Episode 99
Fire Eating, Friendship, and Female Empowerment With Cherie Dawn Haas -99
Curious about the life experiences that fuel a writer's imagination? In today's episode of Author Express, host Kathleen Basi chats with prolific author Cherie Dawn Haas. Cherie wrote her first book in 2016, titled Girl on Fire. It was inspired by her days as a fire eater and tribal belly dancer, and came at a time when she wanted to spend more time at home. While still a fire dancer at heart, Cherie Dawn now expresses herself through the written word. By day, she is an online editor for the art division of Streamline Publishing, and by night (and weekends) writes fiction and poetry in addition to teaching yoga.
Cherie is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association, and she leads the county library’s Rough Draft Collab writers group, as well as writing retreats and online coaching in writing, publishing, meditation, and yoga.
Living on a small farm helps inspire her work as well; you’ll often see this in her poetry and short stories that feature dogs, such as her Plott hound, Dangit Rusty, and her chickens. For example, Ashes for William, Cherie Dawn’s second novel, features a rooster who plays quite a role in this rural story of a tested friendship.
You can learn more on her website, CherieDawn.com, find links to her podcast and books, and click the Newsletter link to receive her monthly LifeSoup email with inspiration and motivation on how to live better with yourself and others.
A little about today's host-
Author and musical composer Kathleen Basi is mother to three boys and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Her debut novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, follows a musician on an unconventional road trip. Bestselling author Kerry Anne King writes, “In a novel filled with music, heartbreak, and surprising laughter, Basi takes us on a journey that encompasses both unimaginable loss and the powerful resilience of the human heart.”
Meaty, earnest, occasionally humorous, and ultimately uplifting, Kathleen’s fiction highlights the best within ourselves and each other. She writes monthly reflections on life, writing and beauty on her newsletter. Subscribe at https://kathleenbasi.substack.com/.
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Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books -
Transcript
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Kathleen Basi [:Welcome to Author Express. Thanks for checking us out. This is the podcast where you give us 15 minutes of your time, and we give you a chance to hear the voice behind the pages and get to know some of your favorite writers in a new light. I'm one of your hosts, Kathleen Bassey. I'm an award winning musical composer, feature writer, essayist, and, of course, storyteller. Let me tell you a little about today's guest.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Cherie Dawn Haas is the author of Girl on Fire and Ashes for William, as well as 2 collections of poetry and short stories. She's inspired by everything from her days as a fire eater to raising boys and chickens, to her deep yoga practice. Her writing has been described by Lauren Moscoe Bailey, former director of Kirkus editorial, as intensely personal yet broadly inclusive, celebrating the wonders of the natural world and humanity. And fellow author, Brian Klemz has said, Cherie Dawn Haas has a knack for peeking inside different layers of the soul and moving you to think. Welcome Cherie Dawn to author express.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Thank you so much for having me.
Kathleen Basi [:You know, we always ask about what's the most interesting thing about where you're from to start out with, but I'm sort of caught by fire eater. Can you tell me something about that?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:I can. So for about 10 years, I performed as a fire eater. Locally and regionally, I was part of a group. We were called Dante's Gypsy Circus. And I performed with some other groups as well. And it was an amazing time in my life.
Kathleen Basi [:That is amazing. What part of the country is this that you were performing?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:So this is in the region of Cincinnati, Ohio so northern Kentucky and then what we would consider the tri state area here with Indiana.
Kathleen Basi [:That's pretty interesting is that where you are now as well?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah. I live in Kentucky. I've always lived here and pretty close to Cincinnati, so I get the best of both worlds as far as city and country.
Kathleen Basi [:Okay. That's very cool. So what is the most interesting thing about aside from, you know, that you get to have the city and the country?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Well, speaking of country, I think something that a lot of people find interesting is that we have a cemetery on our property. Oh. It's not tiny. It has about 60 people buried in it. And it dates back until like the 1700. So it's something that my husband enjoys taking care of especially.
Kathleen Basi [:That is really cool. And a lot of times with those old cemeteries, it's very hard to read the stones. Like, where I am, it only goes back to generally about 18 50 or something, and they're still hard to read. So I would imagine it's even more so when it gets that far back.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah. Some of them you can't tell at all. And then some, it's more obvious, obviously, as it gets, you know, more current. And then we actually have a lot of information about the cemetery that's been given to us and that he has found as well. So it's pretty cool.
