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!

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

With the publication of Jennifer Weiner’s latest novel, THEN CAME YOU, scheduled for tomorrow, I thought I would run a little interview from Jennifer.

Caleb Cheeshahteamauk is an extraordinary figure in Native American history. How did you first discover him? What was involved in learning more about his life?

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah are proud custodians of their history, and it was in materials prepared by the Tribe that I first learned of its illustrious young scholar.   To find out more about him I talked with tribal members, read translations of early documents in the Wopanaak language, then delved into the archives of Harvard and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially the correspondence between colonial leaders and benefactors in England who donated substantial funds for the education and conversion to Christianity of Indians in the 17th century.   There are also writings by members of the Mayhew family, who were prominent missionaries and magistrates on the island, and John Cotton, Jr., who came here as a missionary and kept a detailed journal.

There is little documentation on Caleb’s actual life. What parts of his life did you imagine? Do you feel you know him better after writing this book, or is he still a mystery?

The facts about Caleb are sadly scant.  We know he was the son of a minor sachem from the part of the Vineyard now known as West Chop, and that he left the island to attend prep school, successfully completed the rigorous course of study at Harvard and was living with Thomas Danforth, a noted jurist and colonial leader, when disease claimed his life.  Everything else about him in my novel is imagined.  The real young man—what he thought and felt—remains an enigma.

Bethia Mayfield is truly a woman ahead of her time. If she were alive today, what would she be doing? What would her life be like with no restrictions?

There were more than a few 17th century women like Bethia, who thirsted for education and for a voice in a society that demanded their silence.  You can find some of them being dragged to the meeting house to confess their “sins” or defending their unconventional views in court.   If Bethia was alive today she would probably be president of Harvard or Brown, Princeton or UPenn.

The novel is told through Bethia’s point of view. What is the advantage to telling this story through her eyes? How would the book be different if Caleb were the narrator?

I wanted the novel to be about crossings between cultures.  So as Caleb is drawn into the English world, I wanted to create an English character who would be equally drawn to and compelled by his world.   I prefer to write with a female narrator when I can, and I wanted to explore issues of marginalization in gender as well as race.

Much of the book is set on Martha’s Vineyard, which is also your home. Did you already know about the island’s early history, or did you do additional research?

I was always intrigued by what brought English settlers to the island so early in the colonial period…they settled here in the 1640s.   Living on an island is inconvenient enough even today; what prompted the Mayhews and their followers to put seven miles of treacherous ocean currents between them and the other English—to choose to live in a tiny settlement surrounded by some three thousand Wampanoags?  The answer was unexpected and led me into a deeper exploration of island history

You bring Harvard College to life in vivid, often unpleasant detail. What surprised you most about this prestigious university’s beginnings?

For one thing, I hadn’t been aware Harvard was founded so early.  The English had barely landed before they started building a college. And the Indian College—a substantial building—went up not long after, signifying an attitude of mind that alas did not prevail for very long.  It was fun to learn how very different early Harvard was from the well endowed institution of today.  Life was hand to mouth, all conversation was in Latin, the boys (only boys) were often quite young when they matriculated.   But the course of study was surprisingly broad and rigorous—a true exploration of liberal arts, languages, and literature that went far beyond my stereotype of what Puritans might have considered fit subjects for scholarship.

As with your previous books, you’ve managed to capture the voice of the period. You get the idiom, dialect, and cadence of the language of the day on paper. How did you do your research?

I find the best way to get a feel for language and period is to read first person accounts—journals, letters, court transcripts.  Eventually you start to hear voices in your head: patterns of speech, a different manner of thinking.  My son once said, Mom talks to ghosts.  And in a way I do.

May 2011, Tiffany Smalley will follow in Caleb’s footsteps and become only the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. Do you know if this will be celebrated?

