Photo Content from Susan Azim Boyer
Susan Azim Boyer (she/her), author of Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win, writes young adult fiction featuring Iranian American heroines she *never* encountered growing up, who make messy, complicated choices that rapidly snowball into avalanches. She hails from Nebraska but grew up in Los Angeles before spending several years in San Francisco and the next twenty in Sonoma County. She now lives in the Coachella Valley with her husband, Wayne, and her Pug mix, Teddy. Their son, Alec, lives in New York.
Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
It’s been incredibly humbling for people who are not my actual friends and family to read and connect to my books. I love hearing from readers who have been moved by Henry and Samira’s story and am especially touched by those who have also yearned for missing and absent parents or dealt with a family member struggling with alcohol addiction.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?
Start writing and don’t stop! Trust that your time will come for getting an agent, being published, etc. It’s a marathon – I didn’t break through the ticker tape till Mile 46. Open yourself to criticism. Have faith that it will make the work better. Become part of an engaged community of readers and writers.
What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?
The chapter in which Henry’s two moms (his bio-mom and her sister, who is raising him) get into a knock-down drag-out fight at a restaurant on his birthday! The scene is incredibly tense, and I felt such anxiety for Henry, who is always trying to negotiate peace between them.
Can you tell us when you started THE SEARCH FOR US, how that came about?
My husband, Wayne, was raised as an only child by his aunt and uncle. His bio-mom remained in the picture, but he never knew his biological father, who seemed to have disappeared. Several years ago for Christmas, I got him a DNA test to see if he had inherited any health risks from him.
To our utter shock, he was connected with a younger half-sister he had never known! Together, they began to search for their biological father (unfortunately, he passed away before they could find him). Immediately, I started thinking about what their lives would have been like if they had met as teenagers in the present day.
I drew inspiration from Wayne’s real-life story but grounded the book in my own experience including a yearning for absent parents (“who are still very much present in our lives,” as Samira says); struggling with co-dependence (TW for that and alcohol addiction); and internalized shame around my identity (Henry and Samira are being raised by their white families with no connection to their Iranian heritage).
What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?
Samira assumes responsibility for Kamron’s recovery from alcohol addiction as I did for my mother. I presumed to know everything about alcohol addiction and co-dependency. When my editor suggested an authenticity read from someone in recovery, I was offended. This was my lived experience. I knew what I was talking about.
Boy, was I humbled when the reader’s notes on the early draft came in. First and foremost, the extremely judgmental attitude Samira had toward her brother. I re-read the first several chapters and was stunned – and, frankly, embarrassed – by Samira’s lack of compassion for Kamron, which mirrored my own lack of compassion for my mother.
Secondly, Samira views her brother's alcohol addiction entirely through the prism of how it makes her feel with little regard for his suffering. She also mistakenly views Kamron’s recovery as a fixed, finite state rather than a fluid process that may ebb and flow over his life. The feedback not only greatly influenced the final draft of the book but also made me reconsider my relationship with my mother.
What were your inspirations for the character development?
My husband, Wayne, definitely inspired Henry: both play hockey; both have two mothers (a bio-mom and her sister) who battle for his affection; both are kind, patient, and understanding. Henry’s two mothers are inspired by Wayne’s real-life mothers. His bio-mom was something of a free spirit while her much older sister, who raised Wayne, was stricter and more controlling. But they both loved him in their own ways, and I hope that comes through in the book!
TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR US
Working at a men’s clothing store in the mall (to meet cute boys, of course!)
What is your happiest childhood memory?
Night swimming in our pool! To this day, I love to swim at night when the moon is out, and the pool lights come on.
What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?
The humanities: English and history. I love words and stories! I was good at both subjects.
Worse subject: Math. Ugh.
Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
Eating Hostess products with reckless abandon – especially Suzy Qs!
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
This Mary Oliver quote: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?” My answer: Make the most of it!
Which incident in your life totally changed the way you think today?
Joining my mother for the last week of her recovery counseling, where I learned that I had to surrender all the responsibility – and, therefore, control – I had tried to take on for her sobriety.
What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
Always, always, always my WIP – I often get a lightning bolt of inspiration when I’m drifting off and have to grab my phone to make a note of it.
If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?
I would reassure my mother how much I loved her even as I drew a firm boundary around her drinking.
First Love?
My first true love is my husband, Wayne! We got married right out of college.
When was the last time you told someone you loved them?
All day, every day, I tell my husband, my dog Jasper, and my son Alec that I love them!!
What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh?
Watching Ryan Gosling sing “Push” in the Barbie movie! I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.
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It’s been incredibly humbling for people who are not my actual friends and family to read and connect to my books. I love hearing from readers who have been moved by Henry and Samira’s story and am especially touched by those who have also yearned for missing and absent parents or dealt with a family member struggling with alcohol addiction.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?
Start writing and don’t stop! Trust that your time will come for getting an agent, being published, etc. It’s a marathon – I didn’t break through the ticker tape till Mile 46. Open yourself to criticism. Have faith that it will make the work better. Become part of an engaged community of readers and writers.
What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?
The chapter in which Henry’s two moms (his bio-mom and her sister, who is raising him) get into a knock-down drag-out fight at a restaurant on his birthday! The scene is incredibly tense, and I felt such anxiety for Henry, who is always trying to negotiate peace between them.
Can you tell us when you started THE SEARCH FOR US, how that came about?
My husband, Wayne, was raised as an only child by his aunt and uncle. His bio-mom remained in the picture, but he never knew his biological father, who seemed to have disappeared. Several years ago for Christmas, I got him a DNA test to see if he had inherited any health risks from him.
