ABOUT SAVANNAH
Savannah was born and raised in Washington State on a small farm outside of Seattle. She grew up the oldest of three sisters, feeding chickens, riding horses, and running wild in the woods.
She completed her first novel (which eventually became ‘Antebellum’) at age 15. It was published online at Fictionpress, where it received the love and attention of thousands of reviewers. By 18 she had written five novels of varying genre and began to seriously pursue the representation of a literary agent. She signed with the Bradford Literary Agency in December 2008.
Savannah moved with her family to Illinois, then Alabama, where she met her fiance in an Enchanted Forest. No joke.
Savannah is currently living in Alabama, working, attending college, contract writing, and collaborating with her agent to publish Antebellum. She has her own freelance writing company, SJF Writing.
Savannah’s writing style is most heavily influenced by the vivid humanity and striking prose of Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, and the modern, non-rhyming poetry of former Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Chuck Palahniuk and David Sedaris are among her other favorite writers.
BOOKS: Rant by Chuck Palahniuk and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
IN-TEXT QUOTE: “Nuns go by, quiet as lust.” – Toni Morrison, in The Bluest Eye.
PERSONAL SYMBOLS: The bat, the possum kit, and the butterfly.
WRITING QUOTES:
When I am lonely for the presence of the others
I read and rehearse their quotes about the craft
and soon find myself seated around a campfire with the Greats.
They all talk over each other, scrambling to give me advice:
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write!”
Ernest Hemingway, a purist, always begins shouting.
“Let them think you were born that way!”
“Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you,”
Barbara Kingsolver adds in a motherly fashion, handing me a piece
of chocolate. “Figure out what you have to say.
It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”
“First, find out what your character wants,” Ray Bradbury interrupts,
gesticulating wildly, nearly putting out Shakespeare’s eye
with a hot dog stick. “Then, just follow him!”
“Don’t feel bad,” T. S. Eliot expatiates (the snob),
“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.”
“You can’t wait for inspiration,” Jack London insists,
rolling his eyes as if some boor argued against him.
“You have to go after it with a club.”
“If there’s a book you really want to read,
but it hasn’t been written yet,” Toni Morrison confides,
whispering close to my ear, “Then you must write it.”
P. G. Wodehouse sits a bit apart, hands covering his ears,
repeating over and over, “I never want to see anyone,
and I never want to go anywhere or do anything.
I just want to write”,
while James T. Farrell is stomping at the fire, shouting,
“Neither man nor God is going to tell me what to write!”
“You might be able to take a break from writing,
but you will never be able to take a break from being a writer,”
warns Stephen Leigh.
“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool
than to open it and remove all doubt,” Mark Twain hollers at him,
grumpy in the path of the smoke.
Einstein comforts Stephen with, “Great spirits
have always encountered violent opposition
from mediocre minds.”
Truman Capote, whose marshmallow has fallen into the fire,
mutters to himself, “Finishing a book is just like you took a child
out into the yard and shot it.”
“Last but not least,” laughs William Safire crazily
as the evening draws to a close, “avoid clichés like the plague!”