In May Tiffany Smalley will become the first Vineyard Wampanoag since Caleb to receive an undergrad degree from Harvard College.  (Others have received advanced degrees from the university’s Kennedy school etc.)  I’m not sure what Harvard has decided to do at this year’s commencement, but I am hoping they will use the occasion to honor Caleb’s fellow Wampanoag classmate, Joel Iacoomis, who completed the work for his degree but was murdered before he could attended the 1665 commencement ceremony.

I absolutely adored STAY by debut novelist Allie Larkin so I was thrilled to be able to interview her for BookFinds.

Enjoy!

What was the most challenging aspect of writing STAY?

I think the most challenging part of STAY was simply the fact that I’d never written a book before.  Everything from writing a book, to finding an agent, to going through the publication process was completely new.  It made things exciting, but it also meant I had a lot to learn, and a lot of self-doubt to squash.  It was a little hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I wanted to write a book.  It’s an overwhelming task.  For a long time, I had myself convinced I was just writing a very, very, long short story.

What is the message you want readers to take away from your book? Friends are important, four-legged or otherwise.  I wanted to honor how complicated, beautiful, and durable friendships can be.  Also, one of the things I really admire about Van is how earnest she is in her struggles.  I think she’s at her strongest when she figures out how to accept herself, flaws and all.  I’ve learned a lot from writing her.

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

It really depends on what stage of the process I’m in.  If I’m revising, I like to get all set up with a good supply of food and coffee and focus entirely on my manuscript until I get through the draft.  But in the creation stage, I write until I get stuck, stop and do other things– like cleaning or hiking or yard work– to give myself time to think about my story and get unstuck.  I can’t do the staring at a blinking cursor thing, so I try not to sit at the computer when things really aren’t working.  That said, I do sometimes find it helpful to write through a problem.  I’ll write awful dialogue to get to the next scene and then fix it when I have a better idea of what really needs to be said, or I’ll write a scene that is only action and fill in the description later.

I don’t really like to outline, and for the most part, I write in order, so I get to take the journey with my characters, almost as if I’m reading the book.  But my manuscript file is full of notes to myself in the future, and scenes I’ve thought of, but haven’t gotten to yet in the chronology of things.

As far as habits?  I like to wear my writing sweater, when I work.  It is quite possibly the ugliest sweater ever made, and it’s kind of itchy, but it’s very warm, and it’s got some kind of writing magic going on.  Or at least I like to pretend it does, so if I’ve been having a hard time getting focused, I can put my writing sweater on and feel like I’m ready to dive back in.

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

I’m reading AWAY by Amy Bloom right now.  She was in Rochester this month, reading from her new book and talking about what it means to be a reader.  She’s not only an incredible writer, but also an incredible speaker.

Amy Hatvany has a book called BEST KEPT SECRET coming out next year.  I was lucky enough to read an advance copy recently.  It’s such a brave and beautiful book, and it’s still on my nightstand, because I want to read it again.

I just picked up THE COLLECTOR by John Fowles for my book club, but we’re not meeting again until January.  I don’t want to read it too soon and risk forgetting too much before we meet to discuss it, but it’s calling to me.

Which authors inspire you?

I feel so lucky to be a women’s fiction author.  There are so many writers in the women’s fiction community who not only write amazing books, but also reach out and support other writers.  I’m really inspired by them.  Claire Cook, Julie Buxbaum, Allison Winn Scotch, Sarah Pekkanen, Alison Pace, Melissa Senate, Beth Hoffman, Sarah Strohmeyer, Susan Elizabeth Philips, Beth Harbison, and so many others (I know I’m going to kick myself for not mentioning another amazing lady five minutes from now) really set the tone for what it means to be a writer of women’s fiction.  Their support, advice, and kind words, has made it so much easier to be a new author, and inspires me to nurture the community they’ve established.

What have you learned from this experience?

