Wednesday, March 3, 2010

(3/4 p.m.) Sue Monk Kidd

Chapter(s) #
pre-reading

Prompt:
Read the following biography of Sue Monk Kidd's life.  
I grew up in the 1950s and 60s in a tiny town tucked among the pine-lands and peanut fields of Southwest Georgia. A “beautiful nowhere,” my urbane college roommate called it the first time she visited. For me, though, it was an “end during somewhere,” a long-suffering lap of Southern life. My great-grandparents settled there in 1828, building the rambling farm house where my parents live today. Our most plentiful resource, next to family roots, was stories. My desire to become a writer was born while listening to my father ply us with tales about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewing
Gum Bum. It seemed to me that, possibly, the only thing more magical than listening to stories, was creating them.

I filled Blue Horse notebooks with my writings. At thirteen, I fell in love with the Bronte Sisters and started a novel, predictably set on the English moors. At fifteen, completely enamored with Emerson and Thoreau, I wrote “My Philosophy of Life,” (thinking I actually had one worth writing down). Around my sixteenth year, however, I stopped writing completely. I don’t really know why. Perhaps I was finally sabotaged by the presumptuousness of it, by some lack of belief in myself. I only know when it came time to go to college, I did not choose writing. To compound the problem, this was before the women’s movement had made much
of a dent in the South, and I was under the impression that while there were a few unnatural exceptions to the rule (like the Bronte sisters), basically girls grew up to become one of four things: homemaker, secretary, teacher, nurse. Since I knew all about the glamour of hospitals by watching Dr. Kildare on television, I chose nurse.
I graduated with a B.S. degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth in 1970 with a major in nursing. The only time I really doubted my career choice was when my English professor said to me, and I quote, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.”
Writing did not pop up again until a few months before my thirtieth birthday. I was married, living in a brick house in a small town in South Carolina with two small children, a dog, a station wagon, a part time nursing position, and a restlessness I could barely contain. I would tell you the story of how I finally seized my long lost desire to become a writer, but it happened while I was dumping my daughter’s diapers into the washing machine, which is not especially how I want people to remember my defining moment. Still, I left the washer that day with an unshakable determination to write. 

Then I enrolled in writing classes with the earnest desire to write fiction, but fate intervened, and I was diverted almost immediately to personal experience articles and essays—mostly inspirational and art of living pieces. For years I was a Contributing Editor at Guideposts, a monthly inspirational magazine with a formidable readership in the millions. It was there I cut my writing teeth, learning to create stories, studying the craft of fiction and using its techniques—character, scene, dialogue, conflict, denouement, etc.– to write simple non-fiction pieces about the ways my ordinary life intersected with the sacred.
My first book, God’s Joyful Surprise, was a spiritual memoir which chronicled my early experiences with contemplative Christian spirituality. My second book, When the Heart Waits, also rooted in contemplative spirituality, recounted a psychological and spiritual transformation I experienced in early mid life. When I turned forty, my explorations and study took an unexpected turn into feminist theology and I underwent a profound redefinition. In 1996, Harper San Francisco published The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, my memoir of that passage.
My writing career, which had begun way back there in my childhood world of stories, was going well. But at 42, my original desire to write fiction returned, and with surprising intensity. Success seemed implausible. Nevertheless, I took a deep breath...and began. I took a graduate course in fiction at Emory University, and studied at Sewanee, Bread Loaf and other writers’ conferences. I wrote and published a series of short stories in small literary journals. After I began to get the hang of it, I taught Creative Writing as an adjunct at the local college. I’m sure that I learned a lot more than my students did.
In 1997, I began writing my first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, set in South Carolina in 1964. It was sold to Viking Press in 2000 and was published January 28, 2002.  Today, I live beside a salt marsh near Charleston, South Carolina with my husband, Sandy, a marriage and individual counselor in private practice, and our black lab, Lily. I write in a book-lined, upstairs study where I can gaze out at the marsh birds and the tides. When not writing, I spend my time reading, playing with my friends, walking the beach, paddling around in my kayak, or sitting on the dock with my husband, simply letting things be.


Adapted from www.suemonkkidd.com

Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.
  • What aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer? 
  • Make a list of six interview questions that you may ask her about her life.  

103 comments:

  1. Response:
    Aspects of her life that led to her becoming a writer. She grew up in the 50’s/60’s were there was very little technology. Unlike what we have know were we can watch TV and play video games. She had very little things to do so she would most likely write. She grew up listening to stories that her father told her when she was young. She knew the only better thing then listening to stories is to make them. She filled books of writing pieces from her every day life. She fell in love with a book and decided to create one herself. When she was in college her English professor told her that it was a stupid move having a nursing major.

    I have six questions that I would like for Sue Monk Kidd.

    1. Did your father become a professional writer?
    2. What inspired you to write about bees?
    3. Why would you become a nurse if you enjoy writing?
    4. Was your dad all your inspiration?
    5. How young were you when you had your first book published?
    6. Did you write stories about the stories your father told you?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life have contributed to her career as a writer. She grew up around stories because her father had a tale-weaving gift. She fell in love with creating the stories because she loved to hear them so much. Sue was a big fan of The Bronte Sisters, who showed her that women could actually be something besides a homemaker, secretary, teacher, or nurse. They were her heroes when everything and everyone around her seemed to think that women were unimportant (the Women’s rights movement hadn’t hit the South by then). When Sue Monk Kidd was in college, her professor told her she was a born writer. You can tell that Sue has a creative and imaginative mind, which makes her perfect for being a writer.
    If I could ask her six interview questions about her life, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance because she wrote an amazing book. I would ask Sue…
    1) What happened when she was sixteen that could’ve contributed to her temporarily stopping writing?
    2) How did she get the idea to write The Secret Life of Bees?
    3) Who was the one person that encouraged her most about her writing and was most supportive?
    4) Did she always want to be a writer?
    5) Does she think it was a mistake to not major in writing the first time around in college?
    6) Is she open to new ideas, or was she tentative about being a writer when she had her “writing urge” at age 32?

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  3. Ever since Sue was a child, her father would talk about stories and such. She was surrounded by a great family in the south where there were many things to see and be able to write about.

    If i were to interview her, i would ask her, exactly how was it, that she survived living in the south, because the way how i think of it, is that they hate people like me. So i don't really have a good understandably of that. The second question would be about how her family impacted her and if she had support in what she did. Third would be , what is her family now like, do they have family's ? Fourth, how come you don't live the BIG life? I think it is nice that you live a basic, simple life, that means you are a true and realistic person. 5th, I would ask, how come she had a period of time when she only did non-fiction stories. And my last question would be , how do you feel, about yourself, and what you have accomplished.

    DONE ! :)

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  4. Sue Monk Kidd had the ambition to write ever since she was a little girl. She was inspired by her family’s generation passed stories that were passed to her though her father. Another aspect of her life that may have led to her writing career was that people noticed she was a gifted writer and helped reinforce her ambition. If I were to interview Kidd, I would ask a lot of different questions. How many generations did these stories travel in her family? Did her family have any history of writers before her? Why didn’t she chase fiction writing before Non-fiction? How come she wrote so many spiritual books when she didn’t seem to have a religious background? Why did she become a teacher for creative writing? Why did she hesitate to become a writer when she had so much promise? I believe these questions would give us a better prospective of Sue Monk Kidd’s life.

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  5. -Some aspects of her life may have contributed to her career as a writer because she grew up with her family who were big into writing so she chose to do it too. If someone grows up around a tradition like having a real Christmas tree every year, or everyone in your family writing stories and journals chances are you will also do that. This is because when you do something as a child then it’s what you will know to do when you are older. When she was young she knew she had a choice of jobs and she chose to be a nurse. Being a nurse stayed with her for the rest of her life but she always wanted to write, so she did. There were periods in her life that she didn’t write at all, but eventually it came back to her.
    • How did you think of the story, The Secret Life of Bees?
    • What made you start writing again when you were in your forty’s?
    • Did anyone in your life ever make you think you shouldn’t be a writer?
    • What made you feel you had to write about personal experiences?
    • Why did you think that you couldn’t be successful in writing before you wrote The Secret Life of Bees?
    • Will you be writing any more books soon?

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  6. • What aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer?
    There wasn’t that much technology in the 50s or 60s so they couldn’t do much. The only thing she could only do is write. She got better and better when she kept writing and that the only thing she could do and that’s why she got better at what she does.

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  7. Some aspects of Sue Mink Kidd’s life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer, was that fact that she was born to write. Even her English Professor said so! She grew up in an old farm house with nothing to do. But when she turned 13 she started to write, but then she just stopped writing for no real reason. And that same urge to write novels came back to her when she was a lot older, when she had kids. Her first book she wrote was a religious book. But later on she wrote a novel, The Secret Life Of Bees.

    Questions I would ask her are:
    - Do you regret going to nursing school?
    - How did you get the money to go to nursing school?
    - Have you written any other novels when you wee young?
    - (If this biography is resent) do you still live in North Carolina?
    - Are you children writers too, or do they have an interest?
    - Have any of your relatives become writers?
    ~Secretflower1~

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  8. NOT FINISHED!
    Sue Monk Kidd’s life growing up may have helped contribute to her career as a writer. One thing that may have helped her is where she lived. Since she lived by pine lands and peanut fields, when she looked out her window, it may have given her a beautiful setting to base her stories in. Another huge aspect of her childhood life that contributed to her career in writing was that her parents would always read her stories. Since she enjoyed listening to the stories her father made up, she wanted to be able to do that too, so she could tell stories to people when she was older. She would write in notebooks, helping her start writing at a young age, helping her to become a better writer quicker.

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  9. Un finsihed


    Some aspects of her life was that her roommate said “A beautiful no where,” which means that it could get very boring or lonely where she spent parts of her life at. Another thing is that she found a book she really liked and she wanted to make one her self. Another thing was that she lived in a small town so there probably weren’t too many options to do anything.

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  10. I believe that one of the aspects of her career that led to writing was her home. Since she spent most of her time listening to her father’s stories listening and telling came very easily to her. Also, since she was bored with her life writing was a way to make her life more interesting. These factors led to her wanting to become an avid writer. More factors that led to her wanting to write were the facts that she started to write long in-depth stories at the age of thirteen. When she realized that she did not want to be a nurse she was drawn back to writing.
    Six questions that I would ask Sue Monk Kid In an interview would be:

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  11. Sue Monk Kidd’s aspect of life contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. Her father read to her, her whole childhood that’s when she build her dream of becoming a writer but then went on to become a nurse. She then realized that being a nurse wasn’t the right career for her. She went back to writing because its what she really loves to do. She is very inspired by her writing and loves to write.
    >how did you come up with the topic about bees?
    >is there going to be a follow up of the secret life of bees?
    >what influenced you to not stop writing fiction books?
    >who was your hero as a child?
    >did your family support you on your dream of becoming a writer?
    >did you ever think of becoming a nurse again?

