Interview with Brian Tucker

Vagrant Press has just released Brian Tucker’s first book, Big White Knuckles, a story of an artistic boy growing up in a coal-mining town in Cape Breton.

Here’s the publisher’s description: “Dagan Cadden knows that one day he will grow up to be a hard man like his Da. But the older he gets, the more he sees himself away from the coalmine and perhaps away from Cape Breton itself. If he follows his dreams of becoming an artist, Dagan will have to break some of the rock-hard traditions of his family, and make his way toward a future that is much less certain.

“Funny and poignant, captivating and raw, Big White Knuckles is a novel about what it takes to become the person you want to be while staying loyal to the things that made you what you are.”

Leo McKay Jr., author of Like This and Twenty-six says: “Out of the rough-hewn lumber of the working-class male vernacular, Brian Tucker has crafted a tender portrait of a young man simultaneously at odds with and in love with his community.”

This is what struck me most about the book. Books that deal with blue-collar communities sometimes focus single-mindedly on the negative aspects of such a place, but this one does not. As a matter of fact, even the most gruesome physicality is described in a way that allows the reader to, at times, find a degree of sympathy with the perpetrators. This is quite a feat because I cringe at even the mildest violence and often skip over these types of passages in other books.

Brian’s portrayal of Da is another work of subtlety. The man with the big, white knuckles is no one-dimensional brute, but a man who lives by a code of honour he tries to pass along to his son.

I enjoyed Brian’s work immensely and encourage you to pick it up.

Link to Chapters.

Link to Amazon.

Link to Vagrant Press.

Interview

Brian, I’ve just finished your book, Big White Knuckles, and have to ask: how biographical is it?

I get that question a lot. I would say that half of the book is based on some true event. I’ve highly fictionalized a lot of those true events but there are some I hardly touched at all. I think people will be surprised as to what is true and what is not.

Your characters aren’t always portrayed in a positive light. Are they based upon real people and, if so, do the people they’re based upon see themselves in your pages? How do they feel about being in your book?

There are a few characters based on real people. Some are composites. The character of Styx for example is based on a friend I had in Cape Breton and a good friend here in New Brunswick. I haven’t heard anything yet but I’m expecting some shit to come my way over certain depictions.

You studied art at NSCAD University. What drew you away from art and towards writing? Are you still involved in art? Do you find the two complementary, or does one inspire the other?

I haven’t painted anything since I started writing BWK. I don’t know why. It used to be different. When I wasn’t painting I was writing and when I wasn’t writing I’d start pushing some paint around. I used to love painting but now all I want to do is write.


How long did it take you to write your book?

I read in a writers guide that all publishers were looking for were 30 pages of a manuscript, a SASE and a query letter. I wrote the 30 pages over a weekend and sent it out figuring by the time I heard back I’d have most of the book completed. In my query letter I said that the book was finished and that it was 48,000 words, which was a complete lie. Three months went by and a get a call from Sandra McIntyre from Vagrant Press looking for the rest so I did what most writers would do in that situation, I lied again. I told her that the book was written out in long hand and I would need some time to type it out. I still only had 30 pages. I wrote the entire book in a month and sent it out. She liked what I sent and asked if I could double it in three months. I told her I could even though I was working two jobs at the time. I had to wake up at 6:30 am write until I went to work, come home at 10pm, write until 2am and do the same thing all over again the next day for three months.

When you write, do you edit as you go, or write full drafts and edit after each?

I write entire drafts in long hand and then type it out later. I edit during the typing stage.

Will there be a next book? If so, have you given any thought to it yet?

I’m about four chapters into my second novel. The working title is Somethin Fierce.

Do you have any advice for writers who are looking to be published?

Not really. I’m new to this game, just stumbling around hoping to end up in a good place. The only advice I could give at this point is find the right publisher for your work. Vagrant Press has been very good to me. I think I ended up in a good place.

Many thanks for taking the time to speak with me. I wish you all the best on your book.

Colleen

Interview with Maya Reynolds

Maya Reynolds is an award-wining author, earning kudos for her romantic suspense and thriller novels. Her novella, You’ve Been a Bad Girl, was developed into a full-length manuscript and released on September 4 under the title, Bad Girl. It is a work of erotic suspense.

CG: Thanks for taking time away from promoting Bad Girl to talk to us about your life as a writer. How exciting is it to see your book in print?

MR: Thanks for having me, Colleen. It’s a pleasure to be here.

I have to say it’s pretty amazing to walk into a bookstore and see MY book on a shelf. It’s even better when I see that, of the four books they ordered, only one is left .

CG: What are you doing to promote your book and what is your schedule is like during
the launch?

MR: I have a full-time job so my book-promoting efforts are scheduled around that. I have three books signings this month at various Barnes & Noble stores in the Dallas area. I also have a number of speaking engagements lined up at writers’ groups and clubs. In addition, I maintain a daily presence online.

CG: I’m always fascinated by the diverse backgrounds many writers have. According to your website, you’ve been a teacher, a stockbroker, a psychiatric social worker and a crisis team interventionist. You make the rest of us look like underachievers! How did you go from one job to the other and what led you to writing?

MR: I was one of those people who knew I wanted to write early, but didn’t have the self-confidence to do anything about it at first. I trained to be a high school teacher. During the summer, I took a job at a stock brokerage house, fell in love with it and stayed. The company, Smith Barney, transferred me to Texas where I earned my brokerage license.

After about ten years, I got restless and quit my job to “find myself.” My plan was to try my hand at writing. I wrote and sold a number of short stories, but still didn’t have the discipline to write a full-length novel.

I returned to graduate school and spent three years earning my MSW (Masters in Social Work). During that time, I was selected to be a part of the first psychiatric crisis team in Dallas. The experience was invaluable. Once I had my professional license, I started the first psychiatric crisis team for children and adolescents in Dallas County. I later ran six public mental health clinics for both children and adults before becoming the vice president for operations for public mental health in Dallas County.

In 2003, I decided to try writing full-time and see if I could finish a novel. Between 2003 and 2005, I wrote three novels. Bad Girl sold in 2006 about the same time my insurance situation became untenable. Last December, I started back to work full-time (with fabulous medical insurance) and now write in the early morning, or during evenings and weekends.

CG: (Inner dialogue: Holy crap! I feel like even more of an underachiever now, but I must carry on. Here goes...) You live in Texas now, but where did you grow up and what brought you to Texas?

MR: I was born in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City. My family moved to Florida when I was in fifth grade. I grew up and went to college there. Smith Barney transferred me to Dallas when I was twenty-five.

CG: As someone who has never been there, Texas, especially Dallas seems to be the home of big hair and sparkle. Does it live up to its image? How did you fit in?

MR: It took quite a bit of time for me to adjust to living in Texas, but I’d find it difficult to live anywhere else now. The people are the kindest I’ve ever met. In my years here, I have never had a flat tire without someone stopping to help within five minutes of my pulling off the road. Texas hospitality is very real.

I’m not much of a big hair and sparkle gal. I keep my hair very short, wash it in the morning and let the curls dry on my head without using a dryer. When my cat Bob hasn’t made off with my earrings, I do wear sparkles in my ears, but that’s about it.

CG: Let’s talk about writing. Describe the writing and publication of Bad Girl for us. When did the writing begin? How much time did you spend on it? How did your novella grow to a full-length novel? How much time was there from the time you got your publishing deal to release date?

