Released January 1, 2013: The Human Act and Other Stories features a cast of diverse
characters struggling to reconcile the lives they want with the lives
they have been given. From the teenage girl trying to escape poverty in
“Ashes to Angels” to the new mother mourning the loss of her abandoned
career in “Queen of Jingle Junk” to the young man searching for meaning
in “Hope in the Laundry Room,” readers discover the courage to transcend
circumstances and embrace their complicated lives with humor and grace.
Jennifer: What inspired you to write the collection of short stories that is The Human Act and Other Stories?
Angela: Last year I took a survey
on both my website and my Facebook fan page to see what readers wanted: another novel or a short story
collection. Ninety percent voted for a
short story collection. I culled through
the hundreds of short stories I had written over the years and selected the
best literary stories that fit the themes of hope and courage to come up with
the collection.
Jennifer: Is there a particular story in this collection to which you are most attached? Please explain?
Angela: I am most attached to “Hope in the Laundry Room.” I overheard someone say the odds of a woman with a disabled child remarrying are worse than winning the California lottery. I started to wonder if that was true. If it wasn’t true, then what type of man would be attracted to a woman with a disabled child? After pondering the question for several months, I found the answer in “Hope in the Laundry Room.”
Jennifer: Are you a discovery writer or an outliner? Can you tell us
a little bit about your writing process?
Angela: I am both
a discovery writer and an outliner. I
write to discover answers to questions, but I outline my story after it is written
to find out what works and what doesn’t work.
If I reverse the process and outline first and discover later, I end up
with creating more work for myself and my initial readers.
Jennifer: You are the author of several books. Please describe them?
Angela: Legs is a chick-lit novel about a real
estate agent who has it all, loses it all, and discovers what is most important. Blood
Moon Rising is a paranormal thriller about a vampire mother seeking to save
her dhampir son’s life by finding the blood of his human father. Out of
Balance is about one couple’s response to the Great Recession. It reflects the current trend of how the new
majority of female breadwinners is transforming expectations about love,
family, and marriage.
Jennifer: You have been nominated for and won some literary awards, can you tell us about them?
Angela: I could spend a good portion of the interview going over all the awards I’ve been nominated for and received over my career. A few of them, however, are more meaningful than others. Winning the Mary Tanenbaum Award for creative nonfiction marked a milestone in my career. For the first time, I was able to combine my skills as a journalist with my love of creative writing in a manuscript that touched judges. Another award that holds a special place in my heart is the Editor’s Choice Award for literary excellence for Out of Balance. I had to sacrifice my happily-ever-after ending to win that award. That sacrifice was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done as a writer, but in the end it was worth it.
Jennifer: You published The Human Act
and Other Stories with All Things That Matter Press. How was your
experience working with this publisher?
Angela: The publishers of All Things That Matter Press are respectful. Although we didn’t always agree, we worked through our differences with professionalism. I would definitely recommend them to other writers seeking to publish with a small press.
Jennifer: How do you balance writing time with work and family time?
Angela: I don’t. I struggle all the time. Sometimes the family suffers. Sometimes work suffers. Sometimes writing suffers. In those ideal moments when everything works out, I spend the early hours before dawn writing, nine-to-five working, and the evenings with the family.
Jennifer: What's up next for you in your writing career?
Angela: I have a
few projects I’m juggling. I have a
finished young adult novel that I’m not quite emotionally ready to send out
into the world, a crime thriller that needs to go through fact-checking and
revisions, and a book proposal for a project that, if accepted, will make it
possible to buy back the time I’ve spent invested in other areas. But right now, I’m primarily focused on
promoting The Human Act and Other Stories.
Thank you, Jennifer, for interviewing me. I appreciate it.
Angela Lam has been writing professionally since 1985. She attended Northwestern University for
journalism and received her bachelor’s in creative writing from Sonoma State
University. She shops for books like
some women shop for shoes. Her dream
house includes a wall-to-wall library will rolling staircases and floor-to-ceiling
windows with enough comfy places to sit so the whole family can read together.
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