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  12. Sue Monk kid had many aspects of her life that contributed to her pursuing her writing career. One aspect in her life was that her father used to tell her stories and she believed that “the only thing more magical than being told a story was creating one.” She didn’t always believe she would pursue writing at one point she was a nurse but when her professor said to her, “god why are you a nurse, you were born to write.” Her mind began to change but she was not determined to become a writer, at least not until she was thirty. If I was going to interview her I would ask her: Why you decided to change your mind about fiction writing? Was it trouble focusing on writing with two small kids? Why did you decide to become a nurse? Did you enjoy being a nurse any more than you enjoy writing? Do you read your books after you write them? those are some questions i would ask to Sue Monk Kid

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  13. There are many aspects of sue monk kid’s life that may have contributed to her career as a writer. Sue Monk Kidd grew up in a time where there wasn’t much technology compared to today, leaving room for more stories with her dad, instead of playing Xbox or being on the computer all day. Her father started telling stories to her when she was young, so that opened her mind to the idea early in her life. It also says that she uses the time when shes not writing, doing things that can spark ideas for torie, like reading, or being outside watching the birds and the tides.

    • Why did you write a book about bees, what sparked the idea?
    • Have you written and published one of your Dad’s stories?
    • Was your Dad more supportive towards you being a nurse than a writer?
    • Why did you stop writing when you were 16?
    • Thinking back, on your opinion, was what your professor said right?
    • Why did you write non-fiction stories and fiction stories in separate times

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  14. Some aspects that may have contributed to her career as a writer is the way that she has time to write books. It seems that she doesn’t have a lot to do around her house so she is free to do what she loves, which is write. Also when her teacher told her that she should be writing instead of nursing probably helped her encouragement to get back to writing. Whenever she was feeling like it was too hard she could have thought of what her teacher said and that would have gotten her through the hard times. I think that hearing her father tell stories to her made her want to tell stories to others. Since she liked her fathers stories she probably thought it would be a good idea to write her own stories too.
    1. What specifically made you decide to write?
    2. Why did you give up writing?
    3. What stories did your father tell you?
    4. How did you do when you went to work as a nurse?
    5. When did you start writing?
    6. What is your favorite thing to write about?

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  15. Many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. One aspect of her live would be when she was younger and her father would also tell stories. This really started Sue’s interest in writing. Another aspect would be that she loved writing in her own journals. She would fill them up with her writings. She also loved to read novels by the Bronte sisters. Even though she went to college to become a nurse she eventually realized that her real passion was to write. She enrolled into writing classes and she was very resilient in her pursuit to become a writer.
    If I had an interview with Sue Monk Kidd I would ask her these six questions.
    1. Why was your original desire to write fiction novels?
    2. What else did you do as a child other than writing?
    3. Did you ever get really sick and tired of writing?
    4. Was all of the extra years you put in to become a nurse worth it?
    5. Did you expect yourself to write a bestseller?
    6. How did you come up with the title Secret Life of Bees?

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  16. There were a few aspects in her life that lead to her astonishing writing career. Some were the setting, and some were the time of decade. The one that makes sense to me was that she had a journal when she was little, like every little girl had. She wrote, and wrote until she became a whole new writer. She didn’t have the technology we did back then, like we do now. Another aspect of her life that contributed to her successful writing career was that she had a lot going on where she had lived. She had lived in a town in north Carolina that had inspired her to write more and more about fiction. None of the stuff was true, but she enjoyed writing fiction a lot, and then she took a break.
    The 6 questions i have are...
    1) who inspired you to write?
    2) was it hard growing up being the only one who wrote?
    3)how old were you when you first started to enjoy and write fiction?
    4) were any of your family members writers? maybe your parents?
    5) While you were writing the secret life of bee's did you ever think of your childhood good times?
    6) is your husband a writer, or does he have a big role in your writing career?

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  17. The aspects that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer are that her father use to read her old stories often and she had always dreamed about being a writer. At the age of thirteen she fell in love with a book called the Bronte Sisters. That inspired her to start writing. After two years of writing, she stopped at the age of sixteen, from the lack of disbelief in herself. When she was thirty, she started writing again. At the time she was married with two kids and lived in a brick house in North Carolina.

    Do you regret not starting again earlier in your life?

    Would you be a writer if you didn’t have a husband and kids right now?

    Was your father supportive with your writing career?

    Would you ever what do have another job, instead of being an author?

    Are your kids a big inspiration in your writing?

    Did you ever think your career would be so successful?

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  18. Some aspects of her life that may have inspired her to become a writer are that she grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, her urge of writing had never gone away, and she never gave up like in collage when she just wanted to write fiction all the time. Also, I think that when she was talking about her daughter, she wanted to write because maybe did not have anything else to fill her day and make her happy. Also it is something, like she said, that always had pleased her, more than nursing. Last also the book that she read that she thought was amazing because it had a female writer and this was even before the women’s movement. And now, that thanks to one amazing hit book, along with, many others, she is living a peaceful life with her husband.

    If I could ask her six questions in an interview I would ask her, did you have any siblings? Did you have any pets that inspired you? How many people told you that you were meant to be a writer? When did you meet your husband? When you were writing did the words and stories just come to you? Or did you have to think long and hard just brainstorming ideas? How bad was the anticipation of waiting to get your novel published?

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  19. Sue Monk Kidd’s life was an extraordinary life. She went to collage to become a writer. She wrote a couple of other books besides The Secret Life Of Bees. She went to Emory University, and is still writing till this day. In 1997, Sue Kidd started to write her first book. She was a teacher for Creative Writing as an adjunct for a local collage. This was her job. She wrote several short stories and poems. In 1996, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter was published. It was her memoir of a passage.

    1. What more can you tell us about your life?
    2. Did you get made fun of in collage, high school, or middle school?
    3. Did you have any writing friends?
    4. Was your life boring or fun with all the writing you did?
    5. Did your parents like that you became a writer?
    6 What inspired you to write secrets?

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  20. There were a couple of aspects in her life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. For example, she lived somewhere in the late 50s early 60s. This means that there was very little technology. This meant no distraction that would draw her away from the blank pages that she would fill with her stories and adventure. Also, her father always told her stories when she was little. This was most likely her inspiration that started her love for writing in the beginning. Lastly, her professor told her that she wasn’t born a nurse, but she was born a writer. If this was me I would’ve taken that into great consideration just like she did. This was the turning point in her career choice.

    Six interview questions…

    1. What was your favorite story that you were told as a child?
    2. What was your main inspiration for writing?
    3. What type of stories do you enjoy writing the most? Adventure, mystery, est.
    4. What do you like best about your style of writing?
    5. What historical figure inspired you the most in your writings?
    6. What ultimately made you decide to write again?

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  21. Why do people become writers? Did they grow up listening to stories that they wish to save for future generations? Is it to teach people important lessons? Could it be that they want to bring readers to an ultimate universe. People become writers fro many different reasons. There were many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. One factor that led to this was that she grew up listing to her father’s stories. He told them about Mules as well as other characters. She said that, “It seemed to me that, possibly, the only thing more magical than listening to stories, was creating them.” Also, she grew up during the 1950’s and 60’s in Southwest Georgia. There was very little technology at the time, so writing was a way to pass the time. Sue was inspired by Bronte Sisters and started to write a novel. At the age of sixteen she stopped writer. Eventually she went to collage where she wished to be a nurse. This was until her English teacher talked some sense into her, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” This was another factor that eventually led to her career choice. She graduated, married, and had children. What pushed her off the edge to finally become a writer was when she was changing her daughter’s diaper. I guess she thought she could be doing something way more productive in her life, and to chase her dream. At last, in 1997, she started to write “The Secret Life of Bees.” Those aspects of her life is what we can thank for letting Sue become a best selling author.
    1.) If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?
    2.) Did you think that you would ever have a best selling book?
    3.) What inspired “The Secret Life of Bees”?
    4.) Who inspired you the most?
    5.) Do you tell you daughter the stories your father told you?
    6.) Why bees?

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  22. Sue Monk Kidd had a nice but interesting life in her younger days and now her life is working out swell for her. She is an amazing writer and there were many things that led her to become this amazing person. First of all, she was born into becoming a rider. Ever since she was little she was writing and doing craft like writing things. Secondly, she listened to her father ply her with tales about mules and about a petulant boy named Chewing Gum Bum. She thought that it would be better to write stories than to listen to them. She even filled Blue Horse notebooks with all her creative writings and she loved doing this. When you love something you should fulfill your dream and she did. She actually did and she should be proud of herself. One day I am planning on becoming the best dancer I can be because I love to dance. It honestly is two thirds of my life. I would love to become a dancer just like Sue became a writer. NOT FINISHED!

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  23. Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.
    • What aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer?
    • Make a list of six interview questions that you may ask her about her life.
    There were many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life that may have contributed to her becoming a writer. One of with was her father telling her stories when she was a little girl. Another was that she grew up in a time with more primitive technology and that she lived in a part of the south with less technology. NOT FINISHED!!!

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  24. When Sue Monk Kidd was growing up in the 50’s/60’s, she didn’t have much to do in one of her routine days. They didn’t have any technology and no amusing things that we have in life today. The way she used her time in a day was by writing. Some times in her life that inspired her to become a writer were when she was listening to her father tell her stories about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewing Gum Bum. She thought that the only thing better than listening to stories was writing them and since her father told her many stories, he inspired her more and more to become a writer. She wrote in a blue horse notebook that she filled with stories. Throughout her childhood she wrote stories about things and made them into novels. When she stopped writing at age 16 she took a break from writing and later in her life went to college to become a nurse, but when one day in her English class, her teacher called her over and asked her a very important question which was, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” This made her start writing again.

    The six questions I would like to ask Sue Monk Kidd are…
    1. Did you finish college as a nursing major?
    2. What other things did you write about?
    3. Does your dad get all the credit for you becoming a writer?
    4. Why did you want to write about bees?
    5. Why did you not want to write for that time period before you went to college?
    6. Is writing the only thing you ever wanted to do?

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  25. Sue Monk Kidd did not just wake up one day and decide to be a writer. She learned of this passion over time and many things contributed to it. The biggest factor was that Sue grew up around stories. Stories were constantly being told to her, especially by her father. These stories were one of the only forms of entertainment, since in the 60’s, there wasn’t much technology. These family story times inspired Sue Monk Kidd to become a writer. “The only thing more magical than listening to stories was creating them,” she said. It was obvious that even at an early age, Sue had found her calling.
    If I were to meet Sue Monk Kidd and ask her six interview questions about her life, they would be somewhat along these lines.
    1- Why did you stop writing for that long of a time period?
    2- Why did you decide to become a nurse instead of a writer? Especially when your English professor told you, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You were born a writer.”
    3- Do you know why you had a sudden urge to start writing again when you were in your thirties?
    4- What is your inspiration? What inspired you to write The Secret Life of Bees?
    5- Do you regret not taking up writing as your major in college? Or do you still think that you are pretty successful, having taking up writing at an older age?
    6- If you hadn’t taken up writing again, do you think you would have been happy as a nurse?
    I am very curious to see what she says.