Fear of rejection is stupid.  When I first came to terms with the idea that STAY was a book, I worried so much about facing rejection and the possibility of failing.  When I sent my first query letter out by e-mail, my hands were actually shaking.  I paced around the living room.  I felt like I’d never be able to handle the waiting, and I’d fall apart if I got rejected.  About an hour later, I got a very kindly worded e-mail back saying, basically, ‘sorry, not for us,’ and I thought, Wait, that’s what I was afraid of? I am so thankful for that rapid rejection.  It was like ripping the band-aid off in one quick pull.  It took all the fear and worry out of submitting my work, and I think it’s made me more brave in general.

I spent a lot of time in my teens and twenties aiming for things just under what I really wanted, because I was scared to fail. As a result, I either ran myself in circles, or I fell on my face a lot harder than I would have if I’d just been honest with myself about my goals and tried my best to reach them.  I am so happy to be over that hurdle!  With STAY, I’ve learned that it’s okay to dream big and try for the things I really want. I won’t succeed at everything I try, some people aren’t going to love everything I do, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I’m learning how to trust myself, take risks, and enjoy the experience of putting myself out there and reaching for the things I really want, regardless of the end result.

What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Allow yourself to write a solid first draft (and even a second or third or fourth) of your book before you start worrying about publication.  It’s really easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed with information on how to submit and where to submit and how the industry works.  It’s important to learn all of those things, but there’s no point to it until you have a book to submit.  So, I think it’s important to enjoy the process of crafting a story and creating characters without all that other noise involved.  Once there’s a solid draft in place, then you can start thinking about word count, audience, submission requirements, etc., and work through the next draft accordingly.  Writing a book takes time and it’s okay to take that time before you have deadlines and publishing dates looming on the horizon.

What are you working on now?

I have an essay about our younger dog, Stella that will be in Wade Rouse’s anthology of dog essays called I’M NOT THE BIGGEST BITCH IN THIS RELATIONSHIP next year.  I’m also working on a new novel, and I have a fun little secret side project I’m writing with one of my dear friends.

If you could go back in time and give your pre-published self some specific advice for the road to publication, what would you say?

Find ways to carve out time to relax and recharge, no matter what else is going on.  For a few months around STAY’s release, if I wasn’t working, I felt guilty.  I was still holding myself to the same standards in every aspect of my life that I did before I had a book hitting the shelves.  Instead of taking time for me, I’d jump from promotion work, to housework, to working on my next project, and then I’d start the cycle all over again.  I’ve finally learned that downtime is important no matter how busy I am, and that a little dog hair (okay, a lot of dog hair) on the rug doesn’t really matter in the greater scheme of things.

What 5 things would you bring with you on a desert island?

I’m not going to list my husband and the dogs, because they aren’t things.  But don’t think I wouldn’t want to take them!

1. I’m totally cheating and saying an e-reader loaded up with every book I’d ever want to read, instead of listing books individually.
2. My writing sweater.
3. My laptop.
4. A solar charger for said e-reader and laptop.
5. Matches, because I’m pretty sure rubbing two sticks together gets really boring, really fast.

Favorite TV show and movie? I’m really torn between NORTHERN EXPOSURE and VERONICA MARS for my favorite TV show.

I’m not sure if I can even come close to picking one movie as my all time favorite, but TiMER by Jac Shaeffer is my favorite of all the films I’ve seen this year.  It’s smart, sweet, well-written, well-acted, and the concept is brilliant.

Favorite Quote (either from STAY or in general) and why?

I came across this quote by Willa Cather recently: “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”  I love the suggestion that there’s value in going through a storm.  It’s more than just saying, “This, too, shall pass,” it’s recognizing that there are things to be gained from chaos and hard times.  Life is full of ups and downs and calms and storms, and I like to see all of it as an opportunity.

********

Thank you, Allie! We look forward to all of your future work!

Harlan Coben calls Bryan Gruley “a major talent” and Publishers Weekly proclaimed that he will remind readers of Dennis Lehane. Do you need any more reason to read his latest gripping mystery? To whet your appetite, I am giving you an interview with Gruley.