MR: Wow! That’s a big order. Bad Girl started as an exercise in a writing class in February 2005. I felt good about it and entered it in the Just Erotic Romance Reviews contest later that spring.

I was thrilled when it won second prize and Ellora’s Cave (an e-publisher) requested the full in August. The only problem was I hadn’t finished it yet because I was working on something else. It was another month or two before I completed it as a 45K-word manuscript and submitted it.

Before I heard back from Ellora’s Cave, Jacky Sach of BookEnds Literary Agency offered me representation in early 2006. She sold the story to NAL Heat (a division of Penguin) in mid-2006. The only catch was that they wanted a full-length novel. They gave me until December to finish it. Then it was another nine months before it was published.

CG: Jacky Sach from BookEnds Literary Agency is your agent. Tell us about your query letter. What made it stand out from the rest to garner Jacky’s attention?

MR: You’d probably have to ask Jacky to be sure, but I wrote a very professional, business-like letter. I just went back and pulled my description of the manuscript:

Sandy Davis, the protagonist of my novella, is a shy, lonely teacher who has been spying on her high-rise neighbors with a telescope for months. One night, she receives a telephone call from an anonymous male saying, "You've been a bad girl, Alexandra Davis." Sandy must decide whether to capitulate to her blackmailer's demands or risk the consequences of being exposed as a voyeur.

CG: Many of us have been filled with fear that a formatting error can cost us a publishing deal. In your opinion, how necessary is perfect formatting?

MR: This is one of the things that writers obsess about unnecessarily. Use a well-known font like Times New Roman 12 or Courier 12, with one-inch margins and double-space and don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.

CG: In Canada, it still seems to be possible to get published without an agent. Is that the case in the U.S.?

MR: If you’re going with a regional press or a smaller press, it’s still possible. If you’re querying one of the six or seven big New York houses, it’s less likely.

The problem is the sheer volume of queries today. Publishers use agents to vet the queries. It saves on time and staffing because the number of queries is staggering.
As an example, last December, agent Kirsten Nelson reported on her statistics for 2006. She said she’d received 20,800 queries last year. Of those, she requested 54 full manuscripts.

That means she read 400 queries and slightly more than one full manuscript each and every week of the year. And, for all that work, she accepted eight new clients.

CG: Were edits requested from either your agent or the publisher? If so, what was that process like?

MR: I was very worried because I had to add more than 20K words to the manuscript. I made an outline of where I thought I could make the additions, and Jacky was a big help with that. I emailed it to Tracy Bernstein, my editor at NAL Heat (a division of Penguin), expecting a long, drawn out process of back and forth. To my delight, Tracy said she liked it. The two biggest changes she requested were for me to change my heroine’s profession and to change the title.

Jacky had said that Tracy had a light hand, and I would love her. She was right. I agreed with all of her suggestions. In fact, when I was re-reading it recently, I had trouble telling which changes were Tracy’s and which were mine.

CG: Any tips for new writers on landing an agent or a publisher?

MR: Start early, making a list of potential agents. Whenever you hear about a possible agent who accepts work in your genre, jot the name and information down. Then check out the website and google the name. By the time, you finish your manuscript, you should have a list of qualified agents in your genre. I also subscribed to Publishers Marketplace, which has a terrific database of agents, including the sales they’ve reported.

Q: Would you like to add any other advice for pre-published authors?
Start thinking of yourself as a professional writer. When you do that, it influences your decisions. Introduce yourself as a writer, set time aside for your writing, and don’t let your family and friends intrude upon that time. My friends had difficulty with the fact that I wouldn’t just drop everything and go out to lunch or shopping with them because--after all--I was at home. I started telling everyone that I checked messages at noon and again at 4:00 PM. It took a while for them to respect that, but they eventually did.

CG: Best of luck with Bad Girl. Perhaps you can drop by later and let us know how the book is doing.

MR: I’d love to. Thank you for having me.

______________________________

Hope you've enjoyed this interview -- and Maya's book -- as much as I have. If you have any other questions for her, please post away!

Colleen

Interview with Maureen Hull

In the fifteen years since Maureen Hull began writing, she has published poetry, short stories, children’s books and fiction -- all to critical acclaim and many have been short listed for a variety of literary awards. Her most recent -- and brilliant, I’d like to add -- work, The View From a Kite, was short listed for the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction in 2007.

Maureen’s background is as diverse as her choice of writing styles. She has worked in the costume department at Neptune Theatre, been a lobster fisher and a homeschooler of her two daughters.

Maureen, can you connect the dots for us between being a costumer, fisher and writer?

When I left home and moved to Halifax my first job was at Neptune Theatre, in the costume department. At various points I studied at NSCADand Dalhousie's theatre dept. but still kept working at Neptune. It's an addictive and amazing life, live theatre, and I thought I'd be there forever.

A friend of friends came to town for the winter to work stage crew. The next summmer I went to visit him, on the island in the Northumberland strait where he lived (before going to Toronto to work with the National Ballet, I thought) and operated a fishing gear. I've been here ever since. I worked as crew for him on and off for 23 years, and we've raised two daughters. We're still here. Writing has been part of my life since I was nine and discovered Icould write a story. Sometimes I write about fishing, and theatre.

You have said that discovering poetry “blew the top off your head” and it was years before you returned to writing fiction. Does poetry still move you in this way? Why did you decide to return to fiction and how did you manage the transition?

When I was 14 or 15, I discovered Shakespeare's sonnets, the work of T.S. Eliot, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's A Coney Island of the Mind, and ananthology of Chinese poems. There was a definite explosion in my head. Poetry is the form I always return to, the form that has the best potential to get close to perfection of expression. You have to read through a lot of poetry to find the gold and the magic, but it's there. I have a theory that everyone has at some time or another written a poem. Or, if they haven't, they're going to.

What was your first written piece?

A short story I wrote for my sister, Grace, when she was seven and I was nine. I have no idea what it was about, I only remember that she liked it, so I thought it was something I could do again. As for poetry, probably a dreadful lament by an abandoned concubine in green silk robes. I read quite a lot of those when I was 14 and tried to emulate them.

What was your first published piece? How did you go about getting it published?

A short story called Mac and Bessie that appeared in The Fiddlehead. It was the first short story I wrote, when I decided to write fiction in my forties and had finally figured out how I might do it. I'd taken my daughters to hear Budge Wilson at a Writers' in the Schools visit and she told them just because an editor doesn't like your work, it doesn't mean it isn't good, it means you need to find another editor.

I took courage from that, and told my sister Kate, in Winnipeg, who was also doing a bit of writing, but had also not submitted. I proposed a bet, with the loser buying the other a bottle of champagne. We both submitted, she got accepted first, but something happened with the publication and it never got into print; I got accepted a month later and so made it into print first. We agreed two bottles of champagne were in order. I then wrote more stories and got wallpapered with rejections for a year.

Can you tell me about your journey as a writer? You’ve used a number of different writing forms to express yourself. Why have you chosen these forms? Does it have to do with what you want to express or does it have to do with where you are at in your own life?

Writing winds in and out of my life. It's as though I have two lives that depend on each other, but I need both to be whole. So I don't write as often as I could, because I'm busy living, and sometimes I'm absent from my personal life because I'm writing, or travelling becauseof my writing. I made certain decisions, instinct more than anything, that turned out to be very good.

Early on I approached the Writers' Federation of NovaScotia, and have been encouraged and supported, and have experienced so much joy and pleasure as a result. I took myself off to a few writers' workshops at UNB [University of New Brunswick], had some very generous and talented writers as teachers, and thereby accelerated my learning curve.

