B.B. Shamp is a newcomer to NFPW. She joined six months ago and she is already a national award winner. She will be attending the NFPW conference in Alabama, thanks in part to an Education Fund First Timer Grant. She says she looks forward to networking with members, attending workshops and picking up her national first place award for the adult novel she wrote. Enjoy getting to know this unique and unbelievable member.
Name: B.B. Shamp
City and State: Selbyville, Delaware, 2.5 miles from the ocean on an inland bay with 180 degree water views. Wait 10 minutes and the light changes and everything with it. I live on what’s known as the Delmarva Peninsula. Lower Delaware and the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia are very rural.
B.B. Shamp
Affiliate and any leadership positions: Delaware Press Association. I’m a newbie. Writing was not my career (except for writing educational evaluations) and a friend encouraged me to join this past year. I spent 34 years teaching H.S. special education in the Washington D.C. Metro area where I grew up. That kind of experience leaves a stamp, politically, and of course, as a social progressive.
Years a member of NFPW: 6 months
Tell us a little about you.
This is an excerpt from a press release here on the Peninsula: B.B. Shamp began writing after an accident and a near death experience in 2008. Beginning with poetry, she wrote to explore her thoughts and feelings during rehabilitation. Sustaining her in these difficult moments was the euphoric memory of seeing the white light. Despite a traumatic brain injury and being diagnosed with PTSD, she fought hard to return to her former self and in doing so discovered a new person. Never able to return to her old life, she figured that if she could write a suspense novel and lay breadcrumbs for the reader to follow, she had at least regained her voice and ability to communicate.
Her first novel, Third Haven, is the culmination of that work. “I didn’t begin with a desire to publish for a wider audience,” she said. “It was a personal journey.” She is currently working on a sequel. Asked if she has any plans to write a memoir, she responded, “That story should explore the depths of love and persistence. There are so many people I owe so much who helped me along the way. That’s going to take time.”
Any career advice you would give?
In the last five months, I’ve heard mostly how hard it is to get a publisher, how hard it is to support yourself. And I even heard from a 55 year old MFA department chair who still has student loans. All this reminds me of the Dickensian character locked in a cold garret, pouring out her soul by the light of a sputtering candle, her fingers freezing as the words are scratched across the parchment. Is the message meant to discourage anyone of a literary bent and demand they go find a REAL job? I hope NOT! The hard part, if you’re just starting out in this field is to know whether you have the knack for it. The field is so damn competitive that in my mind, the genuine response is to write because it answers some inner quest. If your real job is soul smothering, then keep writing to find your strength. I wrote to find myself. I still have moments when I’m aphasic, blank on word retrieval or experience mental whiteout. Writing gets me past it. And a good thesarus, of course!
Which talent would you most like to have?
To be a fabulous painter….in oils…dirty fingernails and the smell of linseed oil are evocative of a different world.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Everywhere. I’d love to have a bed in every picturesque town in the world if only for two weeks.
What book are you reading?
What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman and Jillian Sullivan’s book of poetry, Parallel.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
Dead family members make great inspiration.
Why is your affiliate and NFPW important to you?
The support, for god’s sake! Writing is such a lonely vocation and living on the Peninsula makes that even harder since you have to drive far and wide to connect with other writers.
Way to follow you on a website, twitter, Facebook, etc.
http://www.bbshamp.com and on facebook as bbshamp.
Talking with Teri 