To our utter shock, he was connected with a younger half-sister he had never known! Together, they began to search for their biological father (unfortunately, he passed away before they could find him). Immediately, I started thinking about what their lives would have been like if they had met as teenagers in the present day.
I drew inspiration from Wayne’s real-life story but grounded the book in my own experience including a yearning for absent parents (“who are still very much present in our lives,” as Samira says); struggling with co-dependence (TW for that and alcohol addiction); and internalized shame around my identity (Henry and Samira are being raised by their white families with no connection to their Iranian heritage).
What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?
Samira assumes responsibility for Kamron’s recovery from alcohol addiction as I did for my mother. I presumed to know everything about alcohol addiction and co-dependency. When my editor suggested an authenticity read from someone in recovery, I was offended. This was my lived experience. I knew what I was talking about.
Boy, was I humbled when the reader’s notes on the early draft came in. First and foremost, the extremely judgmental attitude Samira had toward her brother. I re-read the first several chapters and was stunned – and, frankly, embarrassed – by Samira’s lack of compassion for Kamron, which mirrored my own lack of compassion for my mother.
Secondly, Samira views her brother's alcohol addiction entirely through the prism of how it makes her feel with little regard for his suffering. She also mistakenly views Kamron’s recovery as a fixed, finite state rather than a fluid process that may ebb and flow over his life. The feedback not only greatly influenced the final draft of the book but also made me reconsider my relationship with my mother.
What were your inspirations for the character development?
My husband, Wayne, definitely inspired Henry: both play hockey; both have two mothers (a bio-mom and her sister) who battle for his affection; both are kind, patient, and understanding. Henry’s two mothers are inspired by Wayne’s real-life mothers. His bio-mom was something of a free spirit while her much older sister, who raised Wayne, was stricter and more controlling. But they both loved him in their own ways, and I hope that comes through in the book!
TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR US
- Henry plays hockey like my husband Wayne, who was invited to try out for the U.S. Olympic team and has been a hockey stunt double in movies.
- Like me, Samira has an auto-immune disorder. We both break out in hives when we’re super stressed!
- I’ve lived in the book’s two locations: in Westlake Village (Southern California) for almost ten years and nearly twenty in Santa Rosa (Northern California).
- The “funky, little café” mentioned in Chapter Seven is Dierk’s Café in Santa Rosa, which has, hands down, the best breakfast ever!
- The Persian restaurant in Westlake Village that Henry mentions in Chapter Twenty-Four is Maral Cuisine – it is excellent! Order the Tahdigh starter with both kinds of stew!
- The fancy restaurant at which Henry attempts to celebrate his birthday is the Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas – home of the Kardashians.
- A childhood friend of my son’s who was very open about her adoption experience inspired the character of Henry’s girlfriend, Linh.
- I learned a lot about searching for a missing family member by helping my husband and his sister search for their father; there are some sad parallels between their bio-dad and Henry and Samira’s.
- Tara was the most fun character to write! She is so wonderfully ridiculous! I adore her.
- I drew on the experience of my brother-in-law, who is a retired Ventura County Sheriff, to research the book’s scenes that involve the police and law enforcement.
Working at a men’s clothing store in the mall (to meet cute boys, of course!)
What is your happiest childhood memory?
Night swimming in our pool! To this day, I love to swim at night when the moon is out, and the pool lights come on.
What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?
The humanities: English and history. I love words and stories! I was good at both subjects.
Worse subject: Math. Ugh.
Name one thing you miss about being a kid.
Eating Hostess products with reckless abandon – especially Suzy Qs!
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?
This Mary Oliver quote: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?” My answer: Make the most of it!
Which incident in your life totally changed the way you think today?
Joining my mother for the last week of her recovery counseling, where I learned that I had to surrender all the responsibility – and, therefore, control – I had tried to take on for her sobriety.
What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
Always, always, always my WIP – I often get a lightning bolt of inspiration when I’m drifting off and have to grab my phone to make a note of it.
If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?
I would reassure my mother how much I loved her even as I drew a firm boundary around her drinking.
First Love?
My first true love is my husband, Wayne! We got married right out of college.
When was the last time you told someone you loved them?
All day, every day, I tell my husband, my dog Jasper, and my son Alec that I love them!!
What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh?
Watching Ryan Gosling sing “Push” in the Barbie movie! I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe.
Samira Murphy’s family is falling apart, and she’s willing to do anything to hold it together, including caring for her grandmother and getting her brother into treatment for alcohol addiction. As if these weren’t enough, she’s desperate to get into her dream school. So, she takes a DNA test on the off chance that she will be able to get support from the father she hasn’t seen since infancy.
Henry Owen is caught between his unreliable biological mother and the overly strict aunt and uncle who stepped in to raise him. Longing to be seen for who he is, he takes a DNA test to try to find his biological father and the emotional care he needs.
Instead of finding their father, however, Samira and Henry find each other. As they work together to search for their father, they slowly begin to untangle their shared past and to bond as siblings. THE SEARCH FOR US is an emotional and heartfelt examination of family and belonging.
Henry Owen is caught between his unreliable biological mother and the overly strict aunt and uncle who stepped in to raise him. Longing to be seen for who he is, he takes a DNA test to try to find his biological father and the emotional care he needs.
Instead of finding their father, however, Samira and Henry find each other. As they work together to search for their father, they slowly begin to untangle their shared past and to bond as siblings. THE SEARCH FOR US is an emotional and heartfelt examination of family and belonging.
You can purchase Search for Us at the following Retailers:
And now, The Giveaways.
Thank you SUSAN AZIM BOYER for making this giveaway possible.
1 Winner will receive a Copy of The Search for Us by Susan Azim Boyer.
jbnlatestinterviews
I leave the shampoo/conditioner in my hair while I wash my body.
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