The forms I chose are dictated by what I want to express. Sometimes I use more than one form. I will, for example, write poems about a character in a story, or write a short fiction piece about a topic I'm dealing with in a poem. Probably state of mind has something to do with my choice, too.

From the first short story to The View From a Kite, would you describe your path to publication?

The View From a Kite started as a short story, based on my experience in a TB hospital when I was a teenager. I sent it to the Atlantic Writers' Competition, and got feedback that said it was good writing, and funny, but it had no plot. Eventually I decided it had no plot because it wasn't a short story but was something larger. It was a long time before I had the nerve to call it a novel.

I applied for a grant from the Canada Council, called it a novel and kept writing. I lost a chunk of it (something about a laptop in a laundry bag, and a boat at low tide) and had to rewrite a significant section. The rewrite was better. A huge chunk of it was written in Dawson City, when I was the Berton House Writer in Residence in 2001.

When we came home from the Yukon, I had a manuscript that was just about ready. I started sending it out a few months later, in bunches of queries, erratically. I sent it to 16 publishers over a couple of years, and one in four asked to see the whole manuscript and they said lovely things about my writing but didn't want that particular piece.

I threw it in the filing cabinet for a while and wrote another novel. In the fall of 2005, after reading that Sandra MacIntyre had launched Vagrant Press (the fiction imprint of Nimbus), I decided to phone her to ask her if she had any interest in seeing it. She said yes. We met Feb. 06 to discuss publication and we launched it in the fall ofthat year.

Penelope Jackson edited it with me and she was terrific. So was everyone else at Nimbus.The whole thing was fast and amazing. But I don't think that's the way it normally goes, and I did have to go through five years of rejections, first.

I have to say that my previous publishing record helped, in that Sandra was aware that I had a track record, so she was willing to look at the whole manuscript and skip the sample writing step.

I understand that Pierre Berton contacted you about applying for the writer-in-residence program at Berton House . How did that come about? What was the experience at Berton House like and how did it help you as a writer?

Pierre Berton sent me a letter inviting me to apply for the Residency, describing the house, and suggesting that it might be very suitable for me. I've no idea where he got my name, but I am eternally grateful to whoever suggested it to him, and to him for his kind and generous invitation.

We spent January and February, 2001 (wanted to see what winter was like that far north) in the house, and I wrote every morning, and I wrote well. It was such a gift. The people of Dawson City were wonderful, the house was delightful, the surroundings were magnificent. Being chosen gave me confidence, and also I felt a sense of responsibility not to waste this opportunity. Other than giving a reading in Dawson City, and one in Whitehorse, there are no demands made on the writer. Pierre Berton wantedto give writers a place and a space, without pressure. Of course he hoped it would inspirepeople to create, but if you just felt the need to daydream, that was fine too. I wrote and wrote.

The View From a Kite is about a teenaged tubercular patient in the 1970s. Was this a hard topic to pitch? What inspired you to write it?

Well, I didn't pitch the TB hospital as the mainpoint, but I did have one reject that saidcontemporary teenagers wouldn't be interestedbecause of it. I'd just read an excerpt to agroup of teenagers at Pier 1, who afterwardssurrounded me and wanted to know where they couldbuy it (I said, first I have to find apublisher), so I just assumed that editor didn'tknow what she was talking about. I wrote itbecause I'd lived it and I had all this greatbackground info and I wanted to use it.

Your main character, Gwen, is full of spunk and her sense of humour is never far away. To quote her: “I must admit that when I first started losing weight I was pleased. I dropped from a pudgy hundred and twenty-five down to one-eighteen in a month, and kept on going. One hundred and five, and my breasts disappeared. B the time they hauled me off to the Sanatorium, a feverish, weepy, ninety-pound weakling, I was out of love with elegant bones and scared that I was coming out through my skin.” Where does Gwen’s voice come from? Is she like you or your daughters?

Gwen's voice, I suppose, comes from mysubconscious. I was terribly shy, and I wanted to write a girl who was braver and funnier and feistier and naughtier than I'd been. She very quickly became her own person, and was a joy to write about. My daughters were younger than Gwen when I was first creating her, when I wrote that first short story. They are their own selves, and not Gwen at all. Although, they are funnier and feistier and much braver than I am. Don't know about the naughty.

Did you find an agent or a publisher first and why?

At one point, after I'd had a couple of books published, I approached a couple of agents, but they weren't interested. I've sold all my books myself; that seems to work. I have friends who tell me their agents are wonderful, and some who tell me their agents are useless. It seems like another layer of complication.

What tips can you share about how to write a good query letter?

Hmmmm. Well, I can tell you my preferences, based on my experience as an editor with Pottersfield Portfolio.

Be brief. Very brief and informative. Give basic info, especially phone and email. Tell what you're sending, genre, word count, what it's about. This is no time to be coy, give a straightforward description. If you've got previous publication credits, list the best two or three, same with awards or nominations. Don't be cute, don't ramble on. If they decide to publish, they'll come back for a personal bio.Where you went to school, what your philosopy is, how many cats you have - not important. What is important is the quality of your work, and good contact information.

This is what I liked to see when editing, and it's pretty much how I frame my own query letters.
Are there any tips you can give to unpublished writers looking to be published?

Nobody really wants to hear this, but you haveto do the work. Research the publishers, submit, get rejected, get depressed, get over it, go back at it. Keep writing and rewriting and trying to improve. Being published is part of a process, not an end point. Who, after winning the Nobel, or the IMPAC Dublin, or selling ten million copies, do you think has ever downed pen and said: There. Done.

I would suggest that the next day, or the next week, they picked up the pen, opened the laptop, got back to the project they'd interrupted to go and collect the award and bank the cheque.

It'sall about the writing, and the living.

Any additional advice?

Try to find a community of writers, even a small one. People (even you nearest and dearest) are not all that interested in talking about writing. It's helpful to have friends and allies who understand, and who aren't afraid to give you solid feedback. (Your nearest and dearest will love your work, because they love you. It's encouraging, but not helpful.)

Thanks, Maureen for sharing your time and your experiences.

This has been fun, pretending to be some kind of expert! Thanks for inviting me.

Interested in buying Maureen's book? Click here.

Colleen

Interview: Ami McKay

You've heard me rave about Ami McKay’s first novel, The Birth House -- winner of numerous awards and a bestseller on many lists including holding the top spot on the Canadian Booksellers List for Canadian fiction.

Today, we get to meet Ami through an interview she did for this blog in moments between promoting her book, teaching a writing course, writing a play and healing an injured back! Thanks, Ami! I don't know how you manage to juggle it all.

In 2000, Ami moved to Nova Scotia from Indiana and became intrigued with the history of her new home – the former house and birthing centre of midwife Rebecca Steele. Ami began researching and basis for The Birth House was born.

Here is Ami’s story of her road to publication.

What a road the past few years must have been for you! How did you transition from music teacher to documentary producer and then to novel writer?

Even through music school and university, I was always a writer. I had piles of notebooks filled with scribblings, but I preferred to keep my writing hidden away from the rest of the world. I had no intention of ever getting published.