Tell us about the process of plotting a mystery novel.  Do you have the story mapped out before you sit down to write, or do you discover it along with your characters?

So far, I’m not much of an advance plotter.  I know where the story begins and I have a vague idea of how it ends.  Then I start writing and, yes, I discover the story along with my characters.  As I go, I jot notes to myself about story arcs I need to follow through on and loose ends I have to tie up, and these become a sort of rough, moving outline for what’s to come in the next few scenes.

How is writing a sequel different from writing a debut novel?  Does your writing process change at all?

Writing my first novel was hard because I had no idea how to go about writing a novel.  Writing the sequel was hard because I had no idea how to go about writing a sequel.

I don’t mean to be glib.  In a sequel, you have to be mindful both of readers who have not read your previous book and readers who have.  You have to give the former enough backstory to appreciate the setting and characters without giving so much that you either bore repeat readers or reveal so much of the first book that new readers won’t go back and give it a try.

At least for me, another challenge on the sequel was quieting the echoes of reviewers, bloggers, readers, and others who had opined about my writing.  Writing my debut, all I had to worry about were my own instincts and the suggestions of the few friends who read the manuscript.  This time around, it was impossible at times not to recall the critics, professional or not, who’d complained about the hockey or the dialogue or the prologue or the way my hair was done in the author photo.  It made for some second-guessing, but I tried to remind myself what my friend, the novelist John Galligan, told me: Write what’s in your heart.

When you first conceived of this series, how did you decide which point of view to tell the story from?  Did you ever consider using a character other than Gus to narrate, or telling the story from a third-person perspective?

In truth, I didn’t conceive of a series; I just wrote one story, Starvation Lake, and my friends at Touchstone told me it would be a series.

I never gave serious thought to telling my story in anything but the first person.  It just felt natural, and it really helped me to get to know at least one character, Augustus Carpenter.  I sometimes feel envious reading stories told in third-person omniscient, because the narrator can honestly know things that the main character cannot know.  I do not have that luxury with Gus, of course, but for now at least, I feel that it’s his voice more than anything that connects with certain readers.

While you don’t write from a female perspective, there are several strong female characters at the heart of The Hanging Tree (particularly Gracie, Felicia, Darlene, and Michele).  Do any of the women in your life inform your female characters?

Absolutely.  While none of these fictional characters are modeled on particular women in my life, I assume that virtually every girl or woman I’ve ever known has influenced the way in which I’ve drawn them—and the way Gus perceives them.  The latter is most important because it tells us as much about Gus as it does about them.

Felicia and Laird Haskell put a lot of pressure on Taylor.  Throughout the novel, Gus describes the dashed dreams of parents who believed that their sons were bound for the NHL.  Do you think that this kind of pressure from parents is more intense in small towns like Starvation Lake?

I doubt it.  Remember that the Haskells originally hail from the Detroit suburbs.  The pressure there—and in Chicago, Toronto, Minneapolis, Montreal, Boston, and other hockey towns—can be intense.  The best parents understand that the odds of their kid playing pro hockey are infinitesimal.  They instead encourage a love of the game that the kid can embrace for the rest of his or her life.

Philo’s belief in the potential of the Web to change journalism is pivotal to the story.  You have experienced the changes affecting journalism firsthand.  Do you think that the essential role of reports has shifted in the information age, or is their basic purpose and process the same?  Are you optimistic about the future for newspapers in America?

The reporter’s mission is as ever: tell people things they didn’t know five seconds ago, and tell them stories that make them think, laugh, debate, cry, act.  Today, a young reporter is likely to be as adept with a video camera as she is with a pen and notebook, and he’s likely to deliver information in shorter, faster blasts than before.  But the essentials remain unchanged: What’s new?  What’s interesting?  How does it affect me and my world?

