{"64805":{"#nid":"64805","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Visiting Prof\u2019s Passion Evolved Into a Career","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs a teenager, Kathleen Goonan began writing constantly, filling hundreds of green, unlined, Morilla Clipper Ship notebooks \u2014 her notebook of choice until the company stopped producing them \u2014 with thoughts, narratives and poems. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI always planned to be a writer. But I didn\u2019t know how to make the connection between writing and being published, and became a Montessori teacher in order to support myself while learning that process,\u201d Goonan said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until 1985, after 15 years as a Montessori teacher, 10 of them spent running my own 100-student toddler through elementary school in Knoxville, that I simply realized that it was time to start.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOf course, there were a fair share of rejection letters before she found her writing groove, but Goonan\u2019s persistence paid off. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer sixth novel, \u201cIn War Times,\u201d won the Campbell Award and was the American Library Association\u2019s Best Genre Novel of 2007. Her first novel, \u201cQueen City Jazz,\u201d published in 1994, was the first nanotech novel ever published and was selected as a New York Times Notable Book. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMuch of Goonan\u2019s work can be categorized as literary science fiction \u2014 making her a natural fit for a visiting professor position in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture, which she has held for the 2010-2011 academic year. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, The Whistle sat down with Goonan to find out more about her experience as a writer and instructor. Here\u2019s what we learned:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you end up as a visiting professor at Georgia Tech and what have you taught? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESince 2004, I\u2019ve gotten to know Lisa Yaszek, a professor in the School of Literature, Communication and Culture, through work with various professional organizations. So when this position opened, she invited me to apply for it. Last fall, I taught Science Fiction Literature and Honors Freshman Composition. This semester, I\u2019m teaching creative writing, as well as a course in science, technology and ideology that looks at scientists and their work through the lens of biography. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere does inspiration for your books come from?\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe core of every story or novel is character-driven and infused with emotion. My characters are not divorced from place. Places have history, which is embedded in the streets, the buildings, the neighborhoods and the land. Most of my novels have some kind of historical element. My first, \u201cQueen City Jazz,\u201d takes place in the Cincinnati of my childhood. Much of \u201cIn War Times,\u201d my latest novel, takes place during World War II and continues into the Washington, D.C. of the 1950s and 1960s. Once I\u2019ve formulated the initial concept, I start my research and delve into reading a variety of books on the subject at hand. There is also usually a musical context to my novels, much of it jazz, but in some novels, such as \u201cLight Music,\u201d the musical element is aligned with superstring theory.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are three things you do to make learning more engaging for students\u003C\/strong\u003E?\u003Cbr \/\u003EI try to have a lot of ancillary material on hand. I get them involved in class discussions. I give them a fair amount of feedback by encouraging them to turn in drafts of their work and then schedule conferences to go over that work so that they can understand the decisions that make writing better, and thereby refine their final work. I want them to learn that writing is a process. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is one piece of technology you couldn\u2019t live without? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMy laptop. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat are three things you think every employee should do while working at Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGo to the [Robert C. Williams] Paper Museum, take advantage of our marvelous library resources and meet as many of your fellow faculty members as time allows. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is next for you after your year at Tech? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThis Shared Dream,\u201d my seventh novel, will be out this summer, as well as a short story collection, \u201cAngels and You Dogs,\u201d which will both require an investment of publicity time.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs a teenager, Kathleen Goonan began writing constantly, filling hundreds of green, unlined, Morilla Clipper Ship notebooks \u2014 her notebook of choice until the company stopped producing them \u2014 with thoughts, narratives and poems.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"As a teenager, Kathleen Goonan began writing constantly, filling hundreds of green, unlined, Morilla Clipper Ship notebooks \u2014 her notebook of choice until the company stopped producing them \u2014 with thoughts, narratives and poems."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2011-03-07 15:41:10","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:22","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-03-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-03-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"64806":{"id":"64806","type":"image","title":"Kathleen Goonan","body":null,"created":"1449176765","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:05","changed":"1475894571","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:51","alt":"Kathleen Goonan","file":{"fid":"192103","name":"Kathleen_Goonan_II.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kathleen_Goonan_II_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kathleen_Goonan_II_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3105994,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Kathleen_Goonan_II_0.jpg?itok=FkZW1kzN"}}},"media_ids":["64806"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.goonan.com\/","title":"Kathleen Ann Goonan\u0027s website"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"8754","name":"Communication and Culture"},{"id":"12275","name":"Kathleen Goonan"},{"id":"167456","name":"School of Literature"},{"id":"8341","name":"Visiting professor"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}