Then I met the man who would one day become my husband… We found we had a shared love for poetry and fiction and eventually I admitted to him that I had written some poems and short stories. As the relationship grew, we wound up having an “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours” exchange with words. After we got married, he kept after me to continue writing. It was his encouragement that led me to putting my writing into the world - first in the form of an impulsive thank-you note that landed me on the Oprah Winfrey Show, then to taking a workshop on writing for CBC radio, and then he cheered me on when I decided to write a novel. His support made it all feel “meant to be” and possible. As unrelated as my choices may read when listed side by side, it’s always felt as if I was following a very natural path.

Can you tell us a bit about your research? How was your interest in the history of your home piqued and where did you go from there?

My research for The Birth House sprang from a serendipitous journey. Not long after we moved into an old farmhouse in Scots Bay, NS, I became pregnant with my second child. My pregnancy sparked conversations with my neighbours about Mrs. E. Rebecca Steele, the midwife who had once owned the house. She lived in the house from the turn of the century to 1947 and she opened her home to the other women in the Bay as a birthing house. The entire time I was pregnant, I was hearing these wonderful tales of the midwife and the women of Scots Bay coming together to support one another through pregnancy and childbirth. Their stories led me to wonder many things – How many of us can tell our own birth stories? Why are midwives no longer an important part of today’s medical system in North America? What kind of world would we have if communities honoured the birth of every child?

When did you think: “I’ve got something worth telling in this story?”

That was a pretty clear moment for me. It was during a trip to a nursing home to visit Mary Huntley, the adopted daughter of the midwife. Even at 89-years-old, she had clear, beautiful memories of the past and of growing up in the birthing house. At one point in the conversation, she took a piece of paper from her pocket and began to read from it. It was a list of all the names of the mothers who had come to the house and the names of all the babies born there. She had put the list together when she found out I was coming to see her. Listening to her read those names one after another made everything very real and important to me.

Can you describe your writing process for The Birth House? Did you stick to a writing schedule? How long did it take to complete? How did you hone your work? (i.e. did you belong to a writer’s group, have a mentor, etc.)

I started out on my own, writing whenever I had a little extra time (often while breastfeeding my new baby.) I wasn’t sure what I creating at first, especially since I was trying my best to avoid the vast territory of the novel. Writing a novel seemed too daunting, and too much of a commitment. But once I made the decision to go for it, the writing felt stronger and it actually became easier to sit down and write on a regular basis. After I had a fair chunk of writing, I submitted an application to the WFNS (Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia) Mentorship program. I promised myself that if I got a spot in the program, I’d make the novel a priority and write a rough draft in that time period.

Happily, I did get a spot and was able to work with Richard Cumyn, a wonderful writer and mentor. With his encouragement and feedback, I reached my goal. It’s only a nine month program, so the draft was incredibly rough (and very different from what became The Birth House)…but it was wonderfully liberating to have it in hand! It’s so important to set goals for yourself and to celebrate each milestone.

As a mother and wife, I had a lot of guilt about taking the time and space to write. I wouldn’t have finished the novel (and the subsequent drafts) if I hadn’t set do-able goals along the way.

In all, it was a three-year journey. Aside from one creative writing course I took, the mentorship, and some amazing feedback from my husband, I wrote alone. Writing groups can be havens for some writers, but they don’t seem to work for me – I wind up writing the same thing over and over again and never make any progress. I tend to be pretty tough on myself and don’t mind going back and editing. I was trained as a musician from an early age, so going back to something until it “sounds” right (I read everything I write out loud every step of the way) is an important part of my writing practice.

Let’s talk about finding a publisher and an agent – two things on every writer’s mind. Did you get an editor or an agent first? Would you describe the steps you took from completion of your manuscript to landing an agent and a publisher? (Copy of Ami's query letter.)

I went for an agent first. Agents work with editors every day and they know what sparks the interest of specific houses, publishers and editors. I had no connections in the publishing industry and had no idea who might want to publish my manuscript.

Either way, (whether I wanted to query publishers or agents) I knew I was going to have to do a lot of research to figure out where to send it. So, I started sleuthing around to make a list of my top 15 choices for agents based on the kinds of books they had sold and the authors they represented. I subscribed to Publisher’s Lunch via Publisher’s Marketplace. (It’s a free e-newsletter that comes to your inbox. It tells you which agents are selling what and where they are making their sales.) I started reading the deals section of Quill and Quire’s web site. I read up on how to write a query letter.

I wrote draft after draft, working to make the letter as tight and interesting as possible. The time you spend researching agents (and/or publishers) as well as the time you spend writing your query letter is just as important as the time you spent writing your novel. Don’t toss off something in a hurry because you’re anxious to get published. (And because there are crooks out there waiting to take your money, remember this: you should never ever have to pay an agent to look at your work!) In the end, I had a handful of agents really interested in the manuscript and wound up working with Toronto based agent, Helen Heller. She really seemed to get what I was trying to do with the novel and (more importantly) with my career as a whole.
Prior to publication, your book won second prize in the Atlantic Book Awards for unpublished fiction under the title, Given. Did this award help you in the query process?

Writing credits, mentorships, and awards certainly help round out a query letter. It shows you’re serious about your work and that others have noticed you along the way. That said, don’t stress out if you don’t have a long list. Quality trumps quantity every time. The main thing is to hook the agent or editor in those first lines of the query. You want them eager to read the manuscript and anxious to get their hands on the rest of the story. Your list of writing credits is like icing on the cake.

The story described in your original query letter has some differences from the final book. Would you tell us about the editorial process?

The query letter on my web site was the one I sent to agents after I had tightened up the rough draft I completed in the mentorship program. It’s for Given, which was a story of two women’s lives – one in the past, one in the present. When I first began conversing with Helen Heller, she put her finger on something that I had secretly been hoping no one would notice …that the present-day protagonist was a much weaker character than Dora (the midwife protagonist from the past.)

Having once been an editor herself, she expressed her concern that the other character wasn’t strong enough to support her own storyline. As soon as she said it, I knew she was right. (I’d made the mistake a lot of first-time novelists make – I had written myself into the novel!) I told her I’d be willing to go back and give the entire novel to Dora (which meant throwing out nearly half of my manuscript) if she’d be willing to stick with me and have a look at it when I was finished. She said she couldn’t make any promises as far as selling the revised manuscript, but she let me know she would definitely be there whenever I thought I was ready to show her the new version of the novel.

I went back and tackled it again (and then yet again) and when I felt that I had written the story I wanted to write all along, Helen agreed that it was ready to send to publishers. It didn’t take long before she had it in the hands of the editors at Knopf and we had a deal.

Changes made during the editorial process at the publishing house were subtle ones. My editors were fantastic to work with – incredibly nurturing. I felt it was a true partnership and that they had the best interests of the story and my voice as a writer at heart. Together we shaped the novel in gentle but important ways so that the narrative flowed. Dora’s voice was always top priority. It was Dora’s voice, along with her journey that had captured the publisher’s heart from the start. As she once told me, “I was willing to follow Dora anywhere.” Needless to say, that comment left me feeling elated!

Do you have any advice on how an unpublished writer can get the attention of an agent or editor? For a first book, is it better to seek one or the other first?

I’m not sure I can say which should come first. Having an agent has been extremely important for me. I know I couldn’t have shopped the manuscript around to the big houses without her. On the other hand, I know some authors who represent themselves well and are happy with that. For instance, short story collections are sometimes a hard sell to agents and big houses – but smaller presses are willing to take a chance with them. It can be an excellent way to build a career. There’s also nothing that says you can’t approach publishers with a manuscript and then, once you have their interest, seek out an agent to help you make the deal.


