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Interview with Author Wendy Bohnenkamp
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Coauthor Wendy Bohnenkamp discusses her new book SAS Graphics for Java: Examples Using SAS AppDev Studio and the Output Delivery System
with Authorline, as she awaits its publication. Coauthor Jackie Iverson was unavailable for this interview.
- Authorline (AL): What was your motivation for writing your book?
- Wendy Bohnenkamp (WB): The main motivation for writing the book was the general lack of centralized documentation covering the topic of graphs built by Java in SAS. You can find bits and pieces here and there, but those often did not contain examples or more detailed information on how to use the option, parameter or tag. We wanted to consolidate and enhance this information to be used as a reference.
- (AL): Who are you targeting with your book?
- (WB): We are targeting those people who want a handy reference containing most of the options available for creating SAS graphs using Java. These people could be the beginner who may not know where to start or the more experienced Java or SAS user who just needs a central reference.
- (AL): What features of the book are you especially pleased with?
- (WB): I am pleased with all the examples. We give the user not only the code for how to apply each individual option, parameter or tag, but also the output of the code. This helps the user get that visual reference we often need. Not everyone starts coding with SAS knowledge or experience (myself included). So some options and parameters are a bit foreign unless I "see" what they do.
- (AL): How will your book benefit SAS users?
- (WB): The benefit of this book is the consolidation of information. Yes you can find some of the same information by plowing through various online help tools or documentation, but it's not all in one place nor does it give you all the examples you might want or need.
- (AL): How did you decide to coauthor the book? How did you divide your responsibilities?
- (WB): We both wanted to author a book but knew it might be a daunting task. So we decided to team up with our varied experiences and try to apply that combined experience into something useful for not only ourselves but others in our same situation.
- (AL): What were some of the joys of writing this book?
- (WB): The main accomplishment in writing this book was getting all this information consolidated. A very close second to this is just getting it done (chuckle). Whew! There's a lot of work involved!
- (AL): What did you learn while writing this book that would be important for other authors to know?
- (WB): I first went into this project just wanting to provide myself and others in my circumstance a consolidated reference. This was never about becoming an author or about making money or anything like that. Therefore I think if there is a next time for me I would have the book almost half written before even submitting the proposal. There is a lot of work and time involved in this endeavor.
- (AL): How did you decide to publish with SAS?
- (WB): It just made sense to do so because of the subject matter. What better place to publish then with a group that understands your topic?
- (AL): Your book will be going to the printer in just a few weeks. How does it feel to be in the home stretch of such a long project?
- (WB): Relief!
- (AL): What advice would you give to potential authors?
- (WB): If your intent is to just share information, get most of the writing done before the proposal. There is so much time and work involved. Life happens and if you have at least half of it done before the process even begins then you are already ahead of the game.
- (AL): How were you able to balance your time between your career and writing this book?
- (WB): It wasn't easy. Our subject I think made it a bit easier than writing a "theory" type of book. We could work on a single example or a single paragraph when we had the time and easily pick it back up later, whereas with a theory type of book it would be harder to interrupt a thought or an idea.
- (AL): When you aren't writing or consulting, how do you like to spend your free time?
- (WB): My free time (where it exists) is spent playing with my two-year-old daughter, spending time with my husband, and reading. Reading is generally always recreational (i.e., fiction) although I do sometimes venture into politics and environmental themes.
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Wendy Bohnenkamp, SAS BI Consultant, has been working with data systems since 1991 and has been bringing data to web environments since 1995. Wendy has utilized over
ten different programming languages to provide solutions such as on-line wizard systems to support customized reporting needs and data quality techniques to ensure data integrity. As a SAS
user since 2000, Wendy has published a number of SAS-software-specific internal papers and tools that support easier job execution and increased productivity.
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Jackie Iverson is a Global Training and Development Consultant at SAS, where she has worked since 1998. A SAS user since 1986, she has written numerous
technical papers, led SAS development teams, taught SAS classes, and provided mentoring opportunities to inexperienced users. She has also provided on-site SAS support and chaired
the local SAS Users Group. In her current position at SAS, she develops Java-based Web applications using SAS software and tools.
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