I’m not optimistic about the future for print newspapers, per se, because the business model is broken beyond repair.  But the demand for news, compelling tales, and insightful analysis in an increasingly connected, increasingly complex world is greater than ever.  The challenge is finding ways to deliver that material in ways that people will actually pay for.

Tell us about your plans for Gus and Starvation Lake.  Will the series continue?  Any thoughts on how many books there might be?

At least one more, according to the folks at Touchstone.  I can envision more beyond that, because I enjoy the characters so much.  I’m dying to know what will happen to Soupy and Bea and Darlene and the River Rats.  The only way to find out is to sit down and write it.

Karin Schaeffer thought she had already defeated evil.But there was more.

Three years ago, Detective Karin Schaeffer wanted to die when a madman murdered her family—and she would have if her partner, Mac MacLeary, hadn’t pulled her back from the edge of the abyss. Now they are married, with a toddler son, and Karin is learning to live again.

Then Mac’s parents are slain in a brutal home invasion . . . And Mac vanishes . . . And a new nightmare begins.

Karin is determined to do whatever it takes to find her husband. But the answers waiting for her in the shadows are almost as unbelievable as his disappearance. Karin pursues the truth—leading her away from her home in Brooklyn to the terrifying heart of the Mexican drug wars to Cape Cod in winter—as dark secrets about the man she loves are revealed. . . .

INTERVIEW

Karin’s transformation from the beginning of your first book, YOU ARE NEXT, to the end of your second book, NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, is pretty amazing. What’s it like to write a character that changes so dramatically?

Very satisfying. Like most people, Karin is resilient, but what sets her apart is that her life has suffered blows worse than most of us can imagine. She has had to endure terrible loss and pain, and yet she finds a way to endure, even when it seems she can’t or won’t. For me, it’s Karin’s weaknesses and vulnerability together with her fearlessness and courage that make her so compelling. When something bad happens to Karin she feels it, she’s terrified, but she rarely turns away from it…she will always do what it takes to help or save a loved one, despite her fears.  But she’s human; she isn’t static. Experience to experience, scene to scene, book to book, she evolves. At one point in NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME she decides not to take a risky trip to search for Mac because it could leave their son an orphan if she doesn’t return. Karin is fearless and courageous, but she isn’t a fool, and she learns from life. Just like getting to know a friend, the more time I spend with Karin, the more I look forward to seeing how her life will evolve in the future.

Karin’s stubborn streak is a defining characteristic. Explain how this plays a role in the story.

If Karin wasn’t stubborn and impulsive, along with being unreasonably comfortable with risk, she would stay home and bake banana bread like the rest of us. But she isn’t like the rest of us. Her life has thrown her shocking curve balls, which has hurt her and also enraged her. She’s highly trained through her time in the Army and on the police force, and life has taught her that she had better think for herself. Because of her unique mix of skills and life experience, once she’s made up her mind to do something, she goes for it with confidence.

As a writer, you really put Karin through A LOT of turmoil. What was it like to create a character strong enough to withstand all of this?

Exhilarating. Karin is my alter ego. She’s tall and blond because I’m not. She’s powerful and courageous because I’m a fearful worrier. And she has come face to face with evil in a way that I never have and hope I never will. Karin is better thank I will ever be, and she has experienced worse things than I ever will. Creating Karin Schaeffer, moment to moment, book to book, makes me feel strong and hopeful. She’s the kind of person who can, and will, change the world for the better.

Do you have any future plans to Karin Schaeffer?

Yes! A few months after finishing NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, I realized ho much I missed Karin and Mac, and knew I had to follow them into a third novel. I’ve already started writing it.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

A powerful and resonant novel from Tom Franklin—critically acclaimed author ofSmonk and Hell at the Breech—Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter tells the riveting story of two boyhood friends, torn apart by circumstance, who are brought together again by a terrible crime in a small Mississippi town. An extraordinary novel that seamlessly blends elements of crime and Southern literary fiction,Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a must for readers of Larry Brown, Pete Dexter, Ron Rash, and Dennis Lehane.