Try your best not to get distracted with deal making tactics while you’re writing. Don’t worry about the market, or what’s hot – these things are subject to change. Always strive to become a better writer. Write the stories you want to read.

Does this differ between Canada and the U.S.?

I think the US market is harder to break into without an agent. It’s such a circus down there! Editors and their assistants are constantly changing houses and it’s difficult to keep track of who’s who.

Your novel was published in hard cover in 2006 and in soft cover this year. What promotional activities have you undertaken? What has your publisher done for promotion? Were there elements of promotion that you were expected, as the author, to provide, for example: to have a website?

With my Canadian publisher, I was chosen as Knopf Canada’s New Face of Fiction for 2006. It’s a program that introduces debut novels (and occasionally short story collections) to booksellers and to the public. (other authors who have come through the program have included Yan Martel, Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Beth Powning, among others.) That program, along with my commitment to connecting with readers and book clubs through my web sites (my husband is my amazing web designer) really helped foster a readership in Canada.

I have different publishers in different countries, so my experiences have been varied outside of Canada. My readership in the UK is smaller, but very loyal. Reviews there were strong. US readership has been very slow in the making. I haven’t really toured there at all and sometimes I wonder if it’s just harder for them to warm up to a “Canadian” novel? -- even though I’m originally from the States.

The expectations placed on me by my publishers have been reasonable. Their part in all of it (how much marketing, publicity, etc. to expect) usually doesn’t become clear until you’re almost to the pub. date. To be honest - it’s difficult to guess what the response will be for a debut novel. Marketing budgets are small for first novels and publicists are constantly scrambling for precious face-time in the media.

I've tried to do my part by building the web site. My philosophy behind my web site is, the more I can help my readers directly connect with my work, the better. I wrote my own reading group discussion guide, I set up a blog, a facebook group, etc. It’s my way of reaching out to readers and inviting them consider my work.

Have you begun to think about a second book?

I’m currently working away on my second novel as well as writing a play for the Nova Scotia based theatre company, Two Planks and Passion. It’s crazy to be working on two big projects at once, but it’s loads of fun. They are set in the same time period, so a lot of ideas, themes and topics overlap.

How do you juggle your writing career with being the mom of two home-schooled boys?

My husband works from home as well, so we live by the motto: “we’re all in this together.”
Our goal is that we make time for one another’s dreams. So far, so good.

Many thanks for taking time away from your busy schedule to give pre-published authors some insight into the creative and business sides of writing life.

For more information about The Birth House,including a reading guide, recipes, news and more, please see: http://www.thebirthhouse.com/

Ami's personal web site: http://www.amimckay.com/

Get in touch with Ami via -My Blog - incidental pieces: http://amimckay.blogspot.com/

Facebook - The Occasional Knitter's Society Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2499221501

My Space:http://www.myspace.com/amimckay

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More good news!


There is a second part to Ami's interview that I'll post as soon as she's able to get to it and the marvelous Maureen Hull will be dropping by on Monday via her interview.

I hope you're finding these interviews helpful and inspiring. I am delighted our NS arts community is so accessible and we pre-pub authors are able to learn from the best.

Colleen

Donna Morrissey Interview Follow-Up

Donna was able to take a few moments to send responses to the follow-up questions sent in by Stephen.

Has Donna had any experience with grant applications? If so, what goes into writing a good one and where can one learn how to writing a winning proposal?

Don't know any winning formulas....follow instructions on the form, it's good if you have ten pages of a ms to send it; [It's] better to send in sample of writing, than simply an idea. I was a judge once for grant applications, and the only thing that I used as criteria was the writing sample itself.

Any marketing techniques learned through experience that J.A. Konrath hasn't already blogged about?

Regarding marketing the manuscript, Donna wrote: All I did was simply package up thirty pages of my ms and send it in. With that great letter of intro, then, cross your fingers and hope, and don't be shy of resending.

Regarding promotion after publication, Donna wrote: My publisher does all the marketing. I do some stuff, IE, I say yes to most anything that's asked of me, like doing readings or fund raisers or donating books, and I always go to book groups whenever I'm asked. It's time consuming, but such a pleasure to sit with people who enjoy your work and give you that feedback.

It's lonely as a writer. Nice to connect with people. Writer's get different packages, depending on how many copies you sell and how much money your book makes the publisher. I think the rule is 'one dollar' of the cost of each book... so, five thousand books, five thousand dollars for travel, etc..... Everything has a formula. [It's] not a lucrative industry -- the book industry. So, really, unless you're making the sales, there isn't too much a publisher can afford to spend on you. Most definitely though, I think every novel published should get a launch..... that's not hard to pull off... any bar will do, and people buy their own drinks. Simply offer some munchies, send out invites and do a reading. In the end, the biggest seller of books is word of mouth. That's been shown to be true.

What is her relationship with her agent? Personal, business, distant, close? What should it be? What if it's not what she thinks it should be?

My relationship with my agent is very personal. We share everything, broken hearts, recipes, but mostly we share shop talk. She has taught me a lot about the writing world, how it works, what to expect, not to expect, she keeps me grounded, she's my friend, she encourages me when I'm down, tells me all the right things... I love her.

I'm fond of small presses, but I'm fond of money, too. What advice would she give to someone whose book is being evaluated as "wonderful but not for us" at the big houses?

Keep resending til you hit somebody who thinks you're great. It's the one game in town where no never means no. Wait eight months then send again; people move around, different readers, editors.... And in the meantime, keep writing, start a new story....

God bless, good luck with it... See you on the circuit...

Thank you, Donna! This is terrific insider knowledge.

Colleen

Linda Little Interview Follow-Up

Stephen Parrish sent in some great questions that I have passed along to our author interviewees. Here are Linda Little's responses. When I have all the answers in, I'll pull them together into one post for easier reference.


Have the authors had any experience with grant applications? If so, what goes into writing a good one and where can one learn how to writing a winning proposal?

You can get feedback on your NS grant application from the arts office. Wait at least two weeks from the day you receive notification then phone. They can tell you the strengths or weaknesses as reported by the jury.

First and foremost I think it is imperative to remember that where the arts are concerned we live in a world of scarce resources. Your chance of getting a creation grant is (last time I looked so this may not be accurate now) about 15-20%. Meaning, statistically speaking, you could expect to be successful one time out of five or six. These are not fantastic odds. DO NOT SET YOURSELF UP TO BE DEPENDENT UPON GETTING A GRANT.

Arts grants are for working artists. Does your application leave the jury with the confidence that you are a working writer? Do you have a writer's resume that shows you have been at this a while? A few publications are useful -- something to show someone chose your work out of a stack of others. Does the quality of your work indicate that you have been working on this seriously? Do you have a clear idea of what you intend to write?

When I write up my "project description" I imagine the book finished. I answer the question, "What is this book about?" Not - there's this cowboy and he settles in Nova Scotia and he has this deed and... But - this is a book about solitude. This is a book about the space between an individual and those around him. First paint the big picture then hone in. Cass sees in his half-sister an ability to paint disparate fragments into a unified whole, into a story.

For NS grants, the jury reads binders full of applications. The most experienced applicants are often the ones who have the best idea of what they are trying to do and how to go about doing it. This invariably comes through in the application.

Keep at it. The successful writers are the ones that don't quit even when any reasonable person would. The more you write the better you get, the more you understand the craft the stronger your application. Finally, nothing works like a little luck. Remember when you don't get a grant bad luck plays a role. Remember when you do get one that good luck has played a role. Don't quit your day job.

