1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
As I held my first book of fiction I felt I had arrived. Pay-off after all those years of toiling in obscurity (aside from a few stories published in literary journals). That novel, Regarding Wanda, was a bildungsroman, heavily based on my experiences growing up in a military family, my overbearing father, my work as a small-town journalist and an eye impairment I developed in my early 30s. Aside from that it’s all made up! My most recent work, Almost English, is the result of years of research into the British Raj and my great-grandparents. Stephen Turner was a quarter Indian, but to the late 19th century Raj he was wholly native: underpaid, underemployed and mocked. Nevertheless, Stephen and his wife Lily Turner never wavered in their struggle to belong to the British establishment in Northern India from 1885 to 1912. This is the story of their quest, their frequent disappointments and their enduring love. It’s also my story. I break the fourth wall as the novel unfolds to recount my parallel search for community. This genre-bending work, which includes family photographs, paintings and sketches, brings a fresh perspective to this era. This structure, a melange of historic fiction and autobiography felt necessary, and I think the story is much richer as a result. It was also risky; publishers were wary
There has been a progression in my work from essentially auto-fiction, to heavily researched historic fiction interspersed with short non-fiction essays that riff on the fictional text. It’s more experimental.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
Actually, I came to journalism first. I wanted to write short stories (poetry being somewhat mysterious to me) but knew I had to make a living, so I studied journalism at Carleton University and made my living for decades as a journalist, but only ever 4 days a week. Day 5 was always for fiction writing.
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?
Starting, getting that initial idea, comes quickly. The first draft often does as well. But then I edit endlessly, producing one version after another, second-guessing, fine tuning. I also rely on feedback from my writing group and other literary friends. The process works, but it is time consuming.
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?
Regarding Wanda began as a series of short stories. I had envisioned it as a story cycle, a structure that I enjoy reading (think Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town), wherein the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But then I showed it to Audrey Thomas, my mentor at the Banff School of Writing back in the day and she said it was a novel. And so it was. It didn’t require much to weave the stories together. Since then, my novels have always started as a larger work. I still write short fiction, but it’s destined to stay as such; I feel no compunction to expand on those works.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
It took me a while to get used to public readings; I was just so nervous. I’m not now, and I enjoy reading my stories aloud to an audience. Reading aloud is definitely part of the writing process as well; a story has to sound right!
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?
My work revolves around notions of belonging, whether to a community, a “significant” other, a family or a group of friends. I grew up as an itinerant air force brat moving every 3 or 4 years. This left me without roots, or a place. In different ways, each of my books deals with this central issue.
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?
Writers allow readers to take deep emotional dives (as opposed to the superficial dog paddling on the web) into relevant topics. The best writers bring fresh perspectives, well-researched information with emotional resonance, and perhaps a glimpse of the past and future. Given climate change, I think the role of the writer should be provocateur and soothsayer.
8 – Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Editors are essential. Full stop. I always save up so I can hire one, and I believe this has helped me get published. It also helps me make the work as good as it can be. Best to get the heavy lifting out of the way before approaching publishing houses (some of which go very light on the editing).
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Virginia Woolf said: “So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”
This is the key to inspiration; you have to care about what you write.
10 – How easy has it been for you to move between genres (short stories to journalism to the novel)? What do you see as the appeal?
Journalism, at its heart, is story telling. I enjoy writing profiles and these in particular allow scope for telling people’s stories. Moving from that to short stories was really not a stretch at all. And then, I wove those stories into my first novel. So, the whole trajectory had a rather natural progression.
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?
When I was enmeshed in researching and writing Almost English, I was hard at it from early a.m. until mid afternoon or later. But since completing that, I’ve concentrated on publishing it and been less rigorous about my creative writing. I usually manage two or three mornings a week on fiction. BUT I do read and write poetry first thing every morning. And I have grand plans for the new year; hoping to write fiction five mornings a week (no email or scrolling till noon seems a good starting point).
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I turn to books I know I love (Woolf or Ondaatje for example) or new authors who have been recommended. I also dip into old how-to favs like Anne Lamont’s bird by bird.
And sometimes, I go to the art gallery and spend times with pictorial pals.
13 – What fragrance reminds you of home?
Pledge wood cleaner. My mom was a compulsive cleaner. I am not.
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?
Gardening is profoundly influential. For me, the zen like space gardening creates in my life allows my mind to trip off in new directions. It helps to get my hands dirty too!
I also find walking, especially in a forest, is very conducive to imaginative trolling. My therapist recommends spending an hour, three days a week, in nature. I aim for that.
15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
There’s a long list, but here are a few: Sigrid Nunez, Hilary Mantel, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, Alice Munro (I know, but her writing is stellar), etc. etc.
16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Publish a chap book of poetry. I came to poetry during COVID and found I loved it. I now write a poem nearly every day. Most matter (to me) for mere minutes, but some have potential.
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?
Landscape architecture holds great appeal. I love working with plants and I love to design. I suppose I would end up writing about it too!
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I knew when I was 12 that I wanted to be a writer. I wrote poems, a play and wee stories back then. I just loved this act of creation: imaginative and so enjoyable. I never even considered doing anything else!
19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
The vulnerables, Sigrid Nunez: understated but so astute and the writing zings. I adore her work.
The room next door Dir. Pedro Almodovar. Starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. An adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel What are you going through. Deep and dark, about end of life, about the degradation of the earth and depression. A thought jarring film.
20 - What are you currently working on?
Marketing my new historic novel, Almost English, seems to take up most of my time, but I will soon get to more creative work. I want to delve into my poetry drafts to find some pearls (I hope) and craft them into something fuller. I also have a half-dozen short stories finished for a new collection. Maybe. And I’m considering writing a novel that somehow melds gardening with historic fiction. TBD.
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