August 2005
Wrightsville Beach Magazine

Cameo: Ellyn Bache
By Brooks Preik

Award winning writer Ellyn Bache's fiction has appeared in a wide variety of women's magazines and literary journals, and she is a recipient of the prestigious Willa Cather Fiction prize for her collection of short stories. Ellyn's first novel, Safe Passage, was made into a major motion picture starring Susan Sarandon and was a finalist for Wilmington's One Book, One Community program. Her other novels include Festival in Fire Season, Riggs Park, set partially in Wrightsville Beach, and Daughters of the Sea that portrays a woman's intense and poignant longing for the ocean when she is forced to leave her coastal home.

How did your writing career begin?
I began my writing career doing freelance newspaper articles when my four children were small.

Has becoming an "older woman" had an impact on your writing?
Definitely. It's made my writing deeper and better. The view from age 50 or 60 is more panoramic than that at age 20 or 30.

Is there a reason so many of your novels are set in this area?
Oh yes. When I moved to Wilmington 20 years ago, I felt like I'd come home; I still feel that way.

What talent would you most like to have other than writing?
Playing the piano!

What is your most lovable characteristic?
I'm not sure I have one.

What do you value most in a friend?
Trustworthiness.

What is your greatest treasure other than your family?
My friends.

Can you imaging yourself ever not writing?
Yes, if I had something more important to do – but I'd always like to think I could come back to it.

What advice can you give to others who want to be writers?
Write every day. Persistence is even more important than talent.

What three things are at the top of your wish list?
Good health for my family, the ability to keep working and to have my children living nearer to Wilmington.
What is one little known fact about yourself?
I was a pre-med student until my last year.

What was your most unforgettable moment?
Seeing my granddaughter Campbell for the first time. She was my first grandchild, born the following Spring after the unexpected death of my husband in the fall of 2001. It was like someone had turned the lights on again in my world.