Good luck!

What is her relationship with her agent? Personal, business, distant, close? What should it be? What if it's not what she thinks it should be?

Relationships with agents are as varied as the people who are in them. What would you like your relationship to be?

Some people rely very heavily on their agents for friendship and support. Some people have a relationship that is all business. Some people have very specific expectations of their agent, others expect them to be magicians.

For myself, I like to keep in mind that my agent gets paid when I do. I expect him to get the most possible out of my manuscript in the marketplace. The better he does this, the more he is paid.

Remember an agent does not make or control the marketplace, he works in it. I do not expect him to do work he will not be paid for -- he is not my therapist, my mother, my best friend, my whipping boy. I like my agent, enjoy his company, learn a lot from him. This is great but not essential. I trust my agent. This is crucial. I only know what he tells me. He controls the fate of my work.

I'm fond of small presses, but I'm fond of money, too. What advice would she give to someone whose book is being evaluated as "wonderful but not for us" at the big houses?

Big houses tend to have more resources for editorial assistance, promotion, access to bigger markets and larger audiences, sell more books. If a large house says they're not publishing your manuscript there is no problem because what they publish is up to them and not up to you.

Do you have more than one offer? If so, lucky you! Look at the offers you've got, think about what you want, pick the one that offers most of that.
__________________________________________

Thank you, Linda and Stephen!

Colleen

Interview with Linda Little, Part II

Today's post continues my interview with Linda Little and focusses on the stuff we writers are dying to hear: how other writers have become successful.
____________________________________________


Tell us about your path to publication.

When I sent my first manuscript out, I didn’t have an agent and didn’t need one. It’s good to remember that agents are looking for work they can sell – not work they love. They know a lot about literature, a lot about markets, a lot about the possibilities that exist.

But even the big publishing houses still accept unsolicited manuscripts. When you have a full-length manuscript, you can do simultaneous submissions although the chances of getting a big publisher on a first novel is, again statistically, very low.

I sent my book proposal for my first book off to the seven small publishing houses and two of them responded quite quickly that they wanted to see the full manuscript. Then it took ten months before anyone read it. Once the editor at Goose Lane read it, it was only about a month before they offered to publish it. After the offer to publish, it took about 18 months before it was ready for release.

For the second novel, I thought I would see if I could get an agent to make sure I did everything I could for my book. To find my agent I applied to three prospective agents with query letters and all three agreed to read my ms. Based on the ms, two called me on the phone to talk about it and to talk about representing me. The third agent, who was not interested, sent me a refusal letter. I chose from the two interested agents based on the conversations we had.

As a writer, you have every right to expect that an agent will have read your book and be able to talk about it before they give you an offer of representation. They shouldn’t agree to take you on just because you’ve won an award.

Don’t send and wait. Send and write. Keep going.

Did you focus on Canadian agents or did you approach American agents as well?

I stuck to agents in Canada because I’m Canadian and this is where I live and this is how we do things. I don’t know anything about the American market.

A bit of advice I can give is that at some point you have to start looking at your manuscript – your baby – as a commodity. Agents and publishers work in a marketplace and it’s a completely different world. If you think of it as a good in a marketplace, you’ll know what they need of you. They don’t ask, ‘Is this good?’ They ask, ‘Can I sell it.’ And you want them to ask that, otherwise they won’t be in business in ten years and you want them to be in business in ten years.

Your first book, Strong Hollow, won the Cunard First Book Award in 2002 and was short listed for many others. What was that like – winning an award for your first book and what doors, if any did it open for you?

They don’t open the doors you might think.

I was just thrilled to get a nomination for a national award, for the Raddall Award. Totally thrilled. The thing about an award – and I’ve been on all sides, as juror, as nominee as winner – you have a bunch of books and specific people come with their choices and depending upon who’s on the jury will determine who wins. You can win the Giller and not the Raddall. You can’t put books in order of how good they are. Long after awards come and go, the book is left.

There are books you read and ‘Oh!,’ you think. ‘I can never write like that. If I kill someone, can I write like that?’ And the gun’s loaded. You must love your book. You can’t say one is better than another.

I can tell you the moment I cried was the moment I got the published book in the mail and unwrapped it and held it in my hands. I can look at them and say, ‘These are things I did in my life.’

Your second book, Scotch River, won this year’s Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction and made it to the 2006 Globe & Mail Best Book List. How important is it for honours like these to be available for writers?

It’s great for publicity. Few books are mentioned of the hundreds that come out so, if you can get your book publicised, that’s great. If you can get your book to poke its head above the others.

What does the publisher do for promotion?

I don’t quite get the publisher’s job, but generally, they get you invited to events to talk about your book.

What’s your writing process? Do you write every day?

I don’t write and work at the same time. I do each in seasons. For me, it’s a long way from River John to Scotch River so, when I get there I want to stay for a few months. When it’s writing season, I write from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

It’s no secret that writing is a damn hard way to earn a living and that, in fact, many very good writers aren’t able to. Can you talk a little bit about your experience earning a living as a writer in Nova Scotia?

I don’t make a living from writing. It’s extraordinarily unlikely to be able to do so. You might as well buy a lottery ticket.

It takes a long time to write and the financial recompense is very low. If a person is going to be in it for the long haul, it’s responsible to figure out what you need to do financially.

I used to work at the Nova Scotia Museum during the summer. Now I teach at the Agricultural College during the fall. I teach how to write academic papers and a course on Atlantic Canadian Literature.

Do you sense that this is any different than for writers in other parts of the country or in the U.S.?

It is. I have no idea how they do it in Toronto – it’s so expensive to live there. It’s easier here because the cost of living is lower.

Have you begun thinking about or writing another book?

Yes, I have. The Alleged Third Novel, as I call it, is a work of historical fiction. We’ll see what becomes of it.

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Many thanks to Linda for taking the time to speak with me. If you have any questions for Linda, please send them and I'll forward them along to her.


Have a great writing day!


Colleen

Interview with Linda Little, Part I

As promised, here is the interview with Linda Little, author of the recent award-winning Scotch River and her award-winning first novel, Strong Hollow.

Linda generously shared her journey to publication as well as the realities of being a published author as she was gearing up for the River John Literary Festival. I hope you find her story as fascinating and helpful as I did.


What brought you from Hawkesbury, Ontario to River John, NS?

The story isn’t in what brought me from Hawkesbury to River John, but what brought me from St. John’s to River John. Remember that assumption we used to have that after high school you’d leave home -- instead of living in your parent’s basement until you were 35 like now? After high school, I went to university in Kingston [Ontario] and then to university in Newfoundland for my second degree. Both in history. I waited five years for spring to arrive and when it didn’t I went looking for it. Newfoundland is an amazing place, but the weather? Holey moley.

When and how did you discover you were a writer?

Don’t really know. It’s part of the mystery of writing. About ten years after I left school and was in recovery from reading, I read a memoir by Timothy Findlay called Inside Memory and discovered that I wanted the bits between the chapters. As soon as I’d start to get interested in something, he’d change topics. I realized that you could make the bits between chapters up and I started to write as a hobby.

What path did your writing take on the way to writing your first novel?

In 1998 or 97, the Canada Council had a grant program you could apply for without having any thing published. A friend who was a writer said we should apply so I did with no expectations whatsoever. When I got it, I was able to take time away from contract work and wrote what I thought were short stories. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was writing a novel. I wrote full-time for six months and part time for twelve. Strong Hollow was published in 2001 by Goose Lane.