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  26. Many aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career of being a writer. One of these aspects are when she is a child living in Southwest Georgia because her father told her tales about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewig.THIS IS NOT DONE!!!!!!!

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  27. Sue Monk Kidd had numerous aspects of her life that contributed to her career as a writer. One was the stories she was told. While she was growing up in a small farm house in the South, her father told her many stories like ones where mules walked in cafeteria lines and ones about a boy named Chewing Gum Bum. She mentioned in her biography that she thought that, “The only thing more magical then listening to stories is creating them.” In her youth she wrote in notebooks and wrote novels that weren’t published, but a start to her career. The main reason of why she became a writer was because in college, she completely dropped writing. It was before the time of the women’s movement in the South and women could only have very few jobs. Sue picked to major as a nurse. Her desire to write and break away from the few simple jobs she could obtain drove her to take writing courses. She started out as an editor to a magazine as she learned the skills of writing books. She wrote her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees in 1997 and continued to
    If I had to ask Sue Monk Kidd six interview questions, I would have to ask her:

    1.
    NOT FINISHED

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  28. Many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life contributed to her ultimately becoming a writer. The first and maybe one of the most important ones was how her family would always tell stories. Sue probably thought it was great fun to tell stories and share them around. She probably got this from her parents as they influenced her very much. Another one of the contributions was where she lived. Although not very important, a rural but beautiful landscape would make a great setting for a story, and could’ve taken that role for anyone of her stories. Another inspiration NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT finished

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  29. One of the many things that contributed to her success as a writer was her love of writing at an early age. Also all of her families stories helped her to begin to love fictional writing. There were also other writers that contributed to her love of writing like the Bronte Sisters and Emerson and Thoreau. These people caused her to write her ‘philosophy of life’. At sixteen for some reason she stopped writing completely.

    NOT FINISHED!!!!

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  30. There are many aspects of her life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. She began her writing career when she was a child and she says they were going well which probably mean t she had a very good experience. At the age 42 she decided she wanted to write fiction again but she didn’t think it was possible. She took a graduate course in fiction at Emory University and studied at Sewanee. After her course she began teaching Creative Writing as adjunct at the local college. Another reason is because when she was younger her teacher said she was born to be a writer. I think she has the gift of being a writer. She has been writing for a long time even though she stopped at 16.

    1. Has anyone ever liked your writing?
    2. Do you think this is something you could be doing for the rest of your life?
    3. Does your writing compare to anyone elses?
    4. Do your stories compare to your life in any way?
    5. Have you had experience with getting your stories rejected?
    6. Do you ever get tired of writing?

    DONE!

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  31. I think there were many things in her life that inspired her career as a writer. She grew up on a farm with not a lot to do so she wrote for fun. Her dad also told her a lot of stories that she loved and elaborated on. She said the only thing more magical than listening to stories was creating them. Growing up with journals full of stories and a passion to write she pretty much had her career planned out. Her first book was called “My philosophy of life” at age 16. After that she stopped writing completely. She didn’t exactly know why she must have lost all interest. After college she majored in nursing. But at age 42 her great passion to write returned and she started a great career in writing.
    NOT FINISHED

    ReplyDelete
  32. Sue Monk Kidd was inspired by many aspects of her life that ultimately led to her job as a writer. In her family, stories were plentiful. Sue recalls spending her childhood listening to her father tell tales. She then decided to create her own stories, filling notebooks with her writing. Sue Monk Kidd also enjoyed reading, and loved to read classic authors, such as the Bronte sisters. Unfortunately, her enthusiasm for writing was stifled because of the role of women at that time. Sue decided to take up a more female-oriented occupation as a nurse. But this job wasn’t her true calling, which she discovered when her English Professor told her she was a born writer. After enrolling in writing classes, and becoming an editor for a magazine, Sue became skilled at the craft of fiction. In short, many parts of her life contributed to her ultimate career as a writer, from her childhood to her adult years.
    If I were to interview her, six questions I would ask Sue Monk Kidd would be:
    1. How was it to want to be a writer during a time before the Women’s Rights Movement affected the South?
    2. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
    3. If you could go back in time, would you have taken writing classes instead of nursing classes?
    4. What inspires your writing today?
    5. If you hadn’t been born in a family that loved telling tales, do you think you would still want to be a writer?
    6. What can you say about being a female writer in a dominantly male profession?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Since Sue Monk Kidd was a child, she has always had the desire of writing stories. Sue's inspirations to write were her favorite author's. When she was fifteen,she decided to write a philosophy of her life. But at the age of sixteen, Sue stopped writing completely. Sue possibly of stopped writing because did not believe that she really could not write as well as her inspirations, even though, she wrote amazing stories. Until she got her degree as a nurse, her English teacher advised her that she should continue her love for writing because she could write magnificently.
    NOT FINISHED

    ReplyDelete
  34. Sue Monk Kidds life involved reading and creating stories ever since she was a little girl. This explains that many apects of her life have contributed to her career as a phenomenal writer. The impression of others was that girls would grow up to only be the following, a nurse, secretary homemaker, or teacher. Sue chose nursing ehich caused others to become extremelely puzzled wondering why she wanted to be like tohers and not her true self she used to be before she stopped writing her sixteenth year. Sadly she realized she should start writing, but at the late age of thirty.

    ReplyDelete
  35. The part in her life, that contributed to her ultimate career as a writer “. At thirteen, I fell in love with the Bronte Sisters and started a novel, predictably set on the English moors” So this part that she wrote in her biography showed me that one thing can change your life and make you pick your career for your life, And by this part seemed like it changed her life, and contributed to her ultimate career as a writer.

    Interview Questions:

    1. What was your favorite book that you wrote?
    2. Why would you pick Secret Life of Bees as a title?
    3. Has your writing ever been rejected?
    4. How long has it ever taken you to write a book?
    5. Are you planning to make any other books?
    6. Does any of your writing compare to your life and/or experience?

    ReplyDelete
  36. There are many aspects of Sue Monk Kid's life that drove her to become a writer. One is that she loved to listen to her Dad tell her stories. That was the driving force behind her writing as a kid. She loved to write and listen to stories, and her Dad helped her with that. But her stories never really got anywhere. Sure, she wrote them, but as she got older she decided to stop writing and turn towards a career as a nurse. Then her English teacher told her to get back to writing. She had said, "For the love of God, why do you have a nursing major? You are a born writer." I think that really pushed her to be a writer, and writing became a huge part of her life.
    Some questions I would ask Sue Monk Kid would be:
    Is your Dad a writer, or did he ever want to write?
    Do you really love to write?
    Why did you want to be a nurse?
    Who are your heroes?
    Who influenced you as a writer?
    Why did you want to write fiction?

    ReplyDelete
  37. Her aspects of her life have may contributed to her ultimate career as a writer because back in the 1950’s and 1960’s there wasn’t much of technology. We, nowadays, have I-pods and TV and the radio and game stations. We don’t really thin about our future because we get caught in our childish ways and we never think of the things surrounding us. Sue Monk did not have all of this so she didn’t have much of a chance to think like a kid. She grew up around her parents, watching them write became an inspiration to her. Nowadays we don’t pay much attention to what our parents do because we get so rapped up in our business and all the technology. We have so many options of things to be when we get older because of all the technology now. Back when she was a kid there wasn’t much. But writing became fascinating to her. She pretty much grew up around writing and it became to be her thing. This ended up being her ultimate career because of her parents’ life aspects.

    Six interviews I’d ask her might be;
    If your dad hadn’t rote, what would you be now? What if you never grew up around writing and such scenes where you live, would you have picked it up and come to love writing? Is all what you become and do satisfy you? Do you wish you were born during a different time? Are you happy with the way your life turned out? If you were born closer to present day, would you’re doing now be any different? Do you wish you could do something else?

    ReplyDelete
  38. I've been reading what you've been sending me. I have a MAJOR CONCERN!!!

    Many of you mentioned that the reason that Sue Monk Kidd decided to write as a kid was because she didn't have computers, XBOX, other technological distractions.

    That makes me wonder...will we have books in the future written by your generation?

    I saw on the news that teenagers spend an average of 6 hours a day on technology (cell phones, video games, computer). Guys. That is a little excessive as an AVERAGE. I'm just saying that as your Language Arts teacher.

    If you are going to use technology and write then just combine the two--- like you are here.

    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  39. Some aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer were that there was no advancements of technology. What i mean by that is that she had a lot of free time on her hands because there was no TV, no video games, no distractions that all kids in the world today have. So in saying that she had to make things or create things for her to be occupied.So instead of just twiddling her thumbs she spent her time being creative and proactive towards her future.Another aspect that helped her to become a writer was her father being a writer himself. She learned a lot about writing. Like elements and of things. That's why she started to write.


    1. Did she always want to be a writer?
    2. Does she think it was a mistake to not major in writing the first time around in college?
    3. How young were you when you had your first book published?
    4. Did you write stories about the stories your father told you?

    NOT FINISHED.......

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  40. Sue Monk Kidd was raised in the 50s and 60s and I think that had a lot to do with her will to write. When there wasn’t as much technology and not as many TV channels, what else really was there to do? It was also just a natural thing for her; reading and writing she believed took her to a different world, a happier one that was as real as magic could get. It also ran in the family, the love to write. Her father would read her fairy tales and tell her stories daily which had a big part in persuading her to become a writer.
    If I had the opportunity to ask Sue Monk Kidd 10 questions I would ask:
    Was your father a professional author?
    What did you want to write (i.e., mysteries, love stories etc)?
    Why would you stop doing something that you loved so much, when you were sixteen?
    What did it mean when it said “it was there I learned to cut my writing teeth?”
    Which did you enjoy to write more, fiction novels or the physcology and spiritual ones you mentioned?
    Who was your main inspiration when you wrote?

    ReplyDelete
  41. NOT FINISHED
    Why didn’t you become a writer from the get-go if you wanted it so badly?
    Do people recognize you on the street and ask you questions?
    How has writing The Secret Life of Bees changed your life?
    Would you ever want to go back, and remain a nurse?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Her family life and her relationship with her father seemed to affect her greatly because of the many stories her father used to tell her. She describes how she used to be entranced by his story weaving skills, and it seems to me like some stories he told were fiction. Because of some of the characters names, I have come to the conclusion that the fictitious tales her father told her made her write fiction stories. She seems like a very open minded person and that she would write amazing novels, which I hope, is true. Her father and she seem like very similar people, which might have lead her to think of him as an idol. Also, maybe that one professor that had asked her why she was a nurse instead of a writer created a spark deep down. It would emerge later on in life, but maybe she had just realized at that point why she wasn’t doing what she used to love. What she was good at was being a writer and she was a nurse, an ordinary job. Maybe this bothered her later on with the fact that she didn’t stand out and was no one special. This makes me think of questions like;
    1. Was your father a writer as his occupation?
    2. Why do you think it took you that long to realize you’re truly at heart a writer?
    3. Why did you first write non- fiction/ biographies?
    4. What made you change your writing path so many times?
    5. What was your inspiration to write The Secret Life of Bees?
    6. How old were you when your first popular book was published? And was it the Secret Life of Bees?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Well Sue grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. Back in that time there wasn’t that much great technology. In our time we could watch T.V. or go to a really cool HD movie, but in her time she could pretty much only write to occupy her own time. When Sue was a child her father told her great stories which influenced her to become a writer. In fact she liked reading books that she decided to write one her self. Most of the books she wrote filled he everyday life instances. Sue Monk Kid is a great writer.

