Heart to Heart: Crafting Stories with Heart with Carolyn Summer Quinn

Content Warning: This interview discusses themes of bullying, substance abuse, and personal struggles. Reader discretion is advised.

This interview looks into Carolyn Summer Quinn’s journey as an author, exploring how her personal experiences and values influence her storytelling. We discuss her award-winning book, “Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit,” and how it embodies themes of compassion, resilience, and making a difference.

Carolyn, thank you for joining us today. Could you please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background and what drives you as a writer?

Hello there! It’s so nice to be here today! My name is Carolyn Summer Quinn, and I started enjoying writing stories all the way back when I was in grammar school. I write because I love it and try to create stories encompassing a lot of positivity. Even in the ones that are mysteries, I put in as much hope for a resolution as possible.

Writing from a place of passion often leads to stories that feel organic and inspired. Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit has been recognized as a Difference Maker. Can you tell us what inspired this story and what message you hope readers take away from it?

Believe it or not, this one just came to me one day as I was sitting outside drinking a coffee in front of the rose bushes in my backyard. I have always been interested in the history of vaudeville and the lifestyle of performers who move all over the country from one venue to the next. In this instance I thought of a devoted vaudeville song and dance man father whose girlfriend had left him with their two children to raise. Suddenly one of the children vanishes. The book took off and flew from there!

Your storytelling often highlights themes of compassion and resilience. How do your personal experiences influence these themes in your writing?

Let’s just say I know what it’s like to sometimes find yourself in a puzzling situation and have to rise above it. A teacher at one of the schools I attended tormented me for two solid years because she asked my mother for a favor and my mother said no. It may not sound like much in the scheme of life, but it was horrific to experience all of that negativity and nastiness as a child. Somehow I managed not to buy into anything that awful woman said. Later I found out she was on drugs and had a perverted interest in little boys, and that was in addition to her harassment of me and God only knows who else. What a freak! People need to NOT get caught up in some of these bad situations. It’s so important to stay true to yourself, and I’m sure that comes across loud and clear in my writing.

Can you share some of the challenges you faced while writing this book and how you overcame them?

To be perfectly honest, I found this book easy to write. The main challenge was to stay true to the period details. It’s set in the 1920s, and that’s a decade that I’ve always adored because the music was so wonderful, so I know a lot about it. On the other hand, there was a flip side to the era, like Prohibition, which led to gangsters and bootleggers taking over the liquor business. Lots of people in America during that era also joined the Klan. So it was a terrific time on the one hand, yes, but a scary one on the other. Perfect for a mystery!

How do you approach character development to ensure they resonate with readers on a personal level?

I think there’s always going to be a common thread of humanity between all of us. I find that just because the time period, and therefore the background setting, is different from today, it’s still possible to create characters that everyone can identify with. Whether it’s 1925 or 2025, a decent father desperate to locate his missing seven-year-old daughter is someone whose motivations can hit home with everybody, and that’s what is happening in VANISHED ON THE VAUDEVILLE CIRCUIT.

Could you discuss any specific research you conducted to authentically portray the vaudeville era in your novel?

Well, like I was saying, I’ve always been interested in vaudeville. That started when I was a child and first discovered the story of Gypsy Rose Lee and her sister, “Baby June,” who traveled all over America with a vaudeville act. What a childhood that must have been! I’d also previously written MAMA ROSE’S TURN about their mother, Rose, who inspired the Broadway musical GYPSY. As a result, when I started this book, most of my research on vaudeville had already been done years ago. For this one, I had to look up some finer points of the theaters at the time, and some of the social mores of the 20s as well. The main character, August, is a nice guy who reinvented himself, and that was very prevalent during the early part of the last century, especially among immigrant families who wanted a fresh start. August’s parents were immigrants, his real name is Avram, and he’s from the Lower East Side of New York City…

What does receiving the Difference Maker award mean to you personally and professionally?

I was so happy about it and so surprised! I love it that I won such a lovely award! I made a little sign for it, which I’m attaching, and posted that all over social media to celebrate!

Are there any particular moments or feedback from readers that have affirmed the impact of your work?

The very best feedback I get is whenever a reader tells me, “I didn’t guess whodunit! I thought it was somebody else!” Every time that happens, I say to myself, “Woo-hoo! With this story, I did RIGHT!”

Beyond writing, you also find ways to contribute positively to your community. What causes are close to your heart, and how do you support them?

Grow where you’re planted and always try to be kind, I say. I also like to support organizations like Operation Smile that provides surgery to children with cleft palates. Those children are mocked forever unless they get the surgery. Having been bullied way back when by a messed-up excuse for a “teacher,” I can’t think of anything worse than a child being mocked, and love the idea of alleviating that situation, one small donation at a time.

Looking ahead, what projects are you currently working on, and how do they continue your mission of crafting stories with heart?

I keep on writing whenever a story pops into my head. One that I wrote recently, UNTIL THE STARS ALIGN, is getting a lot of good reactions, as is THE MYSTERY FROM WAY BACK WHEN. Both are set during World War II, one in Europe, the other in America, and both follow the stories of some very decent people. That’s the thing I’ve found. If you make the characters decent, the story flows easily!

Book Review: Vanished on the Vaudeville Circuit by Carolyn Summer Quinn

About Heart to Heart

Heart to Heart is HeartBeat’s interview series that features candid conversations with inspirational people who are truly changing the world. From social entrepreneurs and grassroots activists to organization founders and community leaders, every conversation goes deeply into the experiences, difficulties, and driving forces behind their influential work.

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