Former Ottawa resident writes with flair for Midwest

Author Gwen Goodkin is returning to her roots for her next book. The former Ottawa resident, who most recently published a collection of 10 short stories titled "A Place Remote," said her next novel will deal with life at a television factory — referring to the LG Philips Display plant that was located in the village until 2002 when production was moved to Mexico. "It's fictional so I'm fictionalizing all the characters, although I'm framing it in a real place," she said in a telephone interview from her home in Encinitas, California. The work is inspired by family members who were employed at the plant, she said, including her grandmother, who worked on the factory floor, and her grandfather, who was an engineer. Goodkin also interviewed people who worked at the North Pratt Street plant, which has given her a better grasp of the story. "Before when I was writing it, I felt like I was coming at it from the outside in. I didn't quite have a grasp on the story," she explained. "Now I'm coming at it from the inside out where I feel like the details of the factory are dictating the story rather than me trying to force the story into the box of the factory." This isn't the first time Goodkin has borrowed from real life for her writing. Each of the stories in "A Place Remote" was written separately, but after publishing several of them, Goodkin realized that she was writing about Ohio in most of them. Because of that interconnectedness, it made sense to put them together in a collection. The collection includes a story titled "The Key," about a mourning teen protecting his sister. Goodkin herself was a latchkey kid who spent her early years near Cleveland. She was 7 when her father died of cancer. A few years later, the family moved back to Ottawa. "I had been going there as a child to visit my grandparents who all lived there, but there's also a different social code to the way the things are because I lived in the suburbs of Cleveland in a town called Strongsville. It's just a different way of living there versus living in a small town; a different social code, different rules, different people," she said. Despite the differences, she said Ottawa was also a great place to live. "There was a lot more freedom in a childhood where you just ride your bike on the streets," she said. "My grandparents lived just down the street … so I could just walk from my house to their house. There's something to be said for that." Goodkin attended Ottawa-Glandorf High School from seventh grade until she graduated in 1994. During that time, she was very math and science oriented. "I wanted to be a doctor," she said. "My mom was a nurse, and my dad had gone to college. But I felt like I kind of was missing that level of guidance. And I think if he had lived, I probably would have become a doctor." As a result, she went off to Ohio Wesleyan University not knowing exactly what she wanted to do. "I've read my whole life, been a lifelong reader and just been obsessed with books. I was focused on science and math, but then I took an English course in college," she recalled. One of her professors said she had a gift for writing and told her to think about majoring in English, something she'd never considered before. She would graduate with a triple major in English, German and women's studies. Goodkin moved to Detroit after college, then California in 2003. She married, started a family and also decided to go on for her master's degree. She found an online program through the University of British Columbia. She began writing full time in 2004. Goodkin said she didn't set out to put a collection of short stories together for her most recent book. "I think that was partially because I was a mom, finding time to write when I could and also working on my master's degree. Writing short stories lent itself to basically where I was in my life," she said. "I also think it's its own set of skills. It's not just like short novels." One of the pieces in the collection, "A Boy with Sense," won the John Steinbeck Award for Fiction. Goodkin has also won the Folio Editor's Prize for Fiction and has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Priz. Gathering Volumes bookstore in Toledo has signed copies of "A Remote Place." Goodkin will also be part of the Ohioana Book Festival, taking place April 22-25. The festival is virtual and free to the public. Wolf:419-427-8419