Author Interview: Ellen Baker

Last week Bookfinds reviewed Ellen Baker’s gorgeous new novel, I GAVE MY HEART TO KNOW THIS. Ellen was gracious enough to be interviewed for Bookfinds. Thanks, Ellen!

1. Tell us the story behind the story. How did I GAVE MY HEART TO KNOW THIS come to be?

To begin, three mysterious landscapes fascinated me: the waterfront in Superior, Wisconsin, where ships were built during World War II (the place feels ghostly now); an abandoned farmhouse in northern Michigan; and the town of Calumet, Michigan — once a bustling city of immigrant miners, where now a few thousand residents rattle around the big old brick buildings.  I also had the idea of a man coming into a shipyard every day on a delivery train; my main character, a female welder, would fall in love with him – or the idea of him, anyway.  I had the sense that all these stories should be in one novel, and that themes of past/present and appearances/disappearances would be threaded throughout.

2. What was the most challenging aspect of writing I GAVE MY HEART TO KNOW THIS?

The first challenge was to figure out how these landscapes, images, and ideas would be connected.  From there, I worked hard to determine the proportions of the story and to structure the novel so that the settings and characters each were given their proper due.

3. What is the message you want readers to take away from your book?

There are several possible messages people could take from it – I’m always interested to see what particularly strikes a chord with each individual.

4. Describe your background.

When I was about four, my favorite thing was to write and illustrate stories; I’d staple the pages into file folder covers.  I guess I just went on from there.  I got a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in American Studies, and worked at a variety of jobs – museum curator, living history interpreter, bookseller – while I wrote three practice novels and finally started KEEPING THE HOUSE, my first to be published.

5.    Describe your writing schedule. Do you outline? Any habits?

I go to my computer when I wake up in the morning, and I stay at it furiously as long as I can stand to – usually four or five hours.  On I GAVE MY HEART TO KNOW THIS, I didn’t work from an outline, but more by “feel” or intuition – which ultimately works but can be maddening in the process.   I wrote many scenes that didn’t end up in the novel.

6. What books are on your nightstand?  What are you currently reading?

Hampton Sides’s BLOOD AND THUNDER – a fascinating history of the Southwest.  And, for research on my next book, I’ve been reading a great book called LOG OF THE SKIPPER’S WIFE, a diary of a woman who was married to a sea captain in the early 20^th century.

7.    Which authors inspire you?

I admire many authors for many different reasons and I try to learn from everything I read.  But I feel like my inspiration comes from within.

8.    What have you learned from this experience?

So much I can hardly begin to tell you.  I learned about the craft and art of writing, and I learned a lot about life, too.

9.    What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Read everything.  Focus on finding your own voice and becoming the best writer you can.   (Realize this may take several years of steady practice!)

10. What are you working on now?

A novel about a woman who becomes a pilot in 1912, when aviation is brand new.  I’m loving the characters and finding the research fascinating.

Thanks again, Ellen!