    These are the six questions I would ask Sue Monk Kid.

    -Why did she write about bees?
    -Why did u major in nursing?
    -How old were you when you first book got published?
    -Did you always want to be a writer?
    -Are you working on any books right now?
    -Do you feel good about what you have accomplished?

    ReplyDelete
  44. There are many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd's life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. In the 50’s and 60’s there wasn’t much technology so what was there to do other than write on their spare time? Sue monk also mentioned that her desire to become a writer was born while listening to her father ply her with tales about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewing Gum Bum. It seemed to her that, possibly, the only thing more magical than listening to stories was creating them. When Sue Monk Kidd was in college, her professor told her she was a born writer. You can tell that Sue has a creative and imaginative mind, which makes her/wants her to become a stronger writer.
    If I were to interview Sue I would ask her many questions regarding her life. Some of the questions I would direct are:
    • Which book did you enjoy writing more?
    • How old were you when you got your first book published?
    • What inspired you to write about bees?
    • Was your dad proud of you for accomplishing a book?
    • With the books that your dad read you when you were younger, did you think that you could make them better in anyway? Or did you think it was just so perfect?
    • Why did she live such a simple life? Why didn’t she choose to live a bigger life?

    ReplyDelete
  45. NOT FINISHED!

    Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.
    • What aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer?
    • Make a list of six interview questions that you may ask her about her life.
    Aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life helped shaped her into her career as a writer. For one, Sue states that her desire to write was born through her father’s various stories. She had decided the only thing better than listening to stories was to write and create them yourself. Soon she started to fill her personal notebooks full of stories, yet her interest in writing seemed to have disappeared for years. She doubted her choice of being a nurse when a former teacher commented how Sue Monk Kidd was born to be a writer. Soon enough, Sue Monk Kidd had a restlessness that had been growing and broke free while she caring for her daughter, one day. Over all, Sue was inspired by her father’s love for stories.
    Six Questions for Sue Monk Kidd:
    1. What was the inspiration for your first novel?
    2. Do you still work as a nurse for a part time career?

    ReplyDelete
  46. im not coming back till 8amMarch 4, 2010 at 2:38 PM

    There are many aspects that have contributed to her career as a writer, such as her quite life, her “beautiful nowhere” hometown, and her natural talent and people encouraging her towards becoming a writer. Her English professor even said “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.”

    NOT DONE!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Her aspects of life seemed to have leaded her to be a writer from the beginning. She seems always opening to learn new things. When she was teaching she even said she thought she learned more than the students. In Sue’s earlier years she wanted to write. Then at sixteen she stopped for an unknown reason. Her main aspects of writing are that she has a very creative mind that always wants to learn.
    Six interview questions:
    -What was the event that led you to become a writer again?
    - Why were you thinking while writing your books?
    -What is your inspiration?
    -Did you have a good childhood?
    -Did you have a time of trouble that made you ever hate your career?
    -Why did you pick nursing as a major?

    ReplyDelete
  48. The aspects of her life really led to her career. As she said that her desire to write was born through her father's stories. The questions I'm going are how is How did you achieve such good talent at writing? Do you still work as a nurse? What is your family now like since you became a writer? how did you come up with the great stories you wrote? how did you manage yourself being a writer? Did you always wanted to be a writer?

    ReplyDelete
  49. Blogger8 sue monk kid 3-4-09

    There were many different aspects of her life that made her career be a writer. When she was with her roommate she would fill books upon books with her writing. She also would read many books from her favorite writer. She would always read those books. This made her want to be just like that writer of the books she read. Her English teacher would say to her why are you a nursing major you should be a writer. that also altered her decision to change jobs.


    1. Why in the first place would she become a nurse.
    2. Why did you stop writing sixteen.
    3. What made you interested in writing in the first place.
    4. Where were your parents
    5. Did you always like fiction
    6. Where did you teach a clas

    ReplyDelete
  50. There are many aspects that affected Sue Monk Kidd’s career. When she was younger her family liked to share many stories. She found that she liked to write stories more than she liked to hear or read them. After hearing many stories for the duration of her childhood, she decided to write stories to share with others. She wrote mainly fiction novels but then switched to a more philosophical genre. Being out in southern Georgia in the 1950’s-60’s might not be as exciting as it is today. On a farm, there isn’t much to do. People had to come up with creative solutions to their periodical boredom. Back then there wasn’t much technology so it was easier to sit down and write a book. These days, there is more technology, more schoolwork, and other extra-curricular activities that don’t leave much time in the day to write a book or even a short story. If Sue Monk Kidd was a child growing up in this time, she might not have written a book.
    At an interview I would ask the following questions:
    1. How many books did you write?
    2. What was your favorite book to write?
    3. How would your life be different if you didn’t write these books?
    4. What stories do you like to read?
    5. Is your family supportive of your writing career?
    6. Who gave you the inspiration to start writing at a young age?

    ReplyDelete
  51. There were many aspects in Sue’s life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. Since she grew up on a farm in the 1950s and ‘60s, all you could do was read, talk with family, or do nothing. One aspect of Sue’s life was when she was a little girl listening to her father’s stories. She lived in a tiny town in a rambling farm house. She had said that their family’s most plentiful resource were stories, next to the family roots. This aspect in Sue’s life was one contribution because this showed that Sue was really into stories. It showed that she loved to listen to them and had a big imagination. Sue had also stated that her desire to become a writer was born while listening to her father tell them stories constantly. He told them mythical tales about mules that went through cafeteria lines and a bad-tempered boy named Chewing Gum Bum. Therefore, she began to have a love for stories and writing. She then thought that the only thing more magical about listening to stories was creating them. This inspired her to become a writer—Sue’s ultimate career.

    List of six interview questions:

    1. How would your life have been different if you didn’t become a writer?

    2. What was the hardest book for you to write?

    3. Did you get support from your family as a writer?

    4. Did you have a hard time becoming a writer?

    5. How did your family react to the sudden change in careers? (nurse to writer)

    6. Which character do you most relate to in The Secret Life of Bees?

    ReplyDelete
  52. Sue Monk Kidd had a very expressive and full childhood. She grew up with her parent on a farm that her grandparent built in 1828. Her father told her fictional stories about his experience twisted into magical and exciting tales. She herself wrote in her biography “the only thing more magical than listening to stories, was creating them.” This is what really what drove her to become a writer and begin her first book ‘My Philosophy of Life’. Soon after, she stopped writing when she was in the middle of high school. Deep down she still truly wanted to be a writer but she thought that wasn't the typical job of a woman, so unfulfilling her desires, she went to school to become a nurse. She was never happy, and she knew that which was also another reason she started writing again when she had a family and even more experiences to write about. All this hope and desire piled up to the point where Sue just had to write. These are all the reasons Sue Monk Kidd started and continued to write.
    Six questions I would like to ask Sue Monk Kidd are...
    • What were you thinking when you were at the washer machine putting your daughters dippers in for cleaning? This would be an interesting question to ask because I would really like to know what really drove her forward to keep writing.
    • Would you ever make a book out of your fathers stories, which inspired you to write in the first place?
    • What kind of restrictions did woman have back in your time to stop you from becoming a writer?
    • How would you feel about the popularity of your books, especially The Secret Life of Bees in the 21 century?
    • What inspired you to become a nurse?
    • Are you happy about your choice of becoming a nurse out of high school instead of a writer? If not what would you have changed?

    ReplyDelete
  53. There were a few aspects to Sue Monk Kidd’s life that may have contributed to her career as a writer. One of those aspects was when she was just a child living in a small town. The only resource they had as she stated were, “family roots and stories.” She was told many stories as a kid by her father. She would listen to him every day speak about stories about mules and a boy named Chewing Gum Bum. She believed that the next best thing to listening to stories was creating them. Another aspect may have possibly been when she was in college and she had been planning on majoring as a nurse because that was one of the “rules of the south- most women grew up to be a homemaker, secretary, teacher, or nurse. It was considered unnatural for a woman to be anything but. Her English teacher had asked her why she was majoring as a nurse when she was a natural writer. Sue Monk Kidd stated this was the only time during her college years that she had an doubt about her career choice. When she was about 30 years old, she suddenly had a strong desire to write. It was then that she began taking writing classes in which would help her get her writing career off to a good start.
    It would be very interesting to interview Sue Monk Kidd. Some questions I would consider asking would be:
    1. Would you have still considered being an author if you had the technology as a child?
    2. If writing had been your passion for so long, what suddenly made you stop?
    3. When you were writing in your notebook as a young girl, did you ever picture yourself being a bestselling author?
    4. Do you prefer writing fiction books or books based on your experiences?
    5. Are any of the stories you’ve written based on the stories you heard from your father?
    6. What is your favorite book you have written so far?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Response Required: Cover all parts of the question.
    • What aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer?
    • Make a list of six interview questions that you may ask her about her life.

    Aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life helped shaped her into her career as a writer. For one, Sue states that her desire to write was born through her father’s various stories. She had decided the only thing better than listening to stories was to write and create them yourself. Soon she started to fill her personal notebooks full of stories, yet her interest in writing seemed to have disappeared for years. She doubted her choice of being a nurse when a former teacher commented how Sue Monk Kidd was born to be a writer. Soon enough, Sue Monk Kidd had a restlessness that had been growing and broke free while she caring for her daughter, one day. Over all, Sue was inspired by her father’s love for stories.

    Six Questions for Sue Monk Kidd:
    1. What was the inspiration for your first novel?
    2. Do you still work as a nurse for a part time career?
    3. How many books have you written so far?
    4. Are any of these stories based off a story your Dad told you when you were little?
    5. If you couldn’t become a writer and didn’t want to be a nurse, what career would you have chosen?
    6. Does the environment you grew up in play a part in your writing and writing styles? How?

    ReplyDelete
  55. The aspects of her life were first of all living in rural Georgia nest to the peanut farms. If you lived there in the 50s you would have nothing to do but write. She probably had great stories about her life. Also she probably enjoyed writing and reading. She must have loved many writers.
    I would ask her what really inspired her to write rather than the diaper. Also I would ask her what she dreamed about writing. I would also ask her if the time of her childhood was her inspiration. Another is if her family helped her. Also if her kids inspired her. And finally why bother writing books.

