the States, and subsidized APO mail. My siblings and I attended the American school on base. During the summers I worked in the library at Patton Barracks and for the Red Cross, which had a presence on base to serve soldiers and assist in international communications. It was a rich experience, diminished only by the fact that I was a senior in high school, and an extremely introverted individual!
How has your research for One September Morning changed the way you view daily news stories?
First, I cannot allow myself the luxury of not reading about the developing situation in Iraq or walking away from the TODAY Show when they’re doing a segment involving an American soldier or combat situations overseas. By nature, I have always been a news wimp, preferring to avoid stories that are disturbing or unpleasant, and I have had to overcome that secret desire to live in a bubble.
My research has also diminished any desire I might have had to be a journalist. I worry for any people venturing into war zones and unstable nations. I held my breath when Meredith Vieira traveled to China to cover the 2008 earthquake. Any longings I once had for international adventure are now lost to a latte and a good book by the fire!
Who are some of the authors you admire? What are some of your favorite reads?
I’m smiling because recently I was asked that question by someone I’d just met at a party and my first answer was that I love everything by Anna Quindlen. She turned to me, grabbed both my arms, jumping up and down and shouting: “Yes! Yes!” I was right with her; we spoke the same language, having lost and found ourselves in Ms. Quindlen’s fiction and non-fiction work. Rise and Shine, Blessings, Black and Blue, One True Thing – Anna Quindlen’s novels captivate me from beginning to end. My only complaint is that she doesn’t write enough.
Other writers that get me in trouble because I cannot put their books down are Lolly Winston, Lisa Jackson and Nora Roberts. I admire Jodi Picoult’s love of a controversial dynamic, and Alice Hoffman’s ability to portray the spiritual and otherworldly as organic facets of life. Their work entertains and pulls the reader into their stories through their characters. These writers really get inside a character’s skin. I’m in awe of their talents.
ONE SEPTEMBER MORNING READING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
These questions are suggested to enhance your reading group’s discussion of One September Morning.
1) If you had been in Abby’s position at the beginning of the novel, would you have pursued the truth, even if it meant defying the U. S. Department of Defense? What would you have done differently?
- 2) How does Sharice’s relationship with her daughter evolve throughout the course of this story, from the scene in which we meet Madison at the protest to the courtroom scene at the end of the novel?
- 3) Do you think Abby will succeed as a psychologist? Why or why not?
- 4) In the novel, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 had a profound effect on the lives of John, Abby and Flint. Do you remember what you were doing the morning of September 11, 2001? What effects did the events of that day have on your life?
- 5) How would you describe Abby and Flint’s relationship? Did you root for them to be together?
- 6) The episode in which Emjay Brown melts down on his way home from the store was based on something that happened to a veteran of the war in Iraq. How would you suggest authorities in the military intervene so that veterans of this war do not suffer this degree of Post Traumatic Stress and alienation?
- 7) Noah’s early life choices were strongly influenced by his older brother John. Do you consider the choices Noah makes later in the novel brave or cowardly? Would John have approved?
- 8) Despite the years he spent suffering from Post Traumatic Stress, Jim Stanton was reluctant to consult a mental health professional. Do you think there is still a stigma connected to being in therapy or seeing a psychologist? Do you think it’s more difficult for men in law enforcement or the armed forces to ask for help?
- 9) Do you know anyone who is currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces? What would you tell your son or daughter if they were about to deploy to a hazardous overseas assignment?
- 10) By definition, a sociopath is a person who is incapable of feeling guilt or compassion, one who has a pervasive pattern of violation of and disregard for the right of others. Have you ever encountered such a person?
- 11) Discuss the novel’s ending. What do you think the future holds for Madison Stanton? For Sharice and Jim Stanton? Do you think Noah can find happiness outside his homeland? If John Stanton had survived combat in Iraq, what would his future have entailed? Forecast the future highs and lows of Abby and Flint’s relationship.
- 12) If you were producing One September Morning as a feature film, who would you cast as Abby and Flint? What actors should play the members of the Stanton family? How about Doc Jump? Emjay Brown?