Kathleen Basi [:Well, that was gonna be my next question is if you had records about who was buried there. That's really interesting. That may take the prize on the most interesting thing ever, I have to say. So, tell me, what is your earliest memory?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Oh, gosh. My earliest memory? Well, I guess I'd have to say it would be just when I was growing up. I mean, this is something that ties into my work, I think, as a writer today, so it is relevant. But growing up in the country, we lived what at that time was considered really far away from everything. So just spending a lot of time in the Cherie was one of my favorite things, just looking under rocks for crawdads. And I remember sitting on our swing set because there wasn't a whole lot to do, so I would swing for hours. And even as a child, I remember being really interested and just watching the shadows of the clouds move across our gigantic yard and also the shadows of turkey vultures flying over us. Yes.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:So that's one of my earliest memories, I think.
Kathleen Basi [:You're really hitting all of my soft spots here because the turkey vultures I like to go out on bike rides and the turkey vultures are everywhere. They're so mesmerizing to look at. And I also grew up in the country, and I feel like being out there where there weren't people around all the time and you had to just sit, and I just feel like it fosters creativity because you have nothing else. You know? You've got your books, and we didn't have cable TV when I was a kid.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah. It gets you to think. Like, you're just thinking, you know, whether you're trying to or not. It's a beautiful thing.
Kathleen Basi [:Yeah. Your bio says that you raised boys. So I have another question I wanna ask you personally because I have boys as well. And so well, the question is, what is the last thing that made you laugh really, really hard? But we were watching a a family movie last night with the kids when they were little, and it was very funny. So can you do you have a standout memory of your boys that makes you laugh?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Oh, gosh. I'd have to really I probably have to think about it. Like, they make me smile all the time. Almost 19 years old and 20 years old now. So the I feel like the laughter, like the laugh out loud stuff came more naturally when they were little and they would say like really cute things. But today, I will tell you that like, when they say something that's funny at all, I do try to laugh literally out loud because I feel like laughter is such a healthy thing. And it's good for them to see that mom thinks that they're funny. And I do think that they're funny, but I enjoy making it like a an actual physical audio experience for them.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Like, this is like, you did something hilarious and you're witty, and I love it. So I would say there there are a lot of little moments like that all the time.
Kathleen Basi [:What a great mom. Okay, well, tell us about your book that we're gonna talk about today.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Okay. Yeah. So, Ashes for William, it's a story of an unlikely friendship between 2 women who navigate issues of trust and boundaries, as well as ethics on things like how to pay the bills, and even when tested, how to protect their very lives.
Kathleen Basi [:Okay. So what is it that you hope people are gonna take away from this book?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:I hope the people take away the beauty of the female friendship. I've been told that with my novels in particular, they show these female friendships in a way that we don't see enough in the media or at least we haven't over the years that you know, I don't I don't go into things about like, jealousy and cattiness and, you know, talking behind people's backs and things like that. They're just authentic. And they do have their conflicts, and they have their issues. But I feel like even though they're younger characters, they show a maturity that young women do have. So and it's, you know, written from a female perspective too. And I think that that's important too, because they're just things that we think about and perspectives that we have about women in writing and in life that we don't always see represented.
Kathleen Basi [:Mhmm. That's interesting because, so many the conventional wisdom around publishing is that women read novels and men read nonfiction. It's interesting to think, but if you go into certainly in the larger culture in movies and stuff, like, for instance, not to pick on something obvious. It drives me crazy that in every single movie when a woman is giving birth, she's always on her back. I'm, like, isn't there any woman and and pregnant and sleeping on her back? I'm, like, isn't there any woman on your staff? Like, what where are the women who would tell you that that's not how this works? So I I think you're really tapping into something there with making sure that let's talk about what's the authentic experience of the feminine.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah. Definitely. And even, like, when it comes to childbirth, like, they're always showing it as this horrific experience. Always. And, I mean, I think that might have been something that like traumatized me early on, you know, because it was just so common. And it creates this fear, I think, in girls. That's why I think it's important for us to write and for everyone to write. That's sort of one of my things too is that I one of the reasons that I like to write and publish and talk about it is because I want people to see that this lady can do it, you know, so maybe they can do it too.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:And I believe that they can.
Kathleen Basi [:That just anybody who has a novel in them should get it out there then.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah. Do the work and make it happen.