    ReplyDelete
  56. What lead up to her carrier as a writer was she was always near stories because of her father. She loved them so she decided to become a writer. Not just a average woman job. Like a nurse or techer. She wanted to make something new out of her life.
    1. How did she decide to become up of the stories secret life of bees
    2. Did she always want to be a writer
    3. Did she ever get ideas from her dad
    4. Did she work for a nurse still after she became a writer
    5. Do you think u made a huge mistake no going to college and major the first tine around
    6. Why did u stop writing for a while at 16

    ReplyDelete
  57. I think there were many things in her life that inspired her career as a writer. She grew up on a farm with not a lot to do so she wrote for fun. Her dad also told her a lot of stories that she loved and elaborated on. She said the only thing more magical than listening to stories was creating them. Growing up with journals full of stories and a passion to write she pretty much had her career planned out. Her first book was called “My philosophy of life” at age 16. After that she stopped writing completely. She didn’t exactly know why she must have lost all interest. After college she majored in nursing. But at age 42 her great passion to write returned and she started a great career in writing

    1. What made you lose your interest in writing when you were 16?
    2. Did you ever write story about something your father told you?
    3. What was it that regained you interest in writing?
    4. Did the lack of activities on your farm make you want to write?
    5. Do you ever wish to be a nurse or do you like writing better?
    6. Who was the one person that encouraged her most about you writing?

    ReplyDelete
  58. The aspects of her life may have contributed to her definitive career as a writer was her early life as a young adult and the several stories that were told by her father about mules. Sue’s father told stories about a mule who went through cafeteria lines and an irritable boy by the name of Chewing. Sue’s father can only be recognized as a raconteur to inspire Sue. After listening to Sue’ father’s stories, this ultimately inspire to not listen to stories but actually write them. The stories became fruitful for Sue in order to achieve something superior. Sue’s quote or line was “the only thing more magical than listening to stories, was creating them.” That single line was the alteration for the better in her writing career and down the stretch. As the biography states, Sue filled her “Blue Horse” notebook with her personal writings. Sue had devotion for the Bronte Sisters, established or began her own individual novel. This definitely contributed to her occupation as a writer substantially. Dedicated with her cause produced a novel called “My Philosophy of Life.” At the end it was an improbable shift to nursing instead of writing in which she endured for several years and was fond of it.
    Questions I’d ask Sue Mon Kidd-
    1. Was your dad the only inspiration that sparked your profession as a writer? If not who or what else was an inspiration?
    2. Do you think you made a significant mistake on gravitating towards nursing at the apex of your writing ability? Why?
    3. What was your basis on switching professions form writer to nurse?
    4. After your English professor said you were a born writer did you take
    that into consideration and decided on writing instead of nursing?
    5. Do you regret the fact that you surrendered your writing in order to be a
    nurse?
    6. Was writing fiction stories a pleasurable to you?

    ReplyDelete
  59. Sue Monk Kidd had many fun and important aspects in her life. I believe that some of these may have contributed to forming her career of writer in the end. First, Sue grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. Back then there wasn’t much technology to distract her. Today we have on demand, video games, and the internet to distract us and keep our time occupied. Second, Sue lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere. In such a small town there couldn’t have possibly been many events and other town activities that would keep her from sitting down, and starting to write and read books. Another aspect was her father’s fantastic and mystical stories. She enjoyed these very much and had even more fun creating ones of her own. This is just a sign that she enjoys writing and should become an author. When Sue was young she fell in love with some novels by the Bronte Sisters. She just enjoyed reading! Sue also loved the authors Emerson and Thoreau, and was inspired to write her own book called My Philosophy of Life. Sue obviously read often so she was intrigued by writing. An additional aspect that affected Sue’s career was her English professor that said “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” This set Sue’s mind on a writing career. She was also very restless and probably used writing to calm her down and do something with her time.
    If I were to meet Sue, six questions I would ask her are…
     Did you play any sports as a child?
     Would you ever consider publishing your father’s stories?
     What inspires your fictional novels?
     What is the next book you would like to write about?
     Why were you forced to write non-fiction books?
     Do you suggesting writing as a career?

    ReplyDelete
  60. There are many aspects to her life that wanted her to become a writer. She loved to listen to stories and create her own stories even more. Her father used to tell everyone in her family stories and they were all so drawn into them. When she was thirteen, she had many journals filled with stories that she wrote. When she went to college, she didn’t choose writing because this was before the women’s movement made a big impact to the south. Most of the girls could only be a secretary, home worker, teacher, or a nurse, but she chose to be a nurse. She graduated form Texas Christian University in 1970. her English teacher said, “For the Love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are born a writer.” She didn’t start writing again until she was thirty.

    1. Why would you give up your dream of writing?
    2. What was your favorite book you ever wrote?
    3. How long did it take you to write your first book?
    4. Were you nervous to see if any of your books weren’t going to get published?
    5. Why were your father’s stories so appealing to you?
    6. Have you ever wished that in your college years you would have majored in writing?

    ReplyDelete
  61. Sue Monk Kidd’s life growing up may have helped contribute to her career as a writer. One thing that may have helped her is where she lived. Since she lived by pine lands and peanut fields, when she looked out her window, it may have given her a beautiful setting to base her stories in. Another huge aspect of her childhood life that contributed to her career in writing was that her parents would always read her stories. Since she enjoyed listening to the stories her father made up, she wanted to be able to do that too, so she could tell stories to people when she was older. She would write in notebooks, helping her start writing at a young age, helping her to become a better writer quicker.
    Six questions I would ask Sue Monk Kidd about her life are-
    1. If you could re-do your life, and not stop writing for those many years of you life, would you have?
    2. Did your dad write stories for a living, or did he just make up some for you when you were a kid to keep you entertained?
    3. What inspired you to write about bees as your first fictional book?
    4. Do you have kids? And if you don’t, do you want any, so that you can read them stories just like your dad did to you?
    5. Are you still publishing books?
    6. Which do you enjoy writing more- fiction or non-fiction books?

    ReplyDelete
  62. Many aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career of being a writer. One of these aspects is the time period when she is a child living in Southwest Georgia because her father told her tales about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewig Gum Bum. This influenced her because she believed that the only thing about listening to stories was creating them. Another thing that influenced her to become a writer is when her English professor said “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” She then enrolled in writing classes because she felt that she had to write. She had the desire to write fiction but she found herself writing personal experience articles and essays. Sue became the Contributing Editor at Guideposts. There she learned how to write non fiction novels better and then she became a successful after that. Some questions I might ask her if I interviewed are:
    1) Did your mother influence you at all on you becoming a writer?
    2) What is your most favorite book that you have ever written?
    3) What is your favorite book that anybody has written?
    4) Who is your favorite author?
    5) Do you think becoming a writer was the right career choice with you?
    6) Did any of the stories your father told you influence any specific novel that you have written?

    ReplyDelete
  63. Sue Monk Kidd grew up in the 50’s and 60’s, during most of her life; she lived in Georgia on beautiful land. In 1828 Sue’s Great Grandparents build the home that Sue’s parents are currently living in. I think that sue got inspired by all of the wonderful things about living in a nice part of the world. During the time that she grew up, if you think about it, their wasn’t much to do. Kids didn’t have much technology, TV, or computer. There weren’t many choices for her to do in her daily life. Most children would normally play outside or do games with family or friends. I think that she got inspired to write because of where she lived. She was probably lonely, and wanted to do something, which was having a passion to write. Another thing that probably inspired her were her fathers stories that he told her. These stories probably had a lot of meaning to her. As an adult, Sue most likely wanted her father to stay with her, so she may have wrote books off of what her father’s stories were about. Sue followed this passion throughout these years, and was a very successful writer.

    These are the 6 questions that I would ask Sue Monk Kidd:

    1. How was life, with no technology did u have a lot of spare time?
    2. What inspired you to write the Secret Life of Bees?
    3. Out of all the stories that you wrote, were any of them based off the ones your father wrote?
    4. Do you wish that u stuck with writing throughout your entire life, instead of being a nurse for a part of your time?
    5. Did anyone else whom is related to you become a famous writer?
    6. Throughout your whole life, did you always what to become a writer even as a young kid?

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  64. I believe that one of the aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s career that led to writing was her home. Since she spent most of her time listening to her father’s stories, listening and telling came very easily to her. Also, since she was bored with her life, writing was a way to make her life more interesting. These factors led to her wanting to become an avid writer. More factors that led to her wanting to write were the facts that she started to write long in-depth stories at the age of thirteen. Since she was writing those stories at such a young age she was able to “practice” for when she wrote her first novels. When she realized that she did not want to be a nurse, she was drawn back to writing. After teaching writing classes she chose to write on her own. Another aspect of her life that may have contributed to her becoming a writer could have been perseverance. When she wanted to be a nurse, she persevered and she graduated with a degree in nursing. When she wanted to become a writer, she became it. You can not accomplish anything without perseverance.
    Six questions that I would ask Sue Monk Kidd in an interview would be:
    1. If your father did not have so many stories to tell, would you have pursued a career in writing?
    2. What inspired you to write The Secret Life Of Bees?
    3. Would you have written the stories that you have written if you had lived somewhere else in your childhood?
    4. Besides your father telling stories, what else inspired you to write stories of your own?
    5. If you knew that writing was your passion at a young age, why did you choose to be a nurse?
    6. Do you think that The Secret Life Of Bees would be a success if you had not taken a graduate course in fiction?

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  65. Some aspects of her life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer may have been when her father told her stories when she was younger. When she was thirteen she loved reading Bronte sisters and that made her start writing her first book. In college, her English teacher has told her she should have become a writer instead of becoming a nurse. These are aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer.

    Six questions I would ask Sue Monk Kidd would be…

    1. What was your favorite book by the Bronte sisters?
    2. What inspired you to write The Secret Life of Bees?
    3. What made you stop writing when you were sixteen?
    4. Was your dad your true inspiration to start and continue writing?
    5. Do you regret not majoring in writing than nursing?
    6. Has your life changed when you wrote The Secret Life of Bees?

    ReplyDelete
  66. There were many aspects of her life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. One thing that may have contributed was her father. She was inspired by the many stories her father used to always tell her as she grew up. Sue loved to listen to the stories her father told her. She believed that it was more magical to write stories than listen to them, so she gave it a try. Another thing or person that may have inspired her was her English professor. Her English professor asked her why she was majoring in nursing if she was such a good writer. I believe that this helped her realize that she should become a writer again.
    If I can ask Sue six interview questions, these would be what I would ask:
    1. What was your favorite book you have every written?
    2. How old were you when you knew you wanted to become a writer?
    3. Who inspired you the most?
    4. Through your whole career, how many books have you written?
    5. Why did you major in nursing the first time around, if you wanted to be a writer so bad?
    6. What do you most like to write about?

    ReplyDelete
  67. There were many aspects of her life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. One thing that may have contributed was her father. She was inspired by the many stories her father used to always tell her as she grew up. Sue loved to listen to the stories her father told her. She believed that it was more magical to write stories than listen to them, so she gave it a try. Another thing or person that may have inspired her was her English professor. Her English professor asked her why she was majoring in nursing if she was such a good writer. I believe that this helped her realize that she should become a writer again.
    If I can ask Sue six interview questions, these would be what I would ask:
    1. What was your favorite book you have every written?
    2. How old were you when you knew you wanted to become a writer?
    3. Who inspired you the most?
    4. Through your whole career, how many books have you written?
    5. Why did you major in nursing the first time around, if you wanted to be a writer so bad?
    6. What do you most like to write about?