INTERVIEW WITH TOM FRANKLIN:

Could you explain the significance behind the title of your new novel, CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, and its setting?

The title comes from a pneumonic device to teach southern children how to spell Mississippi. M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, humpback, humpback, I. We moved to the crooked letter (slang for Mississippi) in 2001. I just loved it and wondered why no one had used it before. It sounded like an Elmore Leonard novel to me, and that was a good thing. It also seemed, or sounded, like a crime novel.

When I began to try and figure out how the title fit this story, the story of 32 Jones and Larry Ott, it occurred to me that, in some ways, hte book is about how southern children are educate into racism.

What inspired you to write this particular story?

The inspiration for this book came from a number of places: a mechanic’s shop I used to pass every day; this place NEVER had a customer bu the mechanic was always there, waiting. Also, where I grew up in rural Alabama, we had only one cop for our town. Larry Hicks (he’s still there) had jurisdiction over the nearby mill town of Fulton, AL (the basis for Chabot), as well as where we lived, in Dickinson. I also wanted to try and write about race, which I’d avoided, for the most part, in my earlier books.

You said even your previous novel, HELL AT THE BREECH, set in 1890s Alabama, ‘mostly sidesteps’ the issue of race. How did you go about tackling this issue in CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER?

Writing this book, half of which is from a black man’s point of view, I tried to feel sensitive to issues of race. Writing from another point of view, from another race or gender, can be tricky and hard to pull off. What I finally decided to do was forget about it and just write Silas, the black man, as a person, not thinking as I wrote about race. I hope he comes off okay.

How has growing up in the South influenced your writing and how does CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER compare to your previous stories set in similar settings?

The big difference is that this new novel is my contemporary one. The stories in POACHERS were all contemporary, but my first two novels were historical. The South, of course, has changed with the rest of the world, just a little slower maybe. When I wrote about the historical world, it was a world I was discovering: The world of no electricity or cars, etc. What’s interesting is that a lot of the problems then are still problems now, like racism or poverty. But writing about characters in the 1890s or early 1900s is vastly different from writing about people of today.

The other thing about this new book is that it’s my first set entirely in Mississippi. The truth is that I loved the Crooked Letter title, and it’s such a Mississippi title, this book had to be set there.

What is the writing process like for you, and what comes first: the plotline, or the characters?

Always the characters. I try to come up with somebody who interests me, and then I let them loose on a landscape and see what happens. Often it’s a matter of presenting a terrible dilemma and seeing how he or she negotiates it. The writing of my first two novels was very different, HELL AT THE BREECH took almost five years and it was fiver years of hell, of thinking each day would be the day I gave up. Then SMONK came along and I did a very, very fast first draft, 200 pages in about ten days. This new one, I thought about it for a few years, trying different things, but when my wife won a Fulbright to Brazil last year, I was suddenly faced with days where my children would be in school and my wife teaching, so I’d have no distractions. In Oxford, I can always find somebody to distract me from work, I can go to a bar, wrangle up a tennis partner. But down in Brazil, unable to speak the language, and with six or seven hours a day with nothing to do but write…

Larry Ott, one of your main characters, has an apparent affinity for horror stories and more specifically, Stephen King novels. What role did horror (and Stephen King) play in moving this particular story?

I was obsessed with King as a boy and read everything he wrote. Larry and I have many things in common: we’re both mechanic’s sons, both country boys. I read King and other horror novels. Many of Larry’s scenes- the drive-in movie, the haunted house, etc. – are autobiographical.

What’s next for you?

A new novel, co-written with my wife, Beth Ann Fennelly, about the flood of 1927, how it affects two government agents and the young woman they meet.

