Authors In The Media With Sarah Strohmeyer 

In my Q&A with author Sarah Strohmeyer we briefly discussed Sarah’s time as a newspaper reporter. In this Authors In The Media Q&A join us as we go more in depth discussing it! 

Q: Sarah in our Q&A when I asked if being a newspaper reporter helped with writing novels you wrote Being a reporter has helped and hindered in some ways. Helped because I got to immerse myself in so many murders, from finding a body on a trail to covering the trials of psychopathic killers. Hurt because we were trained back in the day to write pyramid style – most salient details first. I had to fight that tendency when I started writing novels. You want to entice the readers as an author, not hit them over the head with blunt facts at the start. What is your advice for anyone wanting to go into journalism/reporting as well as writing books on how to use journalism to help them without letting it hinder their fiction writing?

A: Interesting question! First, I’m glad to know jobs in journalism still exist. It’s a fabulous career if you’re into meeting lots of different people and diving into their stories. You need to write fast and clearly and ideally have the sense to know what’s a killer story from what isn’t. Ditto for writing commercial fiction. The problem is – and always is – time. How do you find the time to write fiction while earning a paycheck to write nonfiction? And that comes down to scheduling, discipline and finding a quiet spot for an hour, two hours, a day to write. Take all the skills you learned in journalism – an ear for dialogue, snappy banter, a good hook – and apply it to your fiction. The best part is the sloppy first (and sometimes 2^nd!) draft. Don’t overthink. Don’t rewrite the initial ten thousand words to death. Don’t worry about names. Just write, outline, think, write and write some more. Eventually, the mush will come together.

Q: What drew you into being a newspaper reporter? 

A: Well, to be fair, I grew up in a family of journalists. My father was the editor of a small daily newspaper in Bethlehem, PA, where he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1972. I got a lot of heat as his daughter in public school. He had a problem with the teachers’ union and that got me into trouble. So, I learned to grow thick skin. My mother was also a journalist when my parents met. However, back then you couldn’t have a married couple in the newsroom, so she stayed home until he left the paper. Then they moved to Alaska where she worked as a reporter in her 60s and loved it! I couldn’t think of any other profession I wanted, largely because I dreamed of becoming Mary Tyler Moore. (Much to my father’s horror.)

Q: I know every journalist/reporter’s story is different. Some apply for a job after they graduate high school, and others go to college to get a degree. Did you go to college or apply for a job? What was your experience like?

A: I started writing fluff pieces for pay in high school for a business promotional section. Later, I worked nights one summer taking copy (those were the days) and writing obits. So many obits. My university didn’t offer a journalism major, but I ended up being co-editor of the Tufts Observer. (Where I got in trouble for a controversial April Fool’s edition.) Largely because of the notoriety from that incident, I landed a fabulous summer internship at Long Island Newsday. The day I graduated from Tufts, I was covering a Rutgers University graduation for the now defunct Central New Jersey Home News. After that was the Cleveland Plain Dealer and then when my husband decided to go to law school in Vermont, the Valley News in Lebanon, NH, a really well written and well edited local newspaper.

Q: What wisdom have you learned as a journalist/reporter that you want all of us to know whether we go into the journalism career or not?

A: The biggest takeaway is that everyone, no matter how successful or modest, has an important story to tell. I remember when I was writing obits for the Plain Dealer, I got on this kick where I’d turn one or two obits into full features. Often, I chose housewives or house cleaners. And those were the most important stories I ever wrote. The simple housewife turned out to be a wicked seamstress. Or maybe she quietly took care of her vulnerable neighbors. The house cleaner turned out to be an immigrant who’d fled unimaginable danger. In other words, never dismiss someone because of how they keep a roof over their heads. Be open. Ask them about their experiences. Listen.

Q: Would you ever write a memoir about being a newspaper reporter before writing fiction? I know I would read it! 

A: Hah! Well, that’s nice to know. I was not the greatest reporter – the pull of fiction was too strong in me. I always wanted someone to do X or for Y to happen. Never did. I never solved the murder of a young girl who’d been abducted from a Cleveland suburb. My stories never resulted in a swing toward justice. So, I don’t think my career deserves a memoir, but thanks for asking!

Q: This is my favorite question to ask authors who are or used to be journalists! Can you give a list of people you’ve interviewed and investigated and talk about what those experiences were like? 

A: I don’t know about a list, but I do have favorites. I remember interviewing Margaret Atwood shortly after the Handmaid’s Tale was published. She lay catlike on a settee in Rutgers office holding court. (That was in the 1980s, long before the series.) Stands out as perhaps the most fascinating author I’ve ever met. We discussed the effect of topography on creativity. Mind blown.
I interviewed President Clinton shortly after he won the 1992 election and while sitting around with a bunch of other reporters, he slipped his hand under the table and squeezed my knee. There was something about him that was freakily mesmerizing. You had the feeling he’d remember you forever.
I once interviewed a murderer serving a life sentence in Trenton State Prison who contracted AIDS behind bars, though the State of New Jersey claimed this was impossible, that there were no IV drugs in the system. Right. That night, he tied sheets together and scaled down the wall of the prison into downtown Trenton. Called me later asking if I could get him medication. Scary.
Finally, I interviewed the delightful Richard Simmons. He was bubbly, positive and had so much fun. Years later, he sent me a note crowing about how much he loved the Bubbles series. Such a delightful soul gone too soon.  There have been plenty of others, but those stand out as my favorites. Thank you so much for this opportunity to write about being a reporter. Brought back a lot of memories!

Q: What are your favorite books, television shows and movies about journalists and journalism? 

A: All the President’s Men. Read it twice as a kid; saw the movie over and over. There as such gravitas in what Woodward and Bernstein were pursuing, such outrage among the public when their hard work shed light on a corrupt administration. Breaks my heart that were they to break Watergate today, no one would blink an eye.