Daniel Ginsberg’s N.Y. childhood, military experience led to trilogy

Daniel Ginsberg grew up in the East New York and East Flatbush sections of Brooklyn. After graduating from The School of Visual Arts (Advertising and Graphic Design) he served in the Army as a military policeman, criminal photographer and photojournalist for the Japanese and American governments on Okinawa. Upon his return to civilian life, he maintained a fashion photography studio in New York City, later enrolling at Louisiana State University (BS: Biology; MS: Reproductive Physiology). Today, Daniel lives in Denver, Colorado, where he writes, works in his studio and takes long walks with his wife Patsy and pooch Brewzer.
“Mamie’s Well” was a finalist for the Colorado Authors League award for Mystery-Law Enforcement

SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?

Daniel Ginsberg: I picked blueberries at Mamie’s Well, during my summers in upstate New York as a child. As an adult, I became interested in how couples who do not qualify for a legal adoption might go about getting a child illegally. Then, several years ago, I read a magazine article entitled “Stolen at Birth” about a Dr. Hicks who stole and then sold over 200 children out the rear door of his rural Georgia clinic. Add a sizable dose of fiction and The Banty Conners Trilogy began to take shape.

SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?

Ginsberg: This excerpt in the opening chapter of “Mamie’s Well,” book one of the trilogy. It is written in a soft, low-key manner, but sets the theme and underlying plotlines that are carried throughout the entire trilogy. 

SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write? 

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Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit.

Ginsberg: It was my experience as a Military Police Officer stationed on Okinawa, working with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Detachment, that sparked my interest in crime…especially as it relates to children.

SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?

Ginsberg: Writing a trilogy with recurring characters and linked plotlines is no mean feat. I found the amount of storyline preplanning and character development was, by necessity, far more intricate than I expected. 

And, until I began researching for this trilogy, I had no idea the extent of infant trafficking and illegal adoptions that take place in the United States today. 

SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?

Ginsberg: My greatest challenge was in designing each book’s story so it would feel real, plausible and believable. Getting the details correct is so important and difficult, but it is what brings a story to life. 

“Mamie’s Well”

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Living with the characters running around in my head, telling me where the story was going, was always interesting as well as challenging. Whom I chose to listen to determined the direction of the story.

SunLit: What’s the most important thing — a theme, lesson, emotion or realization — that readers should take from this book? 

Ginsberg: “Mamie’s Well” is a story about never quitting, about being true to who you are and asking for help when you need it. I think, too, it is important for people to realize that infants, like all other people caught up in human trafficking, are all too often seen as a commodity. 

SunLit: Why, when they can call on others to do the physical work, would a severely disabled police officer push themselves past the limits of their endurance and safety to solve a crime?

Ginsberg: Oftentimes, police officers, especially detectives, are highly intelligent, driven individuals bent on eliminating the criminal element that is so pervasive in our society. Each of them has a personal and/or an experiential motivation that pushes them to solve crimes that can make their personal lives all too difficult. Often, their dedication and the tasks they are given prevent them from living what you and I might consider a normal life.

SunLit: Tell us about your next project.

Ginsberg: Now that The Banty Conners Trilogy is nearing completion, I have begun researching plantation life in Antebellum Virginia at the beginning of the Civil War. “Wilhelmina” is the life-changing story of a young, female plantation owner who discovers her true identity and the family she never knew existed. What she experiences and the decisions she makes bring her a life few could imagine and may just warm your heart.

 A few more quick questions

SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?

Ginsberg: Definitely writing. 

SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?

Ginsberg: My master’s thesis when I completed a degree in reproductive physiology.

SunLit: What three writers, from any era, would you invite over for a great discussion about literature and writing? 

Ginsberg: Ernest Hemingway, O. Henry and Simone St. James. Hemingway for brevity; O. Henry for his imagination; and, St. James for her atmosphere.

SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?

Ginsberg: A movie quote from “Finding Forester” “Type. Don’t think. Type.”

SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?

Ginsberg: My book shelves say that I have interest in many topics and will read just about anything and everything. The first books I can remember reading as a child was a set of “The Standard Encyclopedia.”

SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write?

Ginsberg: Silence…definitely silence.

SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment?

Ginsberg: I’m a YouTube surfer. I listen to Beethoven, the Beatles to Michael Buble… and lots in between.

SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?

Ginsberg: Somewhere in my 30s I found myself telling stories to friends and students. They encouraged me to put it on paper. Perhaps, I began writing out of a sense of self-preservation, rather than going into therapy.

SunLit: Greatest writing fear?

Ginsberg: Being told my writing is boring.

SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction?

Ginsberg: Hearing that something I wrote touched a nerve or a heart string or a memory. That really does it for me.