The Language of Trees by Ilie Ruby

1.      Tell us the story behind the story. How did The Language of Trees come to be?

I wrote the book over a period of several years. I was inspired by the gorgeous landscape of Canandaigua, where my family spent childhood summers. The area is teeming with Native American folklore and ghost stories. It is also an extremely evocative place. Every rented cabin that we stayed in had a ghost story attached to it. In the cabin next to ours lived a woman with 13 cats, she was the secret keeper of the place and we were enthralled with her stories and folklore.

2.      What was the most challenging aspect of writing your debut novel?

I actually started with the character of Luke, a blithe spirit. I felt his character very strongly but knew that if I wrote the story from his perspective I would have to create a spirit world and maintain that for 350+ pages. I realized that I wasn’t so much interested in creating a spirit world but more a world that was spiritual.

I also found it hard to know when to stop creating new versions. One of the hard things about writing something over a long period of time is that your tastes change, and your wisdom about writing changes. Then you have to reconcile your own phases and styles.

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

That although you may go through hard times, there are such things as second chances—you can fall in love after tragedy. You can start anew.

4.      Describe your background.

My mom was an artist. I grew up writing and painting every day. I actually thought everyone did these things every day. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized that this was not a way of life for most people.

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

I don’t outline novels. I outline short stories. I am a night owl so writing late at night is the best for me. I usually write in long stints—10 to 12 hours per writing “session.”  I can’t do that anymore now that I have 3 little kids, so I am having to alter my writing schedule.

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

I am reading a lot of humor writing at the moment: things that make me laugh—David Sedaris, old Woody Allen, Ayelet Waldman, among others. Also some books on “mommy-ing,” and adoption.

7. Which authors inspire you?

Alice Hoffman, Alice Seybold, Anita Shreve, and a bevy of poets: Jack Gilbert, Jorie Graham, Mary Oliver, etc.

As a child, my favorites were Judy Blume, Norma Fox Mazer, C.S. Lewis

8.      What have you learned from this experience?

To be cautious about where galleys are sent and make sure they end up in the right hands.

9.      What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Stick with it no matter how long it takes. Learn to respect your own individual timeline.  Respect your first drafts.

10.  What are you working on now?

I am actually going to outline a second novel and a children’s book, Eden’s Garden, about a girl who came from Ethiopia. I promised my daughter I’d write a book for her so this is it.

I recently interviewed Chris Bohjalian, author of the enormously popular MIDWIVES as well as many other thought-provoking and captivating novels. His upcoming release, SECRETS OF EDEN just received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Do you feel the subject matter of your books are ever rooted in a current event, a hot news story or a popular debate?

I don’t always relate a novel to a current event. “Skeletons at the Feast” is a love triangle set in Poland and Germany in the last six months of World War II. “The Buffalo Soldier” was about parental grief and loss and recovery. “The Double Bind” harkens back to “The Great Gatsby” and the literary canon. And even “Midwives” wasn’t about an issue that was out there in the news: No one was talking about midwifery in 1997. There was no national debate about home vs. hospital birth.

Still, I do have novelist friends who are preternaturally gifted at tapping into the cultural zeitgeist – and they sell boatloads more books than I do. So, clearly they’re on to something.

In any case, the last thing I would tell a novelist is that the key to great art is a great hook. Sometimes great art has a great hook…but I wouldn’t recommend beginning there.

Now, I think that if you are determined to pull something off the newspapers or news web sites and craft it into a novel, be sure there is some moral ambiguity or conflict to the story. Drama still needs conflict, even if your source is the news.

How do you decide what makes a good story?

Some writing professors will tell you to write about what you know; others will tell you to write about what you don’t know, but learn all you can. My sense is that it really doesn’t matter if you are writing about a subject you know all about or one that is completely foreign. The key is to explore a subject you care about so passionately that you want to get up at five a.m. to dive in. That has always been the barometer for me.

I should also note that for every novel I finish, I must go down two dead ends, some of which are hundreds of pages long.

SECRETS OF EDEN will release in February.