Kathleen Basi [:Yeah. Good for you. Good for you. So who are you gonna connect with in this book? And who were you thinking of when you wrote it? Is there a specific subset of the women that you're targeting?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah, yeah. So in this book, we have Maddie and Kat are my two main characters. Maddie is a small town girl. There's definitely a lot of me in her and who I was growing up. And she's very innocent and naive. And she befriends Cat, who is not so naive. She's kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum. And they, you know, it's the whole, the whole concept of opposites attract.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:And so I see myself in Cat as well. I think one of the things that's interesting about them is that when people read these characters, they're going to see themselves also in each of them because everything is relative, right? Like, I feel like all of us have that friend who's more sweet and pure and naive than we are. And we all have that friend who's a little more on the edge than we are. So I really had fun playing with that balance. And then also showing how they eventually can sort of be a little bit more like each other, especially Maddy. She kind of comes out of her shell a little bit more. And she's the one who really, she discovers what her boundaries are through Cat's behavior, because Cat has, I mean, she does some things that they might be illegal in some states. I don't know.
Kathleen Basi [:And now everyone wants to read the book for sure.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Good.
Kathleen Basi [:That's great. So do you think that this book would it be the same book if you'd written it 10 years earlier or 10 years later?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Oh, that's a good question. I kind of do, I guess, like, you know, without thinking about too, too long, I do because that's sort of like the edgy kind of stuff is that's what interests me. And I think it has since my days as a fire eater, because when you're in that culture, it's edgy. And you find yourself in situations around people that you did not know existed. And that's one of the things that I really loved about Girl on Fire, my first novel. I had so many people approach me and say, Wow, like, I had no idea, is this real? And a lot of it was inspired by my own experiences, but I decided to make those characters, they're younger, they're single, they're, like, they could have a look, they could be more frisky than I was in that in that time of my life, because I was married and still married, but I had young children at the time. It was just an interesting period.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:And so I have fun with those types of things that people don't think about are happening around them in the world.
Kathleen Basi [:Yeah, you actually have a brand new book of poetry out. So we want to take a minute to give a shout out to that. Just give us a little hint of that book.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Thank you. So that's called A Sign of Life. And that's a line from one of the poems and it's heavily inspired by just living in a rural area raising children. And the poetry is very quiet. It comes from a place that's very personal, but I hope that I write it in a way that everyone can relate to different parts of it. There's actually a poem about the turkey vulture in it. There's a lot of writing in it that's inspired by my Dawn, Dang it, Rusty.
Kathleen Basi [:That's a great dog name.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah, it's really Dawn it, Rusty.
Kathleen Basi [:That's hilarious. That's fine.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah, it's just inspired by the world around me, but in ways that just reflect like an appreciation of nature and just the universality of humanity and just all of us being a part of this world. And then the short stories, there are 6 short Cherie, and those are kind of run the gamut. I have a couple that are sort of like paranormal or spooky. Just for fun. It's Cherie story is a, that's a method for me to just play with ideas, I feel like. And then of course, Dang it, Rusty is in there as well. He's in a short story called Good Dogs and Bad Dogs. And it's about dog heaven and dog hell.
Kathleen Basi [:This sounds very fun. Alright, very good. Now everyone knows you have 2 novels that you've heard about and a book of short stories and poetry that sound great.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Thank you.
Kathleen Basi [:If people want to go to find any of those books, which is the one best place for them to go?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:That would be my website. It's Cheriedawn.com.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Alright. Great. So as we close today, tell us what book or story inspires you the most these Dawn?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Yeah. That was a really tough question to think about.
Kathleen Basi [:It is for everyone.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:They're like, I have to pick 1? I know. These are my babies. So I'll preface it by saying that I actually read a ton of nonfiction and so really inspired and moved by nonfiction. But if I look back over it, Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, I think is one of the first books that made me just go, wow. And it really stayed with me because it was so creative. Just with Haas illustrations. I thought they were hilarious. And I discovered that when I was about probably 15 years old.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:If I read it today, I don't know if I'd have the same reactions to it, but it still holds a very special place in my heart.
Kathleen Basi [:That's really fun. Is that one that you read in school or is that one that you came to on your own?
Cherie Dawn Haas [:That's one that my cousin who is now a philosophy teacher at Syracuse University introduced to me back then.
Kathleen Basi [:Alright, very good. Now we have all been told to go read Kurt Vonnegut. Yes. So thank you so much for being with us today, Cherie. Cherie Dawn, it was great to talk to you.
Cherie Dawn Haas [:Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Kathleen Basi [:Thanks for joining us today. Reviews help other people to find us, so please take a minute to give us a rating and leave a few words. We'll be here again next Wednesday. In the meantime, follow us on Instagram at author express podcast to see who's coming up next. Don't forget. Keep it express to keep it interesting.
