Barbara Hatcher Shaver

Barbara Hatcher Shaver: I think Mitch Albom’s book Tuesdays with Morrie has influenced my thinking. I enjoy non-fiction, particularly life stories and biographies. Albom did a fabulous job telling Morrie’s story as well as capturing his personality in the process. In so doing, he touches the soul of the reader. In a similar fashion, Bruce Feiler tells an interesting story in Where God Was Born and equally interesting is his Walking the Bible. One of my favorite fiction authors is Flannery O’Connor. A southerner by birth, I admire the way she sprinkles her writing with religion or the lack thereof. These nuggets of wisdom get my attention and make me think. I would like to be remembered in a similar way.

WS: What response have you had to your writing so far?

BHS: I consider a comment made in a rejection letter I received from the New Yorker magazine a compliment. They responded that they couldn’t use my piece, “despite its obvious merit.” I also got good feedback from my professors who said such things to me as, “Impressive writing” and “I knew you were going to give that character that name.”

WS: Was there a single idea that inspired one of your pieces?

BHS: Yes, the piece I posted on this website, “Be Careful What You Say,” was inspired by a line I was given to write something from in a writing workshop at the James River Writers Conference in 2005.

WS: Do you think that printed books will still have a future in an electronic age?

BHS: Yes, I do. I always print my work and proof it from a hard copy. I can read it and get a feel for it so much better by holding the piece in my hand than by reading it on the computer. Reading it electronically is good for technical proofing but to get the emotion and feel of the story, I like to read from the hard copy. I would not want to sit at a computer and read a book. I’d much rather curl up on a comfortable sofa or sit in a lounge chair and hold the book while I read it.

WS: In your opinion, what is the hardest thing about writing?

BHS: The more I learn about writing, the more difficult the process becomes for me. Honestly before I studied the craft I thought I was a better writer than I think I am now. I value a reader’s critique of my writing.

WS: What motivates you to keep on writing?

BHS: I enjoy entering contests, or being in a writer’s group. I’m not the well-disciplined person who writes a certain amount every day or who adheres to a schedule. More often than not something external motivates me to write.

WS: What are you reading now?

BHS: I usually have a couple of books going at once. I just finished reading Pat Conroy’s The Water Is Wide and Between Heaven and Ground Zero by Leslie Haskin. I have difficulty getting into contemporary fiction but I do try to read some fiction since I enjoy trying to write in that genre. Flannery O’Connor’s, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Faulkner’s short story, A Rose for Miss Emily, Ambrose Bierce’s, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, John Steinbeck’s, The Chrysanthemums, and Hemingway’s, Hills Like White Elephants, are among my favorite short stories. The Waiting Time by Eugenia Price is a good read and within the past year, I re-read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

WS: What historical figure do you most admire?

BHS: I think it would have to be Harriett Tubman. She had the fortitude to stand up for what she believed was right. Through this seemingly simple act, although very difficult for the age in which she lived, she had a huge impact on the Civil Rights Movement in America.

WS: What types of obstacles have you overcome to get where you are today?

BHS: For me it was education. From my earliest memories I wanted to get a college education but did not have the opportunity to do so when I was younger. Years later after my husband and I had put our children through college, I went to school and earned a bachelor’s degree.

WS: What is the best place in the world?

BHS: My home is the best place in the world. For me there is no feeling like being at home. I enjoy traveling and find it extremely interesting to visit places I’ve never been, but I most enjoy a day when I don’t have to go anywhere and can just be at home. Although I’ve had to move periodically throughout my life, I’ve always had a comfortable home. I’m very grateful for that.

WS: Talk about what’s going on in your life.

BHS: In the fall of each year, my family of origin and all of the extended family gets together to cook Brunswick stew over an open fire. It’s a lot of hard work but it is fun and is something all generations, which in our family at the present time spans 88 years, can enjoy. My husband and I also do some volunteer work. We help at God’s Storehouse in Danville and as members of Raceway Ministries we participate in this ministry at both of the Richmond and Martinsville NASCAR races. We also enjoy going to the same church that our daughter, her husband, and our three grandchildren attend. Our son lives in California, and we are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with him this year.
 

Barbara Hatcher Shaver is a native of Halifax County. Currently she lives in Danville with her husband, Jerry. They have two children and three grandchildren. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Creative Writing and Human Services. She was awarded a diploma in Writing for Children and Teenagers by the Institute of Children’s Literature. She is a member of the Association of Personal Historians. Currently she facilitates a workshop on "Writing Life Stories" and has another another one beginning in late March, 2007.

In addition to writing, Barbara enjoys scrap booking, music, reading, cross stitching, gardening, and, of course, her grandchildren.

Publishing History:

 “A Tale of Two Women,” which appeared in a college newspaper.

She won a contest sponsored by the Culpeper Star Exponent, Culpeper, VA in December, 1991 in which her piece, “My Fondest Christmas Memory,” took first place.

Three of her pieces, a poem entitled, “A Gentle Nature;” a children’s story entitled, “It All Adds Up;” and a short story, “An Interlude,” will be published in the 2006 edition of Sweetbay Review.

 She has written a devotional which will be published by the Virginia Conference Children’s Initiative Committee in their 2007 Lenten Devotional.

3rd Place winner in the 3rd annual Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History writer's competition on the interpretation of artwork. (2007)

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY

I came across him one day as I was jogging. I couldn't help but notice the soap-on-a-rope
dangling as he leaned over to tie his shoes. I stopped abruptly, almost fainted in the process.
When I caught my breath, I walked over to him and said, "1 can't help but notice the bar of soap
around your neck. Did you by any chance forget to shower this morning? I mean did you get up,
go in the bathroom, get in the shower, hang the soap around your neck, and well just left home
without showering?"

He looked kind of mystified as if everyone goes around with soap-on-a-rope hanging around
their necks. "Well, no," he said. "I showered. The bar of soap I used is at home because it is all
wet, sticky , and yucky--not fit for wearing. " I burped or hiccupped or something as I blurted
out, "You wear soap-on-a-rope just to wear it?"
"Yes, I do."
"Every day?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"'Because I never got married."

"Well, I think I understand I mean do you like soap-on-a-rope better than you like women?" I
was feeling really stupid by now. But, how do you talk to someone who wears soap-on-a-rope
because he has never married and how do you not talk to him? In my perplexed state, I
continued, "Did a former girlfriend give you a bar of soap-on-a-rope as a gift?"
"No, I got my first bar from my grandmother. When she handed it to me, she said, "Here, boy.
Keep yourself clean."