We are back with novelist/essayist/short fiction and nonfiction writer Antoine Wilson. (If you missed part one, read it here.) In part two, Antoine talks about the inspiration for his novels and the writing process. (For more information about Antoine Wilson, visit his website at http://antoinewilson.com or follow him on Twitter at @antoinewilson.)

You said that your first novel, The Interloper, (Other Press) came out in May 2007, and your second one, Panorama City, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) in 2012. Were you working on the second one during that five-year span?
Yes, almost exclusively.

Panorama City

How long did it take you to complete your two published novels? Was there any difference writing the second compared to the first, in terms of your confidence level or technical ability? Was it easier? Harder?
I wrote The Interloper in two years. Panorama City took four. Each was difficult in its own way, but Panorama City was by far the more difficult book to write. Technically, emotionally, etc.

You also mentioned that you have a previously unpublished novel—something you share with other novelists. Do you have plans for its publication or have you decided that it should remain “in the drawer”? If the latter, what did you learn from that novel that helped you improve or change how you approached the next two?
That novel was the culmination of everything I learned in grad school, applied. I ended up writing a book I didn’t particularly want to read. Maybe I’ll revisit it someday, but I don’t like to look backward, creatively. The main thing I learned is that writing a novel should feel like walking a tightrope. (Writing that one didn’t.)

With your first novel, did you have an agent at the time? If so, how long did it take you to find one? How many agents and publishers did you approach? What advice do you have for fiction writers who are searching for the right representation?
I got an agent after finishing a near-complete draft of the novel. It took several months to find one, I think, between queries and submissions. When The Interloper went out, it was rejected by 34 publishers, if I recall correctly. Many editors were concerned about the humor clashing with the darker themes of the book.

My only advice for fiction writers searching for agents is to be patient. It’s called “submission” for a reason. Also, be aware that you might find someone who is a perfect match for your current book but who might not be a match for your next book, or your whole career.

What marketing strategies have you used to promote your book?
I’ve left most of that to the publishers’ people, who have been wonderful, in my experience. I maintain a website. I’m on Facebook and Twitter, though I’d be on both if I didn’t have books to promote.

Antoine Wilson

What do you find the hardest part about the “writing business”?
It keeps me away from the business of writing.

Conversely, have there been aspects or experiences that surprised or touched you or that you thoroughly enjoyed?
I have met a tremendous number of incredibly talented, kind, and interesting people through the book world. My editor, my agent, fellow writers, etc.

You’ve been interviewed a number of times. What was the process like in general for you? Do you enjoy interviews? Hate them? Fear them? Did you find them harder than you expected? How do you — or do you—prepare for them?
There’s a fairly long period of time between when one has finished a book and it actually hits the shelves. So I like to reacquaint myself with the book before doing the first interviews. For Panorama City, I bought the audiobook and listened to it on the flight to New York. Over the course of launching a book, I develop a sort of meta-narrative about the book, quite separate from the process of writing the book itself. It’s a strange experience, but it’s a nice way to say goodbye, I suppose.

What is your least favorite interview