    ReplyDelete
  68. There were many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life that may have contributed to her becoming a writer. One of with was her father telling her stories when she was a little girl. Another was that she grew up in a time with more primitive technology and that she lived in a part of the south with less technology. She also had a really devoted English teacher that said “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” Sue also had fallen in love with the story of the Bronte Sisters. While she was thirteen she had filled entire notebooks with her writing, which showed that she she had a true passion for writing.

    • Why was your English professor so passionate about your choice of major?
    • Did you write a lot of stories in each journal or one long one per journal?
    • What did you do with the notebooks you wrote in when you were thirteen?
    • You really want to be a nurse, or was it just because you didn’t really have a choice?
    • Were your parents “sexist” like most people were back then?
    • Were your perceptions of hospitals completely based off of Dr. Kildare?

    ReplyDelete
  69. One of the many things that contributed to her success as a writer was her love of writing at an early age. Also all of her family’s stories helped her to begin to love fictional writing. Also other writers contributed to her love of writing like the Bronte Sisters and Emerson and Thoreau. These people caused her to write her ‘philosophy of life’. At sixteen for some reason, she stopped writing completely. After about fifteen years, she had a renewed interest in writing. Soon after Sue enrolled in a writing class where instead of writing fiction, as she wanted to do she ended up writing articles and essays for a magazine company. Sues first book was called Gods Joyful Surprise, a memoir about her experiences with Christianity. Her second book, called when the heart waits, written about Sues middle-aged experiences. Then finally, she got her wish to become a fiction writer after Sue went to a course at Emory University. Sues first novel is called The Secret Life of Bees.
    My six questions are:
    What do you think was the most influential thing in your life that helped you become a writer?
    Why do you think you stopped writing after sixteen until thirty?
    Why did you write a book about bees?
    Did you have any other inspiration apart from your dad?
    do you think that you should have majored in writing first in college instead of being a nurse?
    Was it just you that wanted to write or did your father encourage you to do it to?

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  70. The aspects that led up to Sue Monk Kidd’s life as a writer was that she was a young girl that lived a life where there was not a ton of technology. She mostly listened to her dad’s story that made her aware of what was going on. What was going on with her she mostly wrote down, her thoughts, and all of her feelings. There was no tv to watch and nothing to do. That is why she started writing. She wrote, and became in love with it, but she eventually stopped for no reason. She was a great writer and I am excited to read her work.

    1. What made you write about bees?
    2.Did you always want to be a writer?
    3.Who mostly encouraged you to write?
    4.Why did you stop writing?
    5.Where did you get all your ideas to write about?
    6.How old were you when you started writing?

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  71. Certain aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. As a child, Sue Monk Kidd grew up on a farm where there wasn’t much entertainment provided. The stories her father told encouraged her to create her own stories, causing her to begin filling up notebooks with her thoughts. Sue’s ultimate desire to write ended when she was sixteen. Her love for creating stories sat dormant for years. Sue even chose to major in nursing when she went to college, ignoring writing. Her English professor at the time even said to her, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” Writing didn’t affect Sue Monk Kidd again until she turned thirty. At this time, she suddenly gained the inspiration and need to begin writing again.

    Six interview questions I would ask Sue Monk Kidd about her life would be:
    1. What did you say in response to your English professor?
    2. Are you still working as a part-time nurse?
    3. Was your family supportive of your writing?
    4. Did you have an inspiration that struck you to write The Secret Life of Bees?
    5. How old were you when your first book was published?
    6. Do you still keep your stories you wrote as a child?

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  72. For most kids, when their parents ask them what they want to be when they grow up, there are the usual doctor, lawyer, and policemen responses. Sometimes you get a kid who knows precisely what they want to be and they’ll give you an answer of physicist or sociologists. However, for Sue Monk Kidd she had a definite passion for writing, but she couldn’t be one because her future careers were circumscribed by the fact that she was a women.
    First of all, Kidd grew up in an environment where writing was a form of game. Now in our methodological world, we are surrounded by other forms of entertainment such as electronics and whatnot and we forget the fundamentals of our life. However, this doesn’t mean that our generation is hopeless. Our advancements in literature and the arts are at their most prominent since the Renaissance. To make all of these games, you need a wandering imagination, the same imagination needed to paint splendorous works of art, or writing. Secondly, the people around her helped develop her ecstasy for writing. Either way, she still did have television because it says that she used to watch hospital shows on the TV. Her father’s old stories got her imagination running and inspired her to write in the first place. Next, it was her personality. For example, it was her own liking of the Bronte Sisters which made her start her first novel. In college, she put off her writing, with the goal of becoming a nurse. However, she never shoved it away for good. There was always an iota of writing deep inside of her. This is because when she adapted to a life of writing by being inspired by her dad, she can never forget that, just like riding a bike. Writing wasn’t just something that she decided to try out or join a class of, writing was part of her life and for the majority of her youth, it was her life.
    6 questions that I would like to ask her are:
    What inspired her to write The Secret Life of Bees?
    Did her parents support her becoming a nurse/writer?
    Why did she lose interest of writing for a while?
    What was going through her mind when she was loading diapers into the washer that made her start writing again?
    Does she plan to write anymore books?
    Are you still a nurse, or full time author?

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  73. A couple things may have lead to her becoming a writer. I think one may have been that there wasn’t any great technology to play with unlike now. Now we have the Xbox 360s, the Play station 3s, and the Nintendo Wiis. We also have different videogames to play with such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Madden NFL 2010. She also loved to read and write and must have said to herself, I can do that and began writing.
    If I had 6 questions for her I would ask…
    1. Why did she love to write about bees?
    2. Why did she stop writing at the age of 16?
    3. What was her favorite story her dad told her?
    4. What was her dream when she was our age or younger?
    5. How old were you after your first book was officially been published?
    6. Do you ever write a book that was influenced by your father?
    GentleGiant8

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  74. It seems as if Sue Monk Kidd was born to be a writer. Growing up with few games to play, must have been very different back than. Sue Monk Kidd spent her time writing, and getting her ideas out on paper. Now, most kids play on the computer, play video games, text, and a lot more since technology is more advanced now. Reading this article tells me she was inspired by growing up. Listening to her fathers stories, watching her hometown, and a lot more shows how she was inspired to become a writer. Sue Monk Kidd decided to make a few books of her own, to show people how great of a writer she has become. I also think that her lifestyle contributed her writing career. All of her books seem to be about her religion. Than she wrote the book “The Secret Life of Bees”. I never read this book before, but it doesn’t seem like its going to be religious like her others seem to be.
    My six questions for Sue Monk Kidd are:
    1. Did your book ideas come easy to you?
    2. Are you thinking of writing any more books?
    3. Do you regret becoming a nurse?
    4. Do you think that your books would be different in today’s lifestyle?
    5. Did your mother inspire you at all?
    6. How long does it take to write one book?

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  75. There were many aspects to her life that might have contributed to her dream of being a writer. On aspect was that there was not that many advancements in technology. This means she had more time to write and do things like that because there wasn't anything distracting her like a Tv or a Computer there wasn't much to do. Also another thing was she grew up on a farm s there wasn't many things to do there that wee that fun so for fun she would write and just write because it was only fun thing to do around the farm besides doing chores. She also learn some things from writing and was a very good writer.


    1.Would you regret taking the major as a nurse?
    2.What are your parents job?
    3.If you were such a good writer why would get a major in nursing?
    4.Did your parents inspire you a lot?
    5.It says you stopped writing at age 16 why is that?
    6.if you could change one thing in your life what would it be?

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  76. She was a very great writer since she was a kid. I believe that this is due to the fact that she grew up in a hard time in a tough state. She lived in the South where people were treated unfairly for a long period of time. So back then she had no right as a woman and lots of people would want to hear about this. As a writer she might have been upset or have a journal to talk to like Anne Frank. She also only had five different careers to pick from. With that problem in her path I believe that she was forced to start writing and telling people how she felt. She might also have had no friends to talk to so she started righting in a journal. Also she might have been upset and wrote her feelings down. There are many scenarios in which she could have started her writing career.
    Also I have six questions I would like to ask her. 1. What was your everyday role as a women back then? 2. How did writing change your life? 3. Where you ever offended that you had five choices of jobs? 4. What did your daily routine consist of? 5. What were some of the main topics you wrote about? 6. Which of your stories did u enjoy writing the most?

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  77. Aspects in her life that could have contributed to her passion for writing could be having no electronic entertainment. Sue was living in a time period when T.V was just invented. Back then they didn’t have hundreds of channels either. If you were lucky you would have at least 5 to 7 channels. This probably left her board and when not outside you had nothing to do. That is why people of her time age including her are great writers. She said in her biography that she always wrote in her diary. She wrote about her life and her emotions. Living in the middle of nowhere probably helped also. Having no big attraction near her house she had no choice to either go outside or write.
    Six interview questions-
    1. Was having no electronic entertainment a key to becoming a great writer?
    2. What made you want to write?
    3. Besides a nurse what else did you want to be when you were younger?
    4. Did your parents support you with your idea for writing?
    5. Besides writing what other hobbies did you have as a young child?
    6. If you had a chance would you ever go back to the medical fields?

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  78. Some aspects of her life was that her roommate said “A beautiful no where,” which means that it could get very boring or lonely where she spent parts of her life at. Another thing is that she found a book she really liked and she wanted to make one her self. Another thing was that she lived in a small town so there probably weren’t too many options to do anything. Also growing up with alot of her fathers storys was probaly one of her bigest inspirations.
    Six questions...
    1.Why did she not want to write during some of you teen years?
    2.Why didnt she try and major in writing if she knew she could?
    3.Did she always want to write?
    4.How many books did she write.
    5.Did she write any sequels on her childhood storys
    6.Whats your favorite book?

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  79. Sue Monk Kidd was very inspired as a child. Her father would tell of make believe stories that made her want to create these types of stories. Not just stories, but fiction stories. She started to fill up notebooks with her creativities, but this soon stopped. She could not continue to write because it was only natural, back then, for her to become a nurse, secretary, teacher, or homemaker. Without her father’s help, Sue Monk Kidd may have never written The Secret Life of Bees.
    Six questions that I would ask in an interview with Sue Monk Kidd are the following. Why didn’t you become a writer from the get-go if you wanted it so badly? Do people recognize you on the street and ask you questions? How has writing The Secret Life of Bees changed your life? Would you ever want to go back, and remain a nurse? How has being such a successful writer changed your life, and overall happiness? Lastly, how would your life be different if you wrote unsuccessful novels unlike The Secret Life of Bees?

