Mountain View resident and author Audrey Shafer can vouch for the fact that the road from writing a book to getting it published can have unexpected detours.
Shafer’s first novel, “The Mailbox,” published last October, is a children’s book that tells the story of Gabe, the novel’s young protagonist, and his relationship with his great uncle Vernon, a Vietnam veteran. Published for readers in the 9-to-12-year-old age range, “The Mailbox” is a coming-of-age story set in Virginia in which characters realize the importance of reaching out to one another for help and support.
All of that worked out just fine for Shafer, who had previously published several poems, but she’s the first to admit that when she turned in the initial draft to Random House, the novel was intended for an adult audience.
Her editors, who identified the protagonist as one who would appeal to young children, encouraged her to revise the book for the younger set. As luck would have it, Shafer’s daughter Rebecca — to whom the novel is dedicated — was 12 years old, and was able to assist her mother in the transition.
“I would read it to my sixth grade daughter every night, and something in my head knew that it was appropriate for that age group. My daughter has great opinions and she was a great editor. Plus she was an expert on how kids would really talk,” Shafer said.
Although she started out writing the novel without a clear ending in sight, Shafer said that the characters and the themes she was dealing with allowed the story to naturally and easily unfold.
“It taught me to have faith in the characters and not write to a certain end. I was just very devoted to it, and I really loved writing it.”
The relatively easy task of reshaping the story was a good thing for Shafer, whose busy life includes two children, an associate creative writing professorship at Stanford and a full-time position as an anesthesiologist at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. How to find time for it all?
“Any parent has juggling issues,” she said with a laugh.
Shafer grew up in Pennsylvania and attended Harvard University and the Stanford School of Medicine. She used her work at the Veteran’s hospital as the initial incentive for the story itself. In the months leading up to the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, Shafer was struck by the number of veterans who expressed anxiety and fear about the impending war as well as the vivid, recurring memories of their own service.
“I only meet patients 15 minutes before they go into the operating room, and I have just a very brief time to speak to them. But quite a few patients started telling me about their experiences,” she said. “It was not just isolated to Vietnam veterans. I had a veteran from World War II talk about his field experience as if it had happened the day before. I felt they needed to talk, and I was a witness.”
In her book, the character of uncle Vernon is inflicted by haunting memories of his service in the Vietnam War in such an intense way that, in Shafer’s mind, he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.
“I feel very deeply that it is a book about the veterans’ experience,” she said, “and the way these things affect them for the rest of their lives.”
Revisions to make the book more child-friendly meant scaling back some of the psychology surrounding Vernon’s character — as well as his saltier language — so that he would be appropriate for young readers.
“The Mailbox” isn’t all heaviness and life lessons. It also offers an old fashioned mystery plot concerning the mailbox that gives the book its title. Gabe exchanges letters with a secret correspondent who offers advice and friendship, and it’s a guessing game up until the very end to see who the secret correspondent is.
And there’s the lovable character of Guppy, Gabe’s loyal dog, who Shafer said is based in some part on her own family’s dog, Xerox.
“Physically they are the same, but unfortunately [Xerox] is a lot more uncontrollable. I think that must have been wishful thinking on my part, that she could be as well-behaved as the dog in the book.”
Though certainly Shafer has her hands full, she says she’ll probably write another book in the future or continue work on one that’s been around for awhile.
“I have this whole other 600-page behemoth, but that’s probably unpublishable,” she said.
“The Mailbox” is available at most major book retailers, but Shafer encourages readers to pick up a copy at Books Inc. on Castro Street. For additional information on the author, visit www.ashafer.com.
E-mail Alexa Tondreau at atondreau@mv-voice.com
