by Connie Pan

There are a few things that pop into mind when I think of Rebecca Childers, MFA candidate in creative nonfiction and the Vice President of EGO: cats, laughter, and comfort. For anyone who has even heard a peep from Rebecca, the first item in that list is a no-brainer. Everyone knows Rebecca Childers loves cats. I’ve had the pleasure of having two fiction workshops and one creative nonfiction workshop with her, and every one of Rebecca’s copies of my stories and essays returns peppered with underlines, exclamation points, and cats—always cats. A fun-fact and something only a few people know: Rebecca didn’t like cats until she was seventeen. The second item in the list, laughter, is also obvious. Just a couple weeks ago, I was at McClafferty’s with friends from the English Department, and there was a sudden eruption of Childers-y laughter. The kind of laughter that makes you wonder if you’ve ever truly laughed. The kind of laugher that makes you wonder if you’ve ever had genuine fun. The kind of laughter that makes you think sit-ups are pretty ineffective, and people should start laughing like the Childers for summer abs of steel. But back to McClafferty’s . . . When we heard that familiar laughter, we didn’t have to crane our necks to know a Childers was there, but we did and said hello. It was delightful. The last—but not least—item of the list is probably the strongest feeling I have when I think of Rebecca. Comfort. She is quiet and loves quiet and alway sits with her legs curled under her, folded gracefully and magically like Origami. And I think of comfort because of her flowy skirts and flip flops and shoes without socks (just one of Rebecca’s many favorite things).

I say one of her many favorite things because Rebecca loves a lot. She loves (and this is just the abridged version) Doritos, Ranch Romances, An Affair to Remember, “strumming on the porch music,” “plants that get bigger than you thought they would,” the Olympics, Ryan Gosling’s face, and “old men in their mowing hats.” Another one of her loves include her family. A perfect day for Rebecca is filled with reading, reading breaks to laugh with her sister / roomie, and writing. Rebecca grew up with two older sisters (which includes one of our own tenants of Colson Hall, Sara Beth) and a younger brother “a few hills past Huntington” where it takes “thirty minutes to get anywhere.” Along with cats and foxy men, Rebecca’s family is one of her daily motivators, “I’ve realized that when I lose my connection with [my family] I am a bit of a hapless wanderer, and not the cool kind. I tell much better jokes when I am around them.”

When Rebecca was younger, her hobbies were rooted in true love (“the reading and plotting of romance”) and art, specifically photography and sculpture. Rebecca didn’t find writing until college and applied to graduate school because she “only felt happy when [she] was writing.” Rebecca, we are oh-so-very-ecstatic to have such an intelligent and thoughtful writer (and cat-artist) here with us. I got the chance to ask ask Rebecca Childers about herself and her experience thus-far at West Virginia University.

What led you to writing? When did you begin writing creatively?

At five, my big sisters and I made books from notebook paper and staples. I wrote the King series. Each book occurred on a different holiday and King would always try to charm his wife, Queen, into telling him his present. Once, he decided to wheedle it out of her by pretending to be her friend. I took a little break after that until my freshman year of college, where I took a class because, again, my big sister told me to.

Can you describe your writing process?

While I’m petting my cat, or cleaning the toilet I think of something—an old story or an odd connection and then I run and tell whatever person or cat is around. Then I let it incubate until I’m ready. Then I let it pour out, skipping sleep and food, pausing only to hug my cat. Then I wait a little while. Then I rewrite the whole thing. Sometimes, I keep the title.

Who and what inspires your work?

One day my Aunt Anita asked my Aunt Delane to go buy her some groceries. Some Tang, some chicken livers, and since she’d been good that day, some beer and cigarettes. My Aunt Delane went to the store and came back with the chicken livers and the Tang. “Anita,” she said, ” I prayed in the aisle, and the Lord told me it wouldn’t be right for me to buy you the beer and cigarettes.” Anita said she understood, if the Lord told her, she couldn’t very well do it. Soon her cousin Emerson came in with her brother, Ralph Waldo, and she told them the story. About an hour later Emerson came into the kitchen and handed her beer and cigarettes. “Funny thing, Anita,” he said, “I went to the store, stood in the aisle and prayed, and the Lord didn’t mind me buying these for you at all.” Thirty years later she told me this story while we ate fried chicken at a family reunion. The need to keep telling these stories is what inspires me.

How has your writing changed during your first two years in the MFA Program? You entered the program as a MFA candidate in fiction and switched to nonfiction. Who or what influenced this transition?

When I first started writing at WVU, I felt a block in my brain in regards to fiction. I couldn’t make anything up. So then I took nonfiction with Kevin Oderman, and the block went away. And with this never ending source of material, I began to be wooed by the way themes and structure build a nonfiction essay. Also, that semester, Kevin had us read Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas. In it, her sister stops her every few chapters and goes, “Wait you need to explain that more!” Suddenly I realized I’d been prepping for nonfiction for a very long time.

How has working in two different genres impacted your writing?
Lately, in nonfiction, I’ve been obsessed with all of the different Rebecca characters I have been/ am. Last year in workshop, Kevin mentioned that the Rebecca on the page was a “spineless twit” but the Rebecca you see around Colson was not (shoo). But for two years of my life, I totally was. Also, there have been times when I was a heartless doofus, and a rebellious scamp. I think I’ve probably been a couple of good things, too, but those aren’t as interesting to write about. I think working with fiction helps me separate myself into sections more in order to tell the proper story, what parts of myself made that story possible.

Congratulations on being nominated the MFA Representative for EGO! In addition to this, what are your plans for your last year at West Virginia University?

Well, thank you. I plan to make EGO a club where we practice for flash mobs, but don’t tell anyone that yet. I’m thinking Sound of Music themed. As for the rest of this year, I would like to iron out my writing process a bit, making it less frantic and more regular so maybe my first draft will be readable. Kiss my cat’s pink nose a lot. Read a lot of books about true love. Eat too many pepperoni rolls. Teach my students how to spell definitely (this might be a bit ambitious). And finish my thesis.

What are your plans following graduate school?

My main life goal is to write Harlequin Romance Novels. I want to make old ladies giggle on their daybeds while they wait for Wheel of Fortune to come on. To do this, I will probably need to have a ranch and a cowboy husband for inspiration. So, comforting rodeo riders with wounded hearts and tragic stories in Montana would probably a good place to find me after I graduate.

Any advice for new MFAs or words of wisdom for fellow writers?

If you don’t have a cat, get one. I got Little Joe my first week in Morgantown, and I am not sure I would have made it without him. Also, don’t be freaked out if you don’t write everyday when you first come. It’s hard. But you’ll get a rhythm.