Interview With S.E. Toon of Ocean Village Bookstore (Marshfield, MA)

Ocean Village Bookstore is located at 1831 Ocean St, Library Plaza, Marshfield, MA.  Their winter hours are Tues-Sat 10am-4pm.

They can be found on the internet at http://oceanvillagebookstore.org/

I visited Ocean Village Bookstore in Marshfield, MA in order to interview the store manager Stacey Toon. Asked how she got started in the field as bookstore manager, she told me she was a lifelong reader. For 6 years she managed and published a music and art magazine called Cheeseball. She worked in corporate but because of the need to care for her mother, she had to work as bookseller due to better hours. After her mother died, she worked at Borders in Braintree, where she worked as manager for 6 years until the company went under. Queried about why they went under, Stacey replied that although people liked the bookseller setting and feel of Borders, they did not keep up with the times and such things as eBooks, whereas Barnes and Noble did.

Today she manages Ocean Village Bookstore, and has written and published a young adult adventure novel titled Pirates of Lobster Cove. It is part of a 5 book series, the second volume of which, Syrens of Lobster Cove, is aiming for an April 2015 release.

Describing the process of writing the series and stories, Stacey told me that the book tells you what it is. “Characters tell you who they are,” Stacey said. As the writing goes along, decisions characters make, and how they interact with each other is fleshed out. The backstory and character history are there, and gets out of your mind onto paper as you edit. The backstory is already there and doesn't change. As Stacey repeated a couple of times, “Writing is rewriting.” Creative writing will reveal the story as one writes and rewrites.

I asked Stacey about her sources of writing inspiration. “Writers are like sponges, they are the great observers,” she replied. She told me about having an “idea box” where she will write down an idea and put it in a box, for later perusal to see how the idea develops. One instance of a character idea developed from one of these scraps in the “idea box”. Over and over for a time, the phrase “accordion pants” recurred in her thinking. She put it in the idea box. Later, the thought of a character who was a retired policeman turned out, where she thought of him wearing ragged old pants that were so folded and creased that they looked like “accordion pants”.

Stacey holda sessions called “Story Circles” where a group will gather and start telling a story from scratch. She has theatrical experience, and these Story Circle sessions are like frantic improvisational storytelling brainstorm sessions. They will ask rapid fire questions like “Who did what?” “What next?” “Then what happens?” And in 20 minutes the group will have a rough sketch of a story. Stacey will immediately go and write down as much as possible to get it all on paper and written out before it is forgotten. She reports that anything that can be thought of can be used in a story. Even nonfiction can be observed too. Persons writing about country life, for example, are absorbing experience, where it reads like fiction but is factual.

Stacey's favorite aspect of doing this kind of work is the ability to promote literacy in the community. According to her, it is “too easy not to read.” She loves the experience of getting children excited about books. Watching TV or a movie is a cold medium, where it is passive, and it dulls one mentally and emotionally. Books are a hot medium, where you have to actively imagine what is going on, including setting and the details. This is why someone will often say a book version is better than the movie, “because you worked through it, you imagined it, it was yours.” With books, you can have a cineplex on the coffee table or bookshelf, and you can go anywhere between the covers of a book. Stories allow one to think big and go anywhere. Stacey recommends that all parents of young children spend at least 15 minutes a day reading with them.

As advice to local writers trying to publish, Stacey urged “Write and rewrite. Don't just write, read a lot too.” She encourages reading a lot within one's own genre as well as other subjects and also reading nonfiction books about creative writing. Also, she advises trying to find someone else who writes, and read and discuss each others' writing. Try to find a social network of writers and make writing social. Writers can be introverted and have self-defense mechanisms against being rejected. So a writer needs to make writing a social activity and receive and give constructive criticism, and also learn from others. “The audience completes the work,” says Stacey.

Stacey recommends everyone engage themselves in the “process of writing”. The process of writing and reading on the page is therapeutic. It is like getting a good look in the mirror which calms and validates oneself. Sharing a piece of oneself calms and relieves, and is actually used in the treatment of PTSD and other mental issues. Eventually, says Stacey, “you write because you cannot not write.”

My last question to Stacey Toon was “Who are your favorite writers and books?” Stacey claims she “grew up on Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, and John Irving.” She absolutely loves Charles Dickens, especially Great Expectations. She mentioned Sue Cooper, whose Dark Is Rising about a 13 year old who doesn't understand his powers, is a precursor to the Harry Potter stories of J.K Rowling. Stacey also was influenced by Madeleine L'Engle. But one of Stacey's favorites is S.E. Hinton who wrote The Outsiders, because she realized she could write a book she would want to read. Stacey Toon loved that idea and as mentioned before, has written a series of young adult novels which I hope to see published soon that I may read them.

I have started reading her already published Pirates of Lobster Cove, and am enjoying it so far, and I can't wait to see where this story goes. I have been interested in writing stories myself, and after interviewing Stacey, I am now more so inspired to start the process of doing so.

Ocean Village Bookstore is located at 1831 Ocean St, Library Plaza, Marshfield, MA.  Their winter hours are Tues-Sat 10am-4pm.

They can be found on the internet at http://oceanvillagebookstore.org/