52 NOVEMBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL David K. Wessel: Have you always wanted to be a writer? Gregory E. Buford: Yes, for as long as I can remember. Lydia Kiesling: I have always written and, I think, did want to be a writer when I was a child. During high school and young adulthood, I wasn’t really cognizant that “writer” was a sustainable profession that someone could have. I didn’t start writing in earnest until I was around 25. Sarah Chapman Monahan: As a child, I was forever journaling and writing little stories on folded pieces of paper bound with staples. After graduating from college, I moved to Istanbul, my father’s last post before retiring, and began doing some freelance writing and editing—for the consulate newsletter, the Hilton’s magazine, little articles commissioned by Redhouse Press—whatever popped up. Just speaking native English was a perk, so some of my work involved editing things that had been written by non-native speakers: a taste of what you could do when living overseas back then. Mikkela ompson: Yes, at least as far back as the age of 9, when I think I may have declared it. Recently, I have been digitizing old papers belonging to my mother and my grandparents. It turned out that my mother kept all my writing from the rst book I made, with string and glue, back when I was 6 or 7. And I didn’t stop there. It seems like I was always writing and publishing books. Wessel: What was your rst book about? What inspired you to write it? Buford: My first book was a novel, Making Ghosts Dance, a tale of corruption and greed set within the American diplomatic community in Cambodia. I moved with my wife and three young children to Phnom Penh in 2004. Upon our arrival, I was immediately struck by Cambodia’s thriving sex industry, in general, and the prominence of sex tourism, in particular. Most disturbing of all was the evident tra cking and prostitution of children. As the primary caregiver of three small children—including an adopted child who could pass for Cambodian—and the kind of parent who always checks for the re exits, I found the safety of my family was no passing concern. is book, in essence, is a product of my worst nightmare. Kiesling: My rst book, e Golden State, is a novel about caregiving, toddlers, rural Northern California, right-wing extremism, and our immigration system. I had recently given birth to my rst child and wanted to capture the experience of taking care of a small child in a way that didn’t t my previous short-form freelance writing. Monahan: I have written only one book—so far. It’s a young adult (YA) novel, but it has appeal for adults, too. It’s based on experiences I had while living in divided Berlin as a high school student in the late 1970s. A coming-of-age tale, it takes place on both sides of the Berlin Wall and portrays life in the American Sector and the impact the Cold War had on young minds. It’s also about the unique challenges of moving—leaving homes behind and creating new ones in new countries. But mostly, it’s an exciting adventure that takes place in Berlin’s unique historical setting: a walled-o island of freedom surrounded by a totalitarian state. When I lived in Berlin, I had a diplomatic passport, so I was able to visit the East and make some East German friends who, of course, could never see where I lived. I kept in touch with one friend until, years after the fall of the wall, he came with his wife and two children to visit me in Türkiye, where I was living with my Foreign Service spouse and three children. e myriad questions posed by our curious o spring got us talking about those days, and I was intrigued by how my friend’s perspective of that period di ered from mine—and how much of that chapter in history had been forgotten. It struck me as grist for a novel, inspiring me to create a story to bring those days back to life. ompson: In October 2013, my boss in Dhaka, who was my greatest cheerleader, asked for a book version of my blog. It was an online product, but she wanted a book. I started my blog in October 2011 at my dad’s suggestion when I was about to head out to Bangladesh. I had tried to blog in the past, in hopes of making money from it, and had failed, so I couldn’t see what I would blog about. But I started blogging, and I have blogged every week, on average, for 12 years. Write every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes. —Gregory Buford
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