    ReplyDelete
  80. There are many things that happened in Sue Monk Kidd’s life that may have contributed to her ultimate decision to become a writer. She probably gained a lot of inspiration from where she grew up. It seems like a beautiful place that someone could see and be inspired by many ideas. I bet that the setting of The Secret Life of Bees is similar to where she grew up. In addition to that, she described how her father always told stories. She probably learned a lot about writing and creating a story from him. Plus, she grew up on a farm during the 50s and 60s. There wasn’t much technology back then. Her family probably didn’t have a computer or a TV. Kids today are too distracted by these things to find inspiration in nature or people. Sue Monk Kidd didn’t face these distractions in her childhood. These are only a few ways that I can guess Sue Monk Kidd’s life led her to a career in writing.
    There are many questions I would like to ask Sue Monk Kidd if I got the chance to meet her. First, I would want to know what she was like in her school days. Was she bubbly, and filled with personality? Or was she quiet and shy? I would also like to ask her about her life now. What is going on? Is she still actively writing stories and books? Another thing I would ask her is what exactly her philosophy of life was at age 15. I can't imagine coming close to writing one, and she was only a few years older than me when she did. I would also like to ask her how she gained her inspiration from nature. Growing up in a farm, she must have been influenced somehow by her surroundings. I would also like to know if motherhood and family life influenced her writing. Sue Monk Kidd seems like a very interesting who I would love to meet one day.

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  81. Even as a child, Sue Monk Kidd was a marvelous writer. She started writing when she was as young as 13, and has enjoyed it since. One thing that mainly contributed to her career as a writer was when her father would always read her stories. She thought that ‘ the only thing more magical than the stories was creating them’. This inspired her to pursue writing, but when she got to collage, she chose a different path. She decided to become a nurse, because the woman’s movement hadn’t really progressed much in the south. Another thing that may have inspired her was when her professor said, ‘for the love of God why are you a nursing major. You are a born writer’. Also, at first she wanted to be a children’s writer, but she later decided that she rather write about personal stories and inspirational pieces after she became an editor and was r being exposed to those types of writing.
    Some questions that I wanted to Sue Monk Kidd are:
    • How did your life change after writing the Secret Life of Bees?
    • Do your children share your same writing qualities?
    • What’s your one main hint on how to become a successful writer?
    • What’s your main inspiration towards writing the Secret Life of Bees.
    • What was your favorite book that you’ve ever written?
    • Were your parents supportive of your writing career?

    ReplyDelete
  82. Answer: 1. A few aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. One aspect of her life was that her father told her many interesting stories. When she heard these fun descriptive tales, it inspired her to try writing a story. Also maybe hearing the stories taught her how to be descriptive and how to use figurative language. Also throughout her childhood she wrote her own novels and got some of her inspiration from the Bronte Sisters. But when she was sixteen she gave up writing and in college got a major in nursing. The only event that made her think about writing again, was when her professor said to her, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” Years later (when she was washing her kid’s diaper) she suddenly wanted to writ again, and went to writing classes. But, before she started writing books, she had to write many articles and essays for a while. So with all of this writing experience Sue Monk Kidd finally became an official writer.

    2. If I could ask Sue Monk Kidd six questions they would be…
    1. Out of all of your writing pieces, about how many times did you have to go through a piece before it was complete?
    2. Did any of your friends and or family help you write when you were in a slump?
    3. When you were in college, did you enjoy getting a nursing major?
    4. What was your favorite story that your dad told you?
    5.When you were a kid, what was your home life like, and how was your writing back then?
    6. If you could go back and redo what ever writing piece you wanted, which would it be?

    ReplyDelete
  83. Some aspects of her life that contribute to her ultimate career as a writer are the environment that she lives in, and the people she is around. Also the time period that she lives in. In that time period the generation was changing and new interest was formed.

    1. Does writing run in the family?
    2. How old were you when you first started writing?
    3. What topics do you enjoy writing about?
    4. What made you become a nurse if you have a passion for writing?
    5. Do you and your father like the same topics?
    6. Are you shy in your writing or open to the world?

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  84. Sue Monk Kidd listened to her father go on about the “tale about mules” for her early childhood. She thought that instead of listening to story, which was very fun to her, but what was more fun was to make them up herself. At thirteen years old Sue had a novel of her own that she had just started to write. Also the first two books that she read contributed to her career as a writer because it influenced her to become a writer. When Sue went to college instead of taking college courses to become a writer she went to college to become a nurse. Then finally she found out that her true career should be a writer.
    Questions
    1. Who was your inspiration?
    2. Why did you stop writing?
    3. Did you really want to become a nurse?
    4. Why a nurse and not something else?
    5. If you were a good writer why did you give it up to become a nurse?
    6. Why did you start writing again?
    7. Are you still a nurse?
    8. Did you want to become a writer when you were younger?

    ReplyDelete
  85. There were a couple of aspects in her life that may of contributed to here career as a writer. As a child, she had lived on a farm, and her father had told her numerous stories, which had could’ve been a first aspect because she was in love with her father’s stories. She always wrote stories in the Blue Horse notebooks. She did also have a break from the time she was sixteen to about the time she was about 42. She had written her first book God’s Joyful Surprise.


    Some questions I would like to ask her are:
    1)What had caused her to stop writing?
    2) Was The Secret Life of Bees a personal experience?
    3) Did she take some of your father’s stories and incorporate them into your stories?
    4) Did she always want to be a writer?
    5) Why did she re-start writing fiction at the age of 42?
    6) Did anyone tell her to write during her extended break, besides he professor?

    ReplyDelete
  86. im not coming back till 8amMarch 4, 2010 at 8:54 PM

    There are many aspects that have contributed to her career as a writer, such as her quite life, her “beautiful nowhere” hometown, and her natural talent and people encouraging her towards becoming a writer. Her English professor even said, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” Since she grew up in the 50’s/60’s she didn’t have the distractions we have today. She probably had writing and going outside to occupy her time. Sue also states that her desire to write came from listening to her father tell stories about around 13 she began to write full stories. This is another factor in her life that contributed her writing career is that she liked to write stories at a young age

    1. What made you stop writing at sixteen?

    2. If you knew that you were good at writing (other people knew who good you were at writing also) why did you become a nurse?

    3. What made you move to South Carolina? Does it inspire you to write?

    4. How to bees tie into your story or your life?

    5. If you started your writing career earlier, where do you think you would be now?

    6. Overall, what inspired you to write?

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  87. Sue Monk Kid is a good writer because during her childhood, there was nothing to do besides that because she lived in a rural part of the United States. She wrote for fun and she had a great imagination because her dad always told her stories. My six questions are...1. Why didnt you choose writing as your major in college? 2. What made you want to be a writer? 3. Are you still a nurse? 4. What was the inspiration for writing this story? 5. Did writing these stories change your life? 6. Why werent you a writer in the first place?

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  88. Many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life contributed to her ultimately becoming a writer. The first and maybe one of the most important ones was how her family would always tell stories. Sue probably thought it was great fun to tell stories and share them around. She probably got this from her parents as they influenced her very much. Another one of the contributions was where she lived. Although not very important, a rural but beautiful landscape would make a great setting for a story, and could’ve taken that role for anyone of her stories. Another inspiration for her were the Bronte sisters. Back then woman’s movement hadn’t hit where she lived in the south, and she was really inspired how the two women where able to follow their dreams of writing. Sue wanted to do this two, she wanted to keep her dreams in sight. One other inspiration for her was her english professor. He could tell that she had serious skill at writing and he was surprised that she was taking up nursing as a career instead of being a writer.
    If I was able to ask Sue Monk Kidd six questions, they would be:
    What made you want to write religious books in the beginning?
    What kind of stories did you want to write at 15?
    Did you publish any books that you wrote when you were young?
    Was your earlier career of a nurse influenced in any of your books?
    What did your husband think when you told him that you were taking up a writing career?
    Did you ever tell your old english professor that you became a famous writer?

    ReplyDelete
  89. Sue Monk Kidd had numerous aspects of her life that contributed to her career as a writer. One was the stories she was told. While she was growing up in a small farm house in the South, her father told her many stories like ones where mules walked in cafeteria lines and ones about a boy named Chewing Gum Bum. She mentioned in her biography that she thought that, “The only thing more magical then listening to stories is creating them.” In her youth she wrote in notebooks and wrote novels that weren’t published, but a start to her career. The main reason of why she became a writer was because in college, she completely dropped writing. It was before the time of the women’s movement in the South and women could only have very few jobs. Sue picked to major as a nurse. Her desire to write and break away from the few simple jobs she could obtain drove her to take writing courses. She started out as an editor to a magazine as she learned the skills of writing books. She wrote her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees in 1997 and continued to
    If I had to ask Sue Monk Kidd six interview questions, I would have to ask her:

    1. Are you proud of the fact that you are one of the few women in the South that pursued a job other then a nurse, teacher, secretary, and homemaker?

    2. Why did you loose belief and confidence in yourself as a writer, even though you grew up writing stories during your free time?

    3. Where did your father get all of his stories from, and were the stories from personal experiences?

    4. Did you ever have an interest in nursing, or was becoming a nurse a necessity for you at the time to support yourself?

    5. Was the new lifestyle a big change for you after becoming a successful writer compared to your simple life as a child?

    6. Do you have any regrets at all switching careers after already majoring as a nurse in college? If no explain why.

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  90. Natural born writers always come back around to their gift at some time. For Sue Monk Kidd, she had herself one realization moment that put her into motion. She had a teacher that encouraged her writing, when she was really focusing on her nursing major. It kept her something to think about as she was going about working. It was a matter of many years later when she actually found the calling that had been within her since birth.
    Sue Monk Kidd was involved in writing when she was a little girl. She lived in a place where there wasn't much to do, so writing in something that turns something independent into something where you can make friends, and really create them. She made herself something to fall into, she made something that could have endless scenarios, where she could create and take from her real life.

    • Who is the most inspiring person in your life, that causes you to create what you do?
    • What made you think about writing again, after all of those years?
    • Do you know what drew you astray from your passion?
    • Would you call yourself a writing prodigy, from birth?
    • Does anyone help you write?
    • Are you surprised that you're back into writing from years of other activities?

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  91. 5. What else would you like to do instead of writing?
    6. When did you die?

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  92. Many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life contributed to her ultimate career as a writer. As a child, she lived on a farm house and her dad would fill her childhood with several vivid fictional stories. The stories her dad told about mules and a boy named Chewing, inspired her to want to become a writer and she filled many notebooks with her own writing. By age fifteen she had fell in love with several different authors and had already written her own book. However, she stopped writing for a long time after age sixteen. I think the thing that got her writing again was when her English professor told her she should have been a writer and not a nurse. Right before she turned thirty, she started writing again and she took several classes to learn more and become a better writer. I also think that living in a peaceful and quiet neighborhood helped her to focus on her writing and not get distracted by other things. She also had a loving family to support her as well, and after taking a graduate class, she published her first book, The Secret Life of Bees.
    I would ask Sue…
     If you loved writing so much, why did you stop when you were sixteen?
     Do you regret choosing to be a nurse during college?
     What inspired you to write about your spirituality?
     Why did you start writing fiction books such as The Secret Life of Bees?
     What genre do you enjoy writing the most?
     What ideas do you have for your next books?

