Kathryn Brown Ramsperger

Kathryn Brown Ramsperger is a lifelong writer, who’s published articles in National Geographic and Kiplinger, short stories in The MacGuffin, The Penman Review, and scores of others, most recently, The Nelligan Review  Her first short story was published in a local college literary journal when she was 16. She was a humanitarian journalist throughout Europe, S.E. Africa, and the Middle East, covering war, family, disaster, and displacement. She writes about her time there in her books and whenever possible. Kathryn loves to review books, coach authors in mindset, and share her stories through speaking. All her work focuses on the connections we all share, and how our stories  we tell ourselves and others can divide or heal us. It's our choice: Do we choose love and peace? Or judgment and war? 

Her two award-winning published novels The Shores of Our Souls and its standalone sequel A Thousand Flying Things are about two people forced to choose between country, family, religion, and career And in the second novel, a child. But nothing is as it seems, and that very child will lead them home.

Instagram: @KathyRamsperger

Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?

When I write, I see the story unfold in my imagination much like a film would. I'm very visual, and sounds and smells stimulate my imagination, too. It's like it's playing before my interior eyesight. So many films have had an influence on my writing, from Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries to the Matrix series. However, I'd say my two novels were influenced most  by "Casablanca," "A Passage to India," "The English Patient," "The Kite Runner," and "Moulin Rouge." I also enjoy films made from novels, though I'd prefer to read the novel first. I like any story that transports me to a different time, culture, and place. Stories that lend a different perspective to a well known tale, and I hope my novels do likewise for readers. I'm also drawn to stories that convey a subtle message or lesson. 

Vacation druthers...City or Rural? Why?

I like a mix, because cities have arts, culture, and museums, and rural destinations are all about communing with Nature. If I had to choose, I'd pick a small but historical city like Edinburgh or Inverness, close enough for day trips into the mountains. Mountains renew my spirit in a way the ocean doesn't, and I love to hike. I think to get the real feel of a country, you have to experience both. If I absolutely had to choose, I'd choose city because I'd learn about the history of the place, its people, and its culture through architecture and the Arts. I enjoy vacations outside the U.S. most because I'm learning so much new information and experiencing a different type of people and perspective. 

Do you collect anything? What, why, and for how long?

I collect at least one tiny trinket from every country I visit. They serve as talismans for my writing, so I'll keep them as long as I have room for them. Because they are miniature, I'm sure I'll have them lifelong. I also purchase tiny boxes when I travel. I have Limoges boxes from France, Damascene boxes from the Middle East, soapstone sculptured boxes from Africa. When I touch them, they transport me back to that time and place. People say I have a great memory, and I think this is one reason why. Plus, I love boxes of all kinds. When I was five, I made an empty refrigerator box into a tree house, and it lasted for a year. There's something about the safe confinement of box without any locks and keys, one you can settle in and imagine new worlds stories, and then break free into the open air. I wrote a tale about a child who found a box she used to teletransport. 

Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?

I enjoy sewing but don't have total patience for it anymore. I used to love taking a pattern and designing it into my own style. I also liked to mix and match clothing to create a totally different look. My mother and grandmother were extraordinary seamstresses, and we all love fashion. My mom made me costumes for "Othello" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." I still use what I learned in those roles to walk my characters' path. Both mother and grandmother also knit and crocheted, but try as I might, I never got the hang of either. I do enjoy cross stitch as a sort of meditation. 
However, my greatest joy other than writing comes from music. I love to dance. I tried to take my husband to lessons, but he didn't learn much because the instructor was always stealing me away from him to show the rest of the class how a certain step was done. It comes to me naturally, like writing. What I also excel at but doesn't come as naturally is singing. I sing solos at weddings and funerals, but it takes so much practice. So I'm happy with singing in the shower now that writing takes almost all my time. 

Do you speak a second language? Do you think differently in that language? Does it influence your writing?

I speak French and broken Spanish. I do think differently in French. I used to dream in it. I worked in a Francophone country as a humanitarian and I always said I'd consider myself fluent if I knew all the printing terms in French and when I understood a joke told in French. But I think that might have been incorrect without adding that I think differently in French. I think in terms of detail and description in French, and I tink in terms of action in English. French for me is a language of adjectives, and English a language of verbs. I read Colette and Robbe-Grillet in French and English and wrote a short-term essay about what I got from the story that was different in each language. I understood the interior of both authors in the books' original language, but was that the way I thought or the limitations of translation?