1 - How did your first book or chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
My first book didn’t change my life as much as I had hoped. I thought that after it came out I would feel that I had officially arrived as a writer. However, after that first book I then figured that I needed my second book to feel that I had arrived. And then my third, etc. Happy Sands is my fifth book of fiction and I’m pretty sure the “not there yet” pattern will continue. Happy Sands does have some fundamental differences to my first book Whipstock. In Whipstock I used a third-person point of view and avoided explicit interior thoughts (while hinting at those thoughts through action and dialogue.) Happy Sands is written in first-person and is an interior novel. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily progress, but it’s different.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
I came to fiction first because that is what I mostly read. Also, when I started writing I was doing legal writing for a day job. I had heard that it’s best to write something that is not like your day job (otherwise it feels like your day job). It still seems like good advice.
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 am slow to start and, once it gets going, also a slow writer. None of it comes easy. In Happy Sands I had to resort to the Pomodoro Technique (25-minute timed intervals) to finish the manuscript and the first big round of UCalgary Press edits.
I don’t take notes or write in a journal. I figure if an idea or detail is good enough it will stick with me. That might be code for laziness. My first full draft usually captures a sense of the general story idea and setting – but underdoes everything else. The most common editorial comment I get is “more here?”
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?
Usually, I know the approximate length of a piece when I start. There are occasional surprises, but the length and genre mostly end up being as I envisioned. I start writing at what I think might be the beginning and write to what I think might be the end, skipping over parts that give me difficulty. Then I go back and dig in and rearrange and fill-in and delete.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I see public readings as part of the job. I don’t dread them but they definitely occupy my mind for a few days leading up to the performance. During those days when performance planning and practicing and jitters take over my mind, my creative process for writing is obliterated.
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?
When I begin a new piece my initial concern is: does the world need another book or story, particularly by another old white woman, and more particularly by me? I answer no. And then, illogically, go ahead and write anyway. When I write I don’t try to answer anything, rather I try to represent a feeling or a circumstance. And then when I finish I ask myself the dreaded question: so what? And usually have no answer.
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?
I think the role of a writer has always been to observe, to report and, in the case of creative writing, to effectively and artistically interpret or represent aspects of (pretentious phrase coming here) the human condition. “Effectively and artistically” is the tricky part.
8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
An experienced outside editor is absolutely essential to my process, and I love working with them. When else will someone spend that much time on a piece of my writing? A strong editor is a gift – even when we disagree. Working with a weak or inexperienced editor can by stressful and problematic – but that has only happened to me a few times in over 20 years. And every editor has to start somewhere.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Long before it was a Nike slogan, my mom used to say “Just do it.” Basically – stop whining and waffling and making excuses and get on with it.
10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (short stories to essays to the novel)? What do you see as the appeal?
Moving between genres has been organic for me – more a function of time and stage of life than pre-planning, although deep down I think of myself primarily as a short story writer. Short stories were easier to keep in my mind in the tiny writing-time allotments I had when I was working full time and had young kids. My novels tend to be short – more like really long short stories or novellas. But they feel long to me. Whenever I finish writing a novel I swear I will never write another one. I never say that after finishing a short story. The essays that I write are usually more reflective or personal than journalistic and I am glad I didn’t start on then until fairly recently. I have more life experiences to reflect upon now.
11 - 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 set up daily “office hours” that, in theory, are devoted to actual writing, and not to just “writing-related” activities like mentoring, or Board work or editing for other people. But I find it hard to keep to the office hours. In practice, my lowest daily bar to reach is to at least “touch” (= do anything, e.g. open the file and insert a comma) my current work-in-progress every day. Often that turns into a long writing session. But I still frequently end up regressing to my old habit of writing late at night.
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
If it’s a little stall, I go to the piano, play a bit, and then go back to my desk. If it’s a medium stall I take my dog for a walk or go for a bike ride. If it’s a huge stall and there’s no deadline, I set the work aside for a few months. If it’s a huge stall and there is a deadline, gulp, I use the Pomodoro Technique.
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Loose leaf Market Spice tea. I make a highly-caffeinated pot every morning.
14 - 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 am influenced by music and often choose specific playlists to listen to while I’m writing in the belief that something about the music, maybe the mood or pace, will filter into my writing. I use nature to re-think aspects of my work. In nature, I don’t actively think about the work, but just walk or hike and let the writing issue simmer in the back of my mind. It only works if I am on my own. Conversation kills that process.
15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
I’m drawn to authors and works that rely heavily on dialogue and sharp humour. Roddy Doyle, for instance. I’m also drawn to Alberta writers – I like to see what my peers are up to. There is a lot of unheralded talent in this province.
16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Canoe the Nihanni River.
17 - 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 probably would have stuck with law and become an independent legal researcher – which still involves writing, but more boring writing. My mom was a dietician and, in retrospect, that occupation would have been a better fit for me than law. Maybe I would have given that a go.
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
Good teachers and positive reinforcement. Also, I’m not super comfortable expressing myself verbally, especially on-the-spot; writing provides a less pressured, more subtle, mode to “say” something.
19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
I just re-read Slaughterhouse Five because one my sons gave me the copy he used in university. I’d forgotten what a great book it is. In terms of films, for the past month I have been working on Michael Nyman’s music on my piano and will be watching the movie The Piano soon (hopefully tonight!) – in part to see if the movie has remained great over time, and in part to see how the music works within the movie.
20 - What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a collection of short stories about “average” girls and women in outdoor recreational sports. The themes and tensions are different, of course, but the settings are all outdoors in canoes, on skis and mountain bikes, that sort of thing. I think there is a shortage of sports stories featuring women. Also, it’s a good excuse for me to go outside, have fun, be average… and call it all research.
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