Summer Newman

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Summer Newman is a Canadian writer who has been published by 60 magazines and newspapers, including an article on black history with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.. Summer has published many dozens of romance stories with magazines in New York and has published literary pieces in periodicals in both Canada and the United States. Summer has written both a weekly literary column and published articles on writing technique. Topics covered by Summer include everything from alternative music to the outdoors to personality profiles. Summer has published prominently in both fiction and non-fiction and considers all projects immensely satisfying, from a published fairy tale on frogs and a dragonfly to political Op-Eds in a prominent newspaper.

Q: What is your idea of the perfect hero?

A: For me the perfect hero is not only good-looking and sexy, he's a man who is not the least bit afraid of death, but will fight like raging hell to protect the woman he loves.

Q: What are your favorite movies of all time?

A: My favorite movie of all time is an adaptation of the classic romance novel, Pride and Prejudice, starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. I believe Jane Austen wrote one of the true masterpieces in all of world literature with this piece. I also love A Streetcar Named Desire with Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando.

Q: What are your favorite books of all time?

A: My two favorite books of all time are Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Almost all novels are romance stories in some way, even the highly intellectual Russian masterpiece which throws together a misguided murderer and a highly moral prostitute. Wuthering Heights is so amazing it almost intimidated me into quitting writing.

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

A: I would like to visit unusual destinations like North Korea, Iran, and the set of a Bollywood movie starring Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit. I believe Devdas is the most physically beautiful movie ever made, as if Federico Fellini teamed up with Michelangelo. I would love to visit Russia someday, as I majored in Russian Literature in university and feel an affinity for the Russian soul, from the downtrodden Volga boatmen, to Anton Chekhov's Sonya in Uncle Vanya, to the writers who were always searching for something that cannot be found.

Q: Do you have any public heroes?

A: The person I most admired died in December of 2011. His name was Christopher Hitchens and I believe he was the one of the greatest speakers who ever lived. I didn't agree with everything he said, but I admired his courage, his advocacy for free speech, his defense of the Bill of Rights, his sense of humor, and his brave, unflinching battle with cancer, a disease that took his life, but never his dignity. I would put Christopher Hitchens on a stage with Plato, Socrates, or anyone else who ever lived, and I know they could not dominate his mind or his spectacular gift for the spoken word. He was a great writer, too.

Q: What is your writing day like?

A: My writing fluctuates, but for the last four months I have been writing six to eight hours a day, seven days a week. When things are going well, my fingers can't type fast enough to keep up with my mind. When things are going poorly, I force myself to produce something, even if I know it's going in the delete bin. I do not smoke, do any kind of drugs, or ever touch alcohol. I believe this helps maintain a clear mind. Many days I do not turn off the computer until my mind is as tired as my body would be if I just completed a marathon. Even if I believe it will be very hard to place a piece of writing, including a novel, I will write it anyway and give it everything I've got, including months of intensive labor.

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