When I began writing, I wrote a short story, Manhandling, that was published in an English magazine out of Montreal called Matrix. I had thought that getting something published would be evidence of whether I could write. As it turns out – you don’t think it. You wonder whether you can write the next thing. Like anything else that ever happens in life you never know if you’re doing the right thing. You don’t think: ‘Oh, I’ve written six books, I don’t have to worry, I know how to write. But, you haven’t written the seventh.’

After the first story, I wrote a little as a hobby. I’d write and send, write and send, and only get the tiniest little thing published in the tiniest little publications. I find it amazing that I was able to keep going, but it was enough – I think because I loved it and would do it anyway. I was doing it for itself.

As writers, we don’t know if our writing’s any good and we just want something, someone to tell us we are. You need to keep at it when the prospect of stopping looks worse than the prospect of keeping on. When the prospect of stopping looks better then you have to stop.

So, you advise writing short stories for publication?

It’s nice if you can get a little something so you can tell a publisher that somebody somewhere – not your mother – chose your work over a stack of others. Keep track of what you’ve sent where. I have a column that tells me what date I sent something and what date I got it back. Always have stuff out there so you’re in the game.

It’ good to remember that literary magazines publish only between three and four percent of what they receive so, statistically, it is extremely unlikely that anything you send them will be published. That means that when you get a story returned, it’s not a big deal. But when you get one published? That’s a big deal. That’s when you inflate balloons, and dance, and get a cake and eat the whole thing. Lap it up. Roll in it.

Always have something out and always watch the mail. When a story is returned, take it out of one envelope and stick it into the next. After I’ve sent a story out fifteen times and three years have gone by, I’ll have a look at it and think, ‘Oh, this sucks. No wonder it isn’t getting published.’ It’s an indication of where you’re at, of how your writing has grown. I don’t know how writing gets better over time, but it does.

I think I would have saved time had I taken advantage of workshops and mentorship programs earlier. I would have gotten better faster. But there is a danger in workshops. You’ll run into many writers who only write at workshops. You’ll see them at one and then at another months later and they haven’t written anything. If you are attending six workshops a year, that’s probably a bad idea, but a few well-placed workshops are very helpful.

Keep any eye out for little anthologies. It’ll shrink the amount of time it takes you to get better.

Do you read your books after they’ve been printed?

I don’t. There are so many other great books to read. But sometimes, when I’m looking for something for a class, I’ll read something from one of my books and I think: ‘You wrote that? How did that happen? Where did that come from?’

It’s only when the golden acorn is left in your palm that you can say, ‘I did that.’ It illuminates the mystery of the creation.

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Stay tuned for part II of the interview tomorrow as Linda discusses getting published and getting an agent.

Cheers!
Colleen

More good news: Ami McKay

Just got word that Ami McKay has agreed to participate in an interview for this blog. She's been really busy promoting her award-winning, best-selling book, The Birth House, so the time she's taking for us is appreciated.

Ami began her own blog pre-publication. You can check it out at www.amimckay.blogspot.com .

If you have any questions for her, let me know ASAP.

Colleen

The Donna Morrissey Interview

Browbeaten by a Jungian analyst into believing she was a writer, Donna Morrissey began her literary career at the age of 32 after working a variety of jobs including: waitressing, working as a cook at an oil rig camp, bartending and providing respite care.

Today, she is the award-winning author of three works of literary fiction: Kit's Law, Downhill Chance, and Sylvanus Now — as well as Clothesline Patch, which garnered her a Gemini Award.

Donna has agreed to take time away from her fourth novel to answer some questions about her life and her road to publication.

The Interview

You’ve been very open about flunking out of high school and leading a very non-conventional working life – earning a living by cooking for an oil rig camp, bartending, working at a fish plant and rescuing hookers, among other jobs. What was it that school didn’t offer you and what were the twists of fate that led you to various jobs?

It’s not that school had nothing to offer me, I had nothing to offer it. Simply wanted to be outside, roaming the countryside, and having fun. Which I did. Work was something I picked up along the way to pay for the next train trip or bus ride - I can’t remember a job I wasn’t fired from... oops, should I have said that???

I gotta ask: how did you rescue hookers?

Ahem, that’s a bit of a overstatement. There were ‘two’ young women that were friends of friends that needed help. I offered them a place to live, free rent for awhile, get away from abusive relationships. That was the extent of that career....

When you were misdiagnosed as having fatal tetanus, your world changed. How and what happened next?

Well, I suffered post traumatic shock syndrome, went into hell for awhile, and decided to go to university, study psychology and see if there was a cure for this terrible, terrible thing. Which was amazing because even during the healthiest of times I didn’t have the courage or confidence to return to school. I always say fear is my greatest motivator. I didn’t find a cure for PSS, but I sure found lots of company....plus, having a label helped...up to that point I didn’t have a clue what I was dealing with....

You returned to school earning a degree in social work and there discovered the source of that earlier, wrong diagnosis – generalized anxiety. Has this illness had an effect on your writing? Have you been able to overcome it?

I’m sure attending university opened many windows for me, and eventually, doors, I suppose. It started me on a learning curve that’s still moving up. We may be able to control what happens to us, but we can control how we deal with it. Our fate lies in there...how we respond to those curve balls life throws at us. I also discovered many different ways to deal with anxiety, post traumatic shock issues....Cognitive thinking, physical health, plus, SSRI’s are a wonder drug for people suffering this kind of condition.

During all of this, you had two children. Did they travel with you or were you back in Newfoundland before they were born? Have either of them chosen writing as a career?

My son travelled the country with me when he was a toddler....he was great. I was more settled when my daughter arrived. Neither of them write, although they both have that energy that flows through the pen. Maybe someday ??

You began your writing career by writing a letter a day at the insistence of a Jungian analyst who called you by name: writer. How did these letters translate into short stories and then into plays?

I started by doing free association, just writing the first thing that popped into my mind, and never ending the writing session until an hour was up. Eventually I started with a family member, and poured out my heart onto the paper, and then one day I hit upon a metaphor and I was astounded. I’ve never stopped writing....that was the moment I felt the ‘awe’ thing with writing. I then wrote two short stories, two screen plays, and then the novels. Every day I am surprised that I am still able to do this sort of thing. It’s a very insecure world....never know if ‘its’ gonna be there today.

I have thought that the Irish love-of-story has had a profound effect on the unique culture of Newfoundland. Do you agree with this and do you credit being a Newfoundlander with your ability to tell a tale?

I don’t know about that. I’m sure there are more story tellers out there than Newfoundlanders... what a dull world if that were the case. As wonderful as the island is, and its story tellers, I love equally reading about other cultures and places. And a story is unique to an individual, not a place. Place is where we cradle our stories, and most certainly place inspires writing for me, but - if George Eliott hadn’t lived in England, I believe she still would’ve had that amazing ability (she’s my hero).

How did you hone your craft? Did you have mentors or participate in writers’ groups, or such?I had no groups or writing friends.

I simply sat and wrote. Every day. For as much time as I could afford. It probably would’ve been great having a writing group, people to inspire and encourage and teach. Lots of things I learned by trial and error....but yet, I think the most learning comes from the practise.

When did you know you were good?

You’re very generous. I ponder that question with every sentence I write.

Some writers write to a strict daily schedule of so many hours or so many words. Others write intensely for short periods of time. Do you have a writing schedule?

