08 Jun Featured Member Artist Karin Gillespie
Featured Member Artist
Karin Gillespie
Interview by Rhian Swain
The trials and tribulations of COVID-19 self-distancing/quarantine have shaken the foundations of Karin Gillespie’s world … not one iota. But then, being a writer, isolation while serving the muse is a mandatory way of life. While some of us are suffering in mandated self-exile, Karin is business as usual; working with her agent on revisions to her finished novel “The Debutant’s Bible”; digging into the second draft of her new book “Forgetting Fame”; and preparing to e-launch several popular books, which she recently regained the rights for. And she’s doing all that, while relaxing all month in gorgeous Asheville with her husband David Neches. I hereby dub Karin the Queen of Quarantine.
To my mind, the pandemic changes to the fabric of our social and physical life would be GREAT inspiration for writers. I envisioned my Kindle exploding with tales of romance in the toilet paper aisle, when hunky John Doe gives up that very last roll to Maryjane Southerngal, who looks so very enticing in her Versace facemask. But no. I could feel Karin shaking her head vigorously through the phone as she told me Editors are very much NOT ready for Corona stories. And while she misses socializing with friends, she has no plans of integrating anything from our current world situation into her stories. Her characters will all live in a world pre-pandemic.
Karin Gillespie is the author of seven very popular fiction novels and is one of Augusta’s famous authors. She even has her own place of fame in the Augusta History Museum. She’s also a book columnist for the Augusta Chronicle, where she’s done reviews on books since 2013. Augusta has become quite the “book place” according to Karin. With regular visiting authors brought in by Augusta University, Book Festivals (some of which Karin organized), book events coordinated by bookstores like The Book Tavern downtown, we’ve become a sort of book mecca for the region. The South is renown for being a great touring circuit for authors due to a wonderful network of Southern bookstores. And its great news that Augusta has become a book “player” in the literary world. We’re also a gem in other arts areas some of which Karin mentioned as her favorites: Arts in the Heart of Augusta, which is held the third weekend of September; innovation theater such as Le Chat Noir; our wonderful visual arts and art openings; and speaker series like the Arts Council’s 6×6 speaker series, that give her a “real birds eye view of what’s going on with other artists.”
If you’re looking for a good book to read while stuck in self-isolation, because you’re netflixed out, can’t get to the library or bookstore, or just need a really good story with lots of laughs – check out Karin’s books online at karingillespie.net/. Ebooks have been doing a banging business. Because writers… this is their normal.