Author Carol Heumann Snider from Gig Harbor, Washington, is a retired educator who designed educational software for companies like Disney, Edmark, Humongous, and others. She has also been a technical project manager with Microsoft and the Director of Professional Development at The Gottman Institute in the field of couples therapy and research. She has been writing since she could write – journals, diaries, and stories. In 2006, Carol began her first blog Northwestladybug, writing almost daily for many years and acquiring a dedicated following. Her second blog eventually became her first published book, “Letters from Omi: My Father’s Reluctant Holocaust Memoir, as Told to My Grandchildren”. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum has already requested copies of it for their library and their museum store. Carol is a member of PNWA, NaNoWriMo, and a variety of writers’ groups on Facebook, such as Moms Who Write, Greater Gig Harbor Literary Society, Writers Cooperative of the Pacific Northwest, and Historical Novel Society. When Carol is not writing, she explores family genealogy and history, or she spends time with her three young grandchildren.
Which genres do you cover?
Carol Heumann Snider: So far, just memoir, but my plan is to eventually write an historical fiction book based on my German grandmother’s experience as a non-Jewish woman who, in 1919, married the man she loved, who happened to be a Jew. Unwittingly, she eventually became, by her sole existence, all that stood between her beloved husband and their “Mischling” (mixed-breed) children and deportation to a concentration camp. When she died suddenly in 1944, all hell broke loose for her family.
Which is the latest book you had published, and what is about?
Carol Heumann Snider: It is “Letters from Omi: My Father’s Reluctant Holocaust Memoir, as Told to My Grandchildren”. It deals with my experiences and impressions as a first-generation American around my German father’s two unpublished books written for his own children and grandchildren about his experiences during WWII. Amazon describes it as an “exploration of almost 100 years of generational trauma as well as a poignant comparison of the political climates of Germany in the 1930s and the US today”.
At which book events can readers find you?
Carol Heumann Snider: I’d like my book to be part of educational programs. My goal for it has always been to share my family history with my grandchildren, so I want to remain true to that. To the extent that it can help others understand one family’s experience in Germany during the Holocaust and make sure that such events never happen again, I’d like my family’s story to be known.
Which book event connecting you with readers is your favorite and why?
Carol Heumann Snider: The programs department at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum has been informed of my book. I would LOVE to do an interview or be part of a program with them. As an ex-educator, I’d also like to connect with students directly, locally and/or nationally.
Do you have any specific messages to your readers and, if so, which are they?
Carol Heumann Snider: As Holocaust survivors have been dying off and their first-person accounts of their experiences have been waning, and as fascism begins to re-emerge in numerous countries around the world, the words “never again” have begun to lose their impact. It’s important that first-hand accounts of Holocaust experiences continue to be told. My father refused to tell his story publicly when he was alive, leaving it to me to tell it now. My hope is that I do this in a way that is both respectful and impactful.
Which writer(s) keep(s) inspiring you and why?
Carol Heumann Snider: I love Anne Lamott’s and Elizabeth Gilbert’s easy conversational styles and their attitudes about writing!
Do you have specific writing habits?
Carol Heumann Snider: I keep a hand-written journal (“Morning Pages”) that I try to attend to (but often don’t). Writing a novel is very intimidating for me and the only way “Letters from Omi” was ever finished is that it was a blog first. I bought Scrivener with the hope that it would allow me more flexibility, thus making novel writing less intimidating. So far, no luck!
What are you currently working on?
Carol Heumann Snider: I am THINKING about writing a children’s book, and I am THINKING about that historical novel. I am not WORKING on either of them (yet)!
Which book are you currently reading simply for entertainment?
Carol Heumann Snider: “Puppies for Dummies”. We just got Boomer, a Golden Mountain Dog (half Golden Retriever, half Bernese Mountain Dog). He is all of 13 weeks old — still peeing and pooping in the house and chewing everything he can get his mouth around. I am wondering what got into us, getting a puppy in our 60s!
What advice would you give any aspiring author?
Carol Heumann Snider: Just write. Pay no attention to those perceived eyes looking over your shoulder, judging your every word!
You can find Carol Heumann Snider’s blogs at https://northwestladybug.com and https://lettersfromomi.blogspot.com/ and her book at https://www.amazon.com/Carol-Heumann-Snider/e/B0BJFKTCM9 .
