Some of Tim's Stories by S. E. Hinton

Author:S. E. Hinton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION/General
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2013-04-03T04:00:00+00:00

Sequels

“He’s okay, but I don’t share the pillow.”—Mr. Smithers

JULY 18, 2006—TULSA, OKLAHOMA

Even though I’ve learned to expect the ceramic Siamese curled up in Susie’s living room chair, it still startles me. The cat is territorial and seems to pounce on any imagination that bypasses it en route to the den, the room where Susie is most comfortable. Susie already has tumblers of wine waiting for us, and we assume the same places on the sofa that worked for us during our first interview. Ours is a relaxed conformity. We know where to plug in the tape recorder—there is an extension cord under the coffee table—but we also allow ourselves “unplugged” time in between questions to top off our glasses. Another Siamese stares at me from a portrait above the large-screen television. Like its ceramic counterpart, it flirts with the notion of being real. “That’s Mr. Smithers,” Susie says, but she is referring instead to an actual cat that has joined us to sit rigidly atop the coffee table. Smitty, an orange tabby, looks porcelain. Susie claims as an aside that she keeps him because he matches her décor—the oranges and browns—but her affection is obvious as she explains he can disco dance on command. He isn’t in the mood, so our thoughts grudgingly turn to fiction, real life, and some fuzzy distinctions.

So many wonderful things came to you courtesy of The Outsiders: international recognition, financial security.

I was making about two cents a book. I’ll call it financial help in the first few years, but it certainly wasn’t security.

During our last visit, you talked about the writer’s block you developed after The Outsiders when you were working on That Was Then, This Is Now.

In the ending of That Was Then, This Is Now, when Bryon says he’s emotionally drained from caring about people, he reflects my own state of mind. I was emotionally drained from having lived The Outsiders and then having it be over. It just wiped me out.

You’ve said what a help your boyfriend, David, now your husband, was to you while you were writing the book. Did that strengthen your relationship?

It’s funny, because I got the contract on our wedding day. Before, when the contract for The Outsiders arrived on graduation day, I thought, Graduation is nothing; I sold my book! But when my contract came for That Was Then, This Is Now, I was thinking, This is nothing; I’m getting married.

Many writers—Harper Lee is an example—write such successful first novels, they wonder if they can ever write at that level again. Did you experience any of those feelings after The Outsiders?

I still think I can write something better than The Outsiders, but I’ve given up hope that I’ll do anything that’s as well loved. That doesn’t bother me. How can you top something that has touched people the way The Outsiders has? I don’t even worry about that.

Was there a defining moment for you when you realized

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