CU@8 Book Review and Interview with Cindy Vine
CU@8 by author Cindy Vine is one of the really charming books now sitting on my book-a-holic shelf of good reads. This inviting tale of two middle-aged single mothers often reminded me of a pair of modern day Lucy and Ethel’s inventing new horizons in the ultimate helicopter parenting games, shortly after their respective off-spring have flown the coop. Like some of the I Love Lucy hair-brained schemes, both women in CU@8 are out to rescue their young. The main character Fenella Fisher, is on a mission to find a good man for her heartbroken daughter after a breakup, a daughter who always seems to pick the wrong kind of guy. Suki Raminowitz is her best friend and companion in matchmaking crimes, and is the ultimate enabler of her long out-of-control son, who is once again in hot water thanks to his wayward lifestyle.
I liked the fact that Cindy Vine’s CU@8 got what many women around the world instinctively know — that your children are always children in their mother’s eyes, regardless of how grown-up they think they are or may really be. As a mother and grandmother, it’s easy to see why the two main characters would feel the need to intervene on behalf of their now adult children.
Fears, Phobias and Frozen Feet
Survival Tips for the Suddenly Single
Defective
The Case of Billy B
Stop the World, I Need to Pee
The Great Mountain To Mountain Safari
Not Telling
All of them are excellent books and very worthy reads. Some of them are nonfiction, while others are reality based fiction of great substance and thought provoking. This very capable author is one that Eye On Life Magazine is thrilled to review and interview.
Interview with Cindy Vine
1. What is the biggest obstacle that you faced in writing CU@8?
My biggest obstacle was definitely time. I have quite a demanding job and when I get home all I want to do is put my feet up and collapse in front of the TV and watch some mindless reality show where I don’t have to think too much. Weekends are pretty much when I write full steam. But even so, one also has to have a bit of social life. Once I am a few chapters into the novel I get into the zone where I make the time and try to stick to at least a thousand words a day.
2. In my opinion, Fenella Fisher emerges as a stronger than she realizes, enduring character. Readers first met her in your book, Stop the World I Need to Pee and again in this book. Do you plan on developing her character further in future books?
Fenella is not dead and will definitely resurface again in future books. I think she’s had plenty of adventures to write about.
3. Likewise, Suki Rainowitz’s character comes across as the kind of woman many of us have in our lives for a friend — women who have been suppressed previously in a relationship, that find themselves suddenly single and then move in a polar opposite direction, usually starting with their personal fashion but often going way beyond that as they search for a new way to define and express their identity. Do you plan on developing her character further in future books?
Suki was an interesting one for me. She started off as a minor character and grew into a full on side-kick and took on a bigger role. It was like she had spent so much of her life hiding in the background that she just wanted, needed almost, to push her way into the limelight. I had no option but to take her there and give her her own story thread. She can be forceful, can’t our Suki? I think Suki is the perfect friend fit for Fenella and she will be back.
4. Knowing a little bit about your backround in living in a more remote part of the world, you face exceptional challenges when it comes to the ideal environment to write. I think many would-be authors, writers, and readers should be inspired by you and your ability to consistently write excellent books despite all of that.
Cindy Vine and her three childrenYou don’t always have reliable electricity, battle ant infestations, deal with night time constant barking dogs, can’t be sure that your personal belongings won’t be stolen, have responsibilities as a teacher, etc. Furthermore, as a single mom, you still have one teenager at home, two newly emerged from the coop adult children who are often far away to worry about, and have also managed to take on a formidable foe — breast cancer, and still survive with grace and the energy to go for your dreams. Are you secretly a Kunoichi Ninja warrior?
One has to do what you can to survive. I’m not sure about being a Kunoichi Ninja, but I do think I am the ultimate survivor. I have had breast cancer twice, a thyroid so covered in tumors it was slowly suffocating me to death, a DVT, and now I have no thyroid, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Charming.
I could succumb and wallow in self-pity, or I could go out and live my life to the fullest. You might think living in the wop-wops is not living life to the fullest, but it is a challenge and an adventure. In my books the main character usually overcomes some kind of adversity. I think that’s where I can put some of me into my writing. Whether it be the march of the ants, or frequent power cuts or noisy teenagers, you have to find a way to work through those problems and move past them. You can’t let adversities overcome you. Plus they make great material for stories!
5. Like many authors today you have joined the ranks of other writers of ebooks. In a world where digital media is changing book publishing dramatically and marketing of books being left up to authors — you are competing with millions of other books and digital media in an ever decreasing pie of readers with short attention spans and shrinking funds to indulge in the buying of books. Do you find the chore of marketing as daunting as many other authors are feeling? Does it consume a lot of your time?
Marketing is a nightmare. There I have said it out loud. It’s already a struggle for me to find time to write. It’s impossible to find the time to do proper marketing. I do some, but I will be the first one to admit I don’t do it properly and with enough intensity. I do the basics and luckily word-of-mouth has done the rest, but I could do a lot more. A lot lot more.
Every time we have school holidays I think, “This holiday I’ll focus on marketing.” Then I don’t. Visiting family and friends, shopping in a real shopping mall seems to be the focus and once again marketing is put on the back-burner.
Cindy Vine at cooking course with her youngest daughter in Chinag Mai Thailand6. Having read a number of your books there are certain passages that leave my mouth watering. In CU@8, the grilled calamari with sweet chili sauce and the descriptions of the African coffee had me wishing I were joining Fenella Fisher for a meal or two. I’ve noticed that a lot of authors of late include recipes, is there any chance that grilled calamari with sweet chili sauce is found in your recipe box?
I could include a recipe of that in my recipe box! Haha. I do love cooking (when I get the time). My youngest daughter and I decided that every weekend we were going to cook one thing we never cooked before. It has proved to be a very good mother-daughter bonding time.
7. As an American, part of the appeal of all of your books are the glimpses into everyday life on a different continent, both striking in similarities and contracts compared to our part of the world. We often get skewed viewpoints of your piece of the world, thanks to our entertainment driven so-called news media that only focuses on certain aspects of your country, largely negative.
That coupled with the differences in what we consider British English and American English, both in common expressions and in spellings — I hope that we can persuade more authors from your part of the world like you, to include subtle back stories and education in your story lines to give us a truer picture. So, that makes me wonder if the slight cultural differences are a conscious thing you add to your books or does it just happen naturally?
I would say it happens naturally. I write what I know and have experienced. The hardest book I had to write was The Case of Billy B, because that was set in America. I had two different American editors help me un-British English it, but I think some still crept in. My new book I am working on, Hush Baby, will also be set in South Africa. CU@8 was a little sojourn into the light. With Hush Baby, I’ll be venturing into the dark.
If You’d Like To Know More About Cindy Vine and Some of Her Books!