Elizabeth Bass Parman

Elizabeth Bass Parman grew up entranced by family stories, such as the time her grandmother woke to find Eleanor Roosevelt making breakfast in her kitchen. She worked for many years as a reading specialist for a non-profit and spends her summers in a cottage by a Canadian lake. She has two grown daughters and lives outside her native Nashville with her husband and maybe-Maltipoo, Pippin.

Parman's debut novel is The Empress of Cooke County.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

My story is dual-POV and has two main characters, Posey Jarvis and her daughter, Callie Jane. The title applies to them both. Posey claims to be the Empress of Cooke County, and everything she does in the book can be traced back to her feelings of entitlement, but, in my mind, Callie Jane is the real empress. The cover art is of Posey at the Curly Q beauty shop, and Posey is very vocal about her rightful position as an empress, so it’s easy to interpret the title as applying only to Posey, but I hope readers read more closely and realize how Callie Jane is transforming.

What's in a name?

Posey’s name is obvious—she is a poser, and Callie Jane’s name relates to something very specific in the book I can’t name without giving a spoiler. The Humboldt family got their name from the town of Humboldt, Tennessee, which I would pass when I’d drive to Memphis to see my daughter. Vern’s name was harder to come up with. I wanted something plain but dignified, a “salt of the earth” name. I went through several options before choosing Vern. I asked the woman who inspired the character of Evangeline to name Evangeline’s dog and she chose Muse. Evangeline means “good news,” and every Callie Jane in the world needs an Evangeline to help her see clearly.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

Not a bit. She would say, “It’s about time!” I first announced I wanted to be a writer when I turned four. I asked my mother where books came from, and when she told me people wrote them, I could not imagine anything better than being an author. It took over 50 years from that announcement for me to be published, but better late than never.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Definitely the beginning. I always know the ending of a story before I write the first word, but knowing where to start the story is hard for me. I rewrote that first chapter probably a dozen times. I compare that first paragraph to a double Dutch jump rope game— you have to time your entry into the action perfectly or everything falls apart.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I take bits and pieces of my own personality and give them to characters, but they are mostly from my imagination. Callie Jane has trouble speaking up for herself, which I struggled with when I was younger, and she has no sense of direction, which I suffer from. Some of the sweet things Vern does for Callie Jane came from my father, like teaching me to ride a bike.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I am an active observer when I am out and about. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and I am always watching and listening. I keep a notebook where I write down tidbits I hear or see, and it is amazing how often I can use those notes in a story. For example, I misread the name of a church we whizzed by on the interstate and will be using that wrong name in a future book. During a recent trip, I spotted a woman carrying an unusual purse, and I am pretty sure that will pop up in the next one, too.

I will talk to anyone and love striking up conversations with strangers while in line or waiting for a take-out order. Stories are about people, and talking with new people gives me new ideas. That being said, if I’m behind you in a slow grocery line, be careful what you say!

Visit Elizabeth Bass Parman's website.

--Marshal Zeringue