I am very strict. I start writing every day around seven. I never leave it - except to pace and moan - til noon. And then, perhaps another couple of hours later in the afternoon. If I’m not writing, then I’m reading. It is my work day.

When you begin a new story, do you plan it out ahead of time or do you write it as it comes? How do you begin a new book? Would you describe your writing process?

There is no process. I don’t plan it out. I have a vague idea. I write from intuition. It is difficult, I never know where I am, where I’m going, if what I’m writing today will work. I simply choose a place relating to the ‘bit’ of a story that’s circling my mind, and start. My pattern, as I look back, is that I write this huge opening sentence. And then my story precedes it. I always have to be going back in time from the opening sentence. Two years down the road and I have two hundred pages preceding that opening sentence. It’s the darndest thing....

Once you have a first draft, what comes next? Does it simmer for a bit before you look it over? Do you do a lot of editing?

My first draft is usually the finished draft, aside from a few touch ups or scene changes. I edit as I go...I hate my editing hand, it creates a lot of angst for me because I can’t move ahead quickly. Everything has to be perfect in order for me to move ahead. Which is very time consuming, given that most everything I write, I re write fifty times....

Would you describe your path to publication?

I was very naive. After I finished Kit’s Law, I bundled up thirty pages of the story, wrote the greatest, most creative letter of introductory anybody (so they say) has ever read, and sent the package off to six or seven publishers. My plan was to aim for the biggest and settle for what I could get. I got replies from nearly all of them. They said after it was the letter of intro that got my ms read by so many editors. So, a good letter of intro....thirty pages from your ms....and lotsa luck. Lotsa lotsa luck, and remembering that no never means no....

What are the realities of life for a Canadian author? (For example: Is it difficult to get published/to get an agent? Can a Canadian writer make a living at it? Is the writing community welcoming to new writers?)

I have been very blessed. According to my agent my path wasn’t a normal path for an emerging writer. My first novel was an instant best seller that gave me a privileged place with Penguin publishing. I have friends who are writers who cannot live off their sales. And they’re darn good writers. A very low number of writers make a living from their sales. It’s probably the poorest industry out there....the saying in the business is that it has very few assholes because you gotta be in for love not money....I would say the greatest perk is meeting so many people. Having people tell you they love your writing. Can there be anything greater than that??? Oh, yes, buying the book. That’s a great thing too....

As you know, writing can be an isolating experience and many writers have little support or encouragement to keep at it. Can you offer any advice for writers just starting out?

Stick with it. Create a place and simply do it. If you got nothing on paper, you got nothing to work with. You gotta put words to paper. You’ve got to be disciplined. It’s the only way. And it’s hard. But, sooo gratifying when you ‘hit that metaphor’ for the day, or mine that gorgeous thought you didn’t know you had....and too, read. Read everything. Gotta put something in your head for something to come out.

You are working on your next book. Any chance you’ll share the storyline with us?

Naw. It’s boring. I’m all mixed up with it. You’ll steal my storyline and beat me to the printing presses....

When’s it due out.

Probably this coming spring. Or September. Man, am I in trouble....second piece of advice...never sign contracts you don’t have a prayer in hell of keepin....

Is there anything you’d like to add?

That you flatter me with this attention. And you honour me. Thank you. Thank you very very much.

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I know you’re working on a deadline and time is precious. I’ll be watching for the new book to hit the shelves.

If you want more, here's a link to Writer's Cafe for audio interviews with Donna about two of her books, Downhill Chance and Sylvanus Now. They are well worth the listen.

Hope you've enjoyed this!
Colleen

Have you ever met Donna Morrissey?

"There's a sense in Donna Morrissey's writing that William Faulkner has met Annie Proulx." Atlantic Books Today, number 26, Fall 1999.

I haven't, at least in any way other than via email. But I have fallen in love with her first book and am starting on her second. What I'm really excited about is that Donna has agreed to be interviewed for this blog.

After Maureen Hull so graciously accepted my invitation to visit here, I got up the nerve to ask Donna. When she replied calling me missy, I had to laugh. It's a term I use all the time.

Her bio on the Houghton Mifflin website is posted as follows:

Donna Morrissey was born in The Beaches, a small village on the northwest coast of Newfoundland that had neither roads nor electricity until the 1960s a place not unlike Haire’s Hollow, which she depicts in Kit’s Law. When she was sixteen, Morrissey left The Beaches and struck out across Canada, working odd jobs from bartending to cooking in oil rig camps to processing fish in fish plants. She went on to earn a degree in social work at Memorial University in St. Johns. It was not until she was in her late thirties that Morrissey began writing short stories, at the urging of a friend, a Jungian analyst, who insisted she was a writer. Eventually she adapted her first two stories into screenplays, which both went on to win the Atlantic Film Festival Award; one aired recently on CBC. Kit’s Law is Morrissey’s first novel, the winner of the Canadian Booksellers Association First-Time Author of the Year Award and shortlisted for many prizes, including the Atlantic Fiction Award and the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Morrissey lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

That's all well and fine, but a little out of date.

Since Kit's Law, Donna has gone on to write two more award-winning novels. Downhill Chance winner of the 2003 Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize; and Sylvanus Now, winner of the 2006 Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize, of the Bookseller's Choice Award, and shortlisted for The Commonwealth Award.

Click here to read an excerpt of Kit's Law.

For an excerpt of Downhill Chance click here.

And for Sylvanus Now, click here.

Now, we don't have a lot of time. Donna is squirreled away working on her next book - and is a wee bit behind on deadline, but has agreed to ponder some questions. So, if there is anything you'd like to ask her, fire away. I'll be sending the questions to her this weekend.

Colleen

Interview with Maureen Hull

I am delighted to announce that Maureen Hull, author of The View From a Kite which was shortlisted for this year's Atlantic Book Awards, has agreed to be interviewed for this blog later this summer. (If you'd like to read the first chapter, Nimbus has posted it here.)

If you have any questions for Maureen, please send them to me either via the blog or email and I'll incorporate them into the post.

She has had an interesting background, which I share with you as posted by the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia.

Maureen Hull was born and raised on Cape Breton Island. She studied at NSCAD, Dalhousie University and the Pictou Fisheries School. Before and during her formal education she worked in the costume department of Neptune Theatre. Since 1976 she has lived on Pictou Island in the Northumberland Strait. Between 1976 and 1998 she worked as a lobster fisher; for seven of those years she home-schooled her two daughters. She began writing in 1992.

Her fiction and poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, most recently To Find Us: Words and Images of Halifax. Her short story collection, Righteous Living, Turnstone Press, 1999, was short-listed for the Danuta Gleed Award, and several of her stories have been read on CBC radio. Her second picture book, Rainy Days With Bear, 2004, was short-listed for the Ann Connor Brimer and Blue Spruce awards. Her first novel, The View From a Kite was published by Nimbus/Vagrant in September, 2006.

I hope this will be the first of a series of interviews with NS authors.

Colleen

Interview with Margaret Atwood

(I promise this will be my last link to something today. But it's been an eclectic grouping, don't you think?)

When asked whether she always wanted to be a writer, Margaret says that she had planned to be a home economist. In her grade nine guidance handbook c. 1952 , there were five jobs listed for women. They were: secretary, airline stewardess, school teacher, nurse and home economist. Home economist paid the most, so Margaret figured that would be what she would do.

Glad she changed her mind.

You can watch her interview here.