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  93. Some aspects of Sue Monk Kidd's life that contributed to ultimate career as a writer was her living, " I grew up in the 1950s and 60s in a tiny town tucked among the pine-lands and peanut fields of Southwest Georgia. A “beautiful nowhere,”. In her home, that her grandparents settled in 1828, her father used to fill her mind with fictional stories about mules and boy's who chew gum. Then she began to fall in love with stories by authors like: the Bronte Sisters and Emerson and Thoreau. But then she gave up on her career as a writer and chose the only career path for women at the time that interested her, a nurse. Then, some years later, she found her passion while putting her children's cloths through the wash. And all these things contributed to her ultimate career as a writer.

    1.) When you took time off from writing, did you ever really forget about it? Or did you just focus on raising your new family and your career as a nurse?
    2.) Why did you pick nurse out of your choices? What about the other three did you not like?
    3.) Was "The Secret Life of Bees" your first success? How well did your other books do, if they were published at all?
    4.) Do you ever go back to your "Beautiful Nowhere" just to visit? Do you visit to re-juice those writing urges that you first experience while growing up there. Or now, that you have a new life, are just influenced but what you have around you now?
    5.) Did you have any part in the making of the movie "The Secret Lives of Bees"? Or did you choose not to participate.
    6.) If your dad is still alive, do you visit him often and have him tell you his fictional stories like when you were a child to get those creative juices flowing?

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  94. One aspect of her life that might have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer as that she said that “My desire to become a writer was born while listening to my father ply us with tales about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewing Gum Bum. It seemed to me that, possibly, the only thing more magical than listening to stories was creating them.” Also in the middle of the story the English professor said, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” I think this was also one thing that changed her mind about being a nurse and being a writer.

    Why did you choose to take nursing studies?
    What type of stories do you like to write about?
    Why did you stop liking to write?
    How old where you when you stopped liking to write?
    Did you ever have any other interests other then writing and being a nurse?
    Why do you like writing fiction so much?

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  95. Sue Monk Kidd had a nice but interesting life in her younger days and now her life is working out swell for her. She is an amazing writer and there were many things that led her to become this amazing person. First of all, she was born into becoming a writer. Ever since she was little she was writing and doing craft like writing things. Secondly, she listened to her father ply her with tales about mules and about a petulant boy named Chewing Gum Bum. She thought that it would be better to write stories than to listen to them. She even filled Blue Horse notebooks with all her creative writings and she loved doing this. When you love something you should fulfill your dream and she did. She actually did and she should be proud of herself. One day I am planning on becoming the best dancer I can be because I love to dance. It honestly is two thirds of my life. I would love to become a dancer just like Sue became a writer. Another thing that contributed to help her become a writer was she started writing a novel at age 13 about English moors. Also, around age 15, she started writing down her philosophy called, “My Philosophy of Life.” Next, around age 16, she stopped writing. This made me laugh in my head because I thought that she was joking but it turns out that she was not joking around at all. She stopped because of her lack of confidence and she was too preoccupied. Then, which really made my mouth drop, was when she didn’t choose writing in college. She chose to major in nursing instead because of the women’s movement. Then, one day, she spoke to her English professor and he said to her, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” She started up again while changing her daughter’s diaper. After, that one time, in her 30’s, she went to writing classes and became a writer. She was introduced back to writing little by little. She cannot say that she was never reminded of her writing and I think that everyone who talked about writing in front of Sue had a little impact on her big decision. I am very glad that her daughter helped her become a writer again and she should be rewarded, even though she was just a baby.
    If I saw her again I would ask her many questions. Firstly, I would want to know, what about changing your baby made you think of writing again? Secondly, I would ask her, what was your philosophy you thought of when you were 15? Thirdly, I would ask her, if you would enjoy being a nurse as a secondary job? Fourthly, I would ask her, isn’t it your decision to switch from writing fiction to writing non-fiction? Why didn’t you like writing fiction books? Fifthly, I would ask her, what do you like most about writing? The pictures you can create in your head or the responses you get from the book when it’s done being published? Finally, I would ask, why is the setting of the book in, The Secret Life of Bees, the same as your home in South Carolina? I cannot wait to read this book and I am very happy for Sue because she got to fulfill her dream.

    ReplyDelete
  96. One aspect of her life that might have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer as that she said that “My desire to become a writer was born while listening to my father ply us with tales about mules who went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewing Gum Bum. It seemed to me that, possibly, the only thing more magical than listening to stories was creating them.” Also in the middle of the story the English professor said, “For the love of God, why are you a nursing major? You are a born writer.” I think this was also one thing that changed her mind about being a nurse and being a writer.

    Why did you choose to take nursing studies?
    What type of stories do you like to write about?
    Why did you stop liking to write?
    How old where you when you stopped liking to write?
    Did you ever have any other interests other then writing and being a nurse?
    Why do you like writing fiction so much?

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  97. Sue Monk Kidd is an amazing writer. i have not really read anything written by her accept this passage. But this one passage is so well written I can just tell she is an amazing writer. Growing up in the 1950s and 60s was tough because there was not much to do. There was no video games, no cell phones, no facebook, so it was hard trying to find things to do.she kept her time her time busy by writing, now thats creative.Most authors that I Know of know that they want to become writers. But she did not realize it until her late therties.She said she was inspired by her dads stories, good! Its good to be inspired if you are going to be a writer

    1. What was her inperasion for the secret life of Bees?
    2.Why did she want to major in nursing at first?
    3.What was the very first story she wrote as a child?
    4.did you ever think of writing a biography about yourself?
    5.Do you still ever have thoughts about being a nurse for a part time career?
    6.Does she plan on writing any more books?

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  98. Sue Monk Kidd lived through childhood with very little to do but to tell stories. With that as her inspiration, she began to write. She wrote through her teenage years, and only abruptly stopped when she lost hope in her writing and herself. After she stopped writing, due to the lack of choices for women, she had four respectable choices of what she could do with her life: homemaker, secretary, teacher or nurse. She chose to become a nurse. While in college, however, her professor told her that she was a natural born writer. This started to edge her back on to the writing bandwagon that she had fallen off a long time previously.

    Enjoying her life as a nurse, writing did not come to the forefront of Sue Monk Kidd’s mind for a very long time. Her inspirational jump back to writing came months before her thirtieth birthday. While washing her daughter’s diapers she suddenly wanted to write again. So she began to follow her newly re-enlightened dreams. She enrolled in college classes, simply for the information. The overall things that may have contributed to Kidd’s career as a writer were the lack of things to do on her family’s farms growing up, her college professor’s enthusiasm for her abilities, and overall, her daughter’s dirty diaper.

    If I were ever to have the chance to interview Sue Monk Kidd, I would ask the following questions.
    1.) Do you know why your daughter’s diaper inspired you?
    2.) What encouraged you to switch from religious editorials, to fiction?
    3.) Looking back, was the restlessness you felt while nursing to urge to write, bubbling under the surface?
    4.) At sixteen, why did you feel that writing was presumptuous?
    5.) After reading many works by women, as a kid, why did you not wish to directly follow in their footsteps, and not have a “respectable” profession, but to do what you loved?
    6.) Why would you say that you learned more than your students during your stint as a professor at your local college?

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  99. some aspects that could have contributed was, that she didn't have any technology back then to amuse her with in her free time. so in stead of watching tv, or playing on the computer she had to find something to do. Sue decided to be creative and find a positive to living without technology. instead of playing games and other things she could have possably done she decided to write in her spare time. Sue became very succesful for this too.
    1. How did you feel about writing when you first started out?
    2. if you could have done anything different what would it have been and why?
    3. what have you always wanted to write a book about?
    4. what is your favorite thing you have written?
    5. does writing always amuse you? or do you get bored of it sometimes?
    6. what ade you first start writing?

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  100. Several aspects caused Kidd to become a writer. One aspect of her life that may have contributed to her ultimate career as a writer was how stories were her most plentiful source besides family roots. Her father used to ply her with stories about mules that went through cafeteria lines and a petulant boy named Chewing Gum Bum. This started her journey on becoming a writer, and soon she was writing in Blue Horse notebooks and reading novels. Then, in college, her English professor told her that she was a born writer, which brought Kidd back on track with her dream career. She became an editor for a magazine and learned more and more about literature and writing. Later, she would write her own book and accomplish her dreams.
    If I could interview Sue Monk Kidd about her life, the six questions that I would ask her would be:
    1. Why did you choose to become a nurse?
    2. What caused you to write The Secret Life of Bees? In other words, what inspired you to write the novel?
    3. Have you ever wanted to become something else besides a writer when you were little? If so, what?
    4. Do you have any regrets about not becoming a nurse?
    5. Do you think you would’ve been a good nurse?
    6. Have or will you ever finish that story that you started when you were thirteen that was set on the English moors?
    (Sorry I posted this so late. I actually finished my response at like 7:00, but I forgot to post it onto the website. While I was watching YouTube videos at 2:00 AM I suddenly realized that.)

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  101. Many aspects of Sue Monk Kidd’s life have contributed to her career as a writer. She grew up around stories because of her father, and learned to love them. She realized that if reading books was a passion of hers, maybe she would also enjoy writing them just as much. She started writing in Blue Horse note books. Then,in college, her professor told her that she was born to be a writer. That is what jumpstarted her career as a writer.

    If i had the honor to interview Sue Monk Kidd, i would ask her:
    1. Did your father ever become a professinal writer?
    2. Besides your father, what else inspired you to write books.
    3. What was your inspiration for "The Secret Life of Bees"?
    4. How did your family feel about your writings?
    5. What types of stories do you usualy like to write about?
    6. Why don't you like writing non-fiction books?

    ReplyDelete
  102. Sue Monk Kidds life involved reading and creating stories ever since she was a little girl. This explains that many apects of her life have contributed to her career as a phenomenal writer. The impression of others was that girls would grow up to only be the following, a nurse, secretary homemaker, or teacher. Sue chose nursing ehich caused others to become extremelely puzzled wondering why she wanted to be like tohers and not her true self she used to be before she stopped writing her sixteenth year. Sadly she realized she should start writing, but at the late age of thirty. Good thing she picked back up or else she wouldn'thave came up with such brilliant stories again.

    Six questions I would ask her are:
    1. What caused such a change in direction from religious editorials to fiction?
    2. What influenced you so much to take nursing?
    3. Was your dad your only inspiration in life?
    4. Did your surroundings play any part in your writing?
    5. Did you take part in any other activities during your childhood other than writings?
    6. What inspired you to write about bees?

    ReplyDelete
  103. The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness. This quote opens the story The Secret Life of Bees in Chapter 1. To me the quote means that when someone important to you is gone, you do not know what to do without them, and start to feel sad or empty inside. In Chapter 1 Lily has flashbacks of when her mother dies. T-Ray and Lily’s mom got into a fight and Lily’s mom got killed. Lily’s mom was the queen, when she left Lily was sad and lost without her. Lily living with T-Ray was bad for her. T-Ray didn’t give her any love like her mom did. You can say nothing can take the place of the queen.

    ReplyDelete

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