Charlena Chandler grew up on a ranch in Terrell County, a small West Texas county between Sheffield and Dryden Texas. In her book, On Independence Creek: The Story of a Texas Ranch, Ms. Chandler talks about her life on the ranch between the 1940s-1950s. She reminisces over fishing, hunting and growing up near Independence Creek. She also speaks of her grandfather, Charles Chandler, who settled near the mouth of Independence Creek in 1900 and ranched there for many years ("On Independence Creek: The Story of a Texas Ranch [Paperback].").

Charlene Chandler became interested in writing while taking journalism classes and being part of Iraan High School’s newspaper, Broadcaster. After finishing high school, Chandler went to Texas Tech University and received majors in journalism and English. Although Ms. Chandler does not consider herself a professional writer, she does look at herself as a hobby writer.

This talented writer has published some intriguing pieces such as, On Independece Creek: The Story of a Texas Ranch. Her inspiration for writing this was the desire to write a family history and a history of the ranch she grew to call home. All of the writing in her book is realistic; it is simply a memoir, based on real life situations and experiences. When it came time to come up with a title for her work, she was very indecisive and changed it many times. The final name was suggested by one of her students and was approved by both her and her editor. When I asked Ms. Chandler what she may have learned through her writing, she replied: “It’s an old axiom that we learn more as teachers than as students. Same principle – it’s impossible to write and not to learn as you go along”.

Ms. Chandler, who has no specific writing style, has written a couple books and also writes for one of a well-known newspaper around our area: the Odessa American. I was thrilled and amazed to find out her current and active project is writing the personal opinion column for the newspaper. Another active project she has been working on, “sporadically”, includes a memoir about her years as a teacher in Iraan. She says it is an ongoing project which may never be finished!
Ms. Chandler says she does not do much traveling concerning her writing, although I disagree. Reading over my questions and her answers, I have gathered that she really does do quite a bit of traveling. It may not be physically, but she definitely seems to travel back in time to create her writing.
When it came to challenges she may have encountered in her writing, she was willing to admit that she had a hard time sitting down and making herself concentrate. Despite this inner conflict she went through to write her book, she says she wouldn’t go back and change anything about her book.
I have always thought that every writer would have another author to look up to as a mentor, but when I confronted Ms. Chandler with this question she wouldn’t choose any author as a mentor for her. She also can’t seem to say which book has influenced her life the most. She tells me she has gone through different periods of favorite genres and authors, including romance and mystery, but has seemed to really enjoy non-fiction, biographies and autobiographies the most. A new author that has grasped her interest is Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild. She has currently finished re-reading Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and is now reading Patrick Dearen’s To Hell or the Pecos. As a quick fact, Patrick Dearen is also from Midland, Texas. Ms. Chandler has way too many authors to choose from as her favorite. She did however give me a short list of those she does seem to really enjoy. These include: David McCullough and Robert Caro, who are non-fiction writers of history. She enjoys the fiction of the sagas of Ken Follett, short stories by Alice Munro, and anything by Joan Didion. She also enjoys the late Nora Ephron. For regional memoir and essays she enjoys Rick Bragg. She is also a great admirer of certain newspaper columnists – too many to name.

With the knowledge of knowing Ms. Chandler works with Odessa American, I asked her if she considered writing to be a career. I almost fell out of my seat when her reply was “Unfortunately, no! I always think of the advice of the late Elmer Kelton, ‘Keep your day job.’” I can see where this makes sense, but I just got through asking this lady who had many years of writing experience a question I thought I already knew the answer to and I was wrong.

Charlena is supported not only by her family, but she also has the encouragement of her dear friends. Margaret Holmes is one of them. Other supporters include: Jack Cowan, editor of the San Angelo Standard-Times, Verne Huser, the author of “Rivers of Texas”, and the editors of Texas Tech Press.

In conclusion, I asked Ms. Chandler if she had any advice for her readers, her response was: I am asked that a lot and it’s the hardest question of all. First of all, you have to be motivated. And second, you must make yourself sit down and get some words on paper. You can always go back and re-write. Learn from every experience in life. And read – a lot. I have heard aspiring writers say they don’t like to read – that doesn’t make sense, does it?” For those out there who want to know anything specific she would want everyone to know, it is: “Hmmm, just keep reading!”

When I did this interview, we did it via E-mail. I sent Ms. Chandler my questions and after studying over her answers to my question, I was deeply amazed. Although I still wish to be a writer when I grow up, I learned many things just from talking Ms. Chandler. As advice, she says to read. Read a lot. Now I know that while I am reading, it isn’t a requirement for me to find an author who I can consider a mentor. I also don’t have to stick with a specific style of writing. The information Ms. Chandler provided me with gave me the impression she has a writers’ environment, with time to write. All writers need the self-control to stay on task. I completely understand this. I am pleased to say, the next book I read will definitely be one of Ms. Charlena Chandler’s!
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Works Cited
"On Independence Creek: The Story of a Texas Ranch [Paperback]." On Independence Creek: The Story of a Texas Ranch: Charlena Chandler: 9780896725621: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2012. <http://www.amazon.com/On-Independence-Creek-Story-Texas/dp/0896725626/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8>.