It can sometimes be unusual to picture an educator outside their position in the classroom. Students see their instructors as vessels of knowledge for wisdom and inspiration. But where does this wisdom and inspiration come from? And what do you do with it once you have it?
To answer these questions, one can look to the life and career of Susan Wackerbarth, instructor of English and creative writing coordinator at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Wackerbarth’s journey to publishing her first novel, No Place Like Home, is nothing short of wisdom and inspiration and one that reflects the long and winding road that travels between her experience as a writer, editor and educator.
“Writing is a process of discovery, and you will learn so much about yourself and the world through writing a novel,” Wackerbarth explained. “While following accepted formulas can make your work more marketable, I think it is most important to write what you want to write, the way you want to write it.”
Before arriving at UH Hilo, Wackerbarth worked for Microsoft in corporate communications and then moved to South Africa where she became a technical writer in Johannesburg. The birth of her son Peter set Wackerbarth on a freelancing path. After moving to Pietermaritzburg, Natal she held a career in copy editing and blurb writing. After her daughter Laura was born she freelanced for a Durban-based law center and traveled with paralegals to remote villages, interviewing people about current topics.
Her novel No Place Like Home is inspired by Wackerbarth’s time on Hawaiʻi Island and performances on Hilo Palace Theater’s stage. It’s described as a quirky and suspenseful novel centered around the East Hawaiʻi Community Players searching for a smash hit production to save Hilo’s historic theater from tropical weather, the ailing economy and a menacing network of drug dealers.
“I wanted a story idea that brought a lot of different characters together, and I wanted a clear timeline for my plot, so a community theater production at my beloved Palace Theater seemed just the thing,” Wackerbarth explained. “Your characters will reveal themselves and show you the way. It’s really hard, so you have to be kind to yourself and stick with it, even when it seems like an irredeemable mess.”
She recommends budding writers develop relationships with other writers and get a writing group together if possible. But she thinks success can still be possible even if the journey is done without peer support.
Wackerbarth is already working on other projects; the first novel she ever penned, Frog Dreams, remains unpublished and there’s a half-written third novel that she is debating to transform into a book-length collection of short stories. The UH Hilo instructor is also writing an entirely new book which originated in a weekly online Zoom writing group.
“There are so many ways to write, and so many ways to be a writer, as many as there are people,” she said. “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you you have to do it their way.”
The book is an independently published project through IngramSpark. Print copies and ebook versions are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books and the Library register. It will also be available in Basically Books in Hilo and Kona Stories.
For more go to UH Hilo Stories.
—By Zoi Nakamura, a UH Hilo student earning a bachelor of arts in English with a minor in performing arts and a certificate in educational studies.
