1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
My first book changed my life in so many ways. It shoved my foot in the door of an industry that many people struggle to break into. It taught me that I am capable of finishing something, of finishing something worth sharing. Most importantly, it showed me that my voice and subjectivity, which I always felt kept me from being close to people, is something that some people can appreciate and even love. That is very special and was genuinely transformative for me.
2 - How did you come to memoir first, as opposed to, say, fiction or poetry?
It wasn’t my decision. My publishers weren’t looking for any fiction when we were in talks about the book. I had been hoping to explore the subject of my memoir from a more fictional perspective, but I’m sort of glad my first book was a memoir because I think it was a more manageable entrypoint for me to write a full-length book for the first time. Now, I have all of this wonderful experience writing about myself and my lived experiences to apply to my new writing, fiction and otherwise.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
I would say it depends, but the beginning of a project is always much easier than the middle and end. Or, rather I give myself more time to work on the beginning, and then the end is a rush and feels like pulling teeth. I would say I revise a lot as I go, so my first draft feels a lot like what I’m hoping the end product will be a lot of the time.
For my current project, I have been thinking about it for I think two years. I have other projects that have been in my back pocket for longer, waiting for me to be ready.
4 - Where does a work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
I like to start at the beginning (ha ha) and go from there. I usually go in with an intended length, but I’m not a big planner. I am letting my current project go wherever it’s going to go based on what feels best. This may change as I get better at writing and planning.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
To be honest, I’ve never done any public readings. In the past I’ve been kind of suspicious of participating in a community of writers or any community at all, because I have trouble in group settings and I feel very susceptible to comparison, competition and what I perceive to be the petty cruelties of cliques. I’m afraid someone will come up to me and tell me they’ve determined exactly how much value I have and what my limitations are as a person and writer, and that I will fall into the box they’ve drawn and it’ll be all over for me.
While I think sometimes people do try to do this, I think it happens less when you get older, and when they do it’s easier to ignore them and do your own thing. Most people are nice, I think. I’d like to let go of this insecurity and one of my goals for 2024 is to participate in a reading.
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
I think I’m very curious about the gaps between what we know and don’t know about ourselves and the people around us. I still feel mystified by the behavior of other people and myself, and all of the interesting and frustrating things that happen when we bump up against one another. I feel like we’re always torturing each other and asking each other for things, and we rarely know exactly why we do it or why others do it to us.
I think this also extends to bigger divides. For instance, right now I’m really curious about how someone born 100 or 1000 years ago would be similar and different to myself, and how I might show an audience that while also being honest about who they would have been, and telling a story that feels true. Is it actually possible to do that? What concessions will I have to make to do that?
7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
That’s a big question! I think the role of the writer is determined by individual writers and readers, who are looking to do different things in the act of writing and reading, respectively. I think, for me, I want writers to represent an authentic picture of the world as they see it. I won’t agree with each vision but I think it’s important that I get to see it, and that it’s not dishonest (either on purpose or by mistake).
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I think it can be either! I’ve only had positive experiences with editors thus far, but I have had experiences where unhelpful and unkind feedback has been a setback in my process. Ask me again in five years.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Fawn Parker said in an interview or blog post (I can’t remember where) that she tries not to concern herself with the question of whether her writing is any good or her project has any merit when she’s doing it, and instead takes that as a given. I may be misquoting, but I try to do the same when I’m writing, or doing anything.
In general, though, I think a lot of advice-giving fails because the giver is actually thinking about themselves and their own problems, however well-intentioned. The best advice is solicited (ideally begged for), indirect, or otherwise wisdom that becomes relevant to the receiver years later.
10 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
I’m a big morning writer, and morning person. My cat wakes me up at around 7 for breakfast, and if I’m not already awake I’ll get up and get started as soon as possible if I can. There’s nothing I like better than leaving the house before most of the world is awake, and to watch things come to life slowly. I love to keep the momentum of the morning going. If I let it lag I can be ruined for the day. If my home is quiet or empty I will write there, otherwise I’ll go to the library or a coffee shop. I don’t mind where I write too much, I think when I get too caught up on details that’s when I know I’m not really in a good place concentration-wise and I need to get back to the task at hand. I don’t drink coffee, but I’ll have tea if I’m at a cafe and if I’m at home I’ll sometimes indulge in a morning Diet Coke.
I’d say I usually write for 2-3 hours a session, then I get to have an afternoon knowing I’ve accomplished something, which makes the rest of the day feel so much nicer.
11 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
This is another big question! I have to say it really depends on what I am working on, and what is interesting to me at a given time. I always find talking to my siblings, or to my friend Rebecca, very creatively generative.
12 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Cats!
13 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
I’m a big movie watcher, I’m going to the movies twice next week. I also watch a lot of television. That said, I’m not the most visual person. I think I’m of the belief that if you consume narrative media and pay attention, you will become a good storyteller in your chosen medium. I have a private joke with myself that I’ve got my 10,000 hours in watching movies, which makes me an expert on it (it’s not very funny, that’s why it’s a private joke!).
14 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
The Brontes, Elif Batuman, Daphne Du Maurier, Louis Sachar and Alice Munro are all very important to me, each in different ways. Joanna Newsom’s music, too.
15 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
I’d like to fall in love.
16 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
I wanted to be a historian, curator or an archaeologist before I started pursuing writing, but I was bad at it. I think I actually just wanted to tell stories about history, and live in it somehow. I didn’t actually have what it takes to do the painstaking work to uncover the nitty gritty of the past that we take for granted, unless it is for narrative ends I think.
17 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I tried to do a lot of things before I became a writer, even though I think it’s probably the only thing I’m really good at. I think I maybe avoided pursuing writing earlier because I am not the biggest reader in the world. I was also afraid of failure, and I sort of find the pursuit of fame tacky and humiliating, which is unavoidably wrapped up in the desire for success in any creative field. I was so lucky to have a champion in Julie Mannell who thought I was funny, and who thought other people would too, and encouraged me to pursue writing as a career.
18 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
The last great book I read was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The last great movie I saw was Ferrari by Michael Mann.
19 - What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a historical fiction novel! Wish me luck!
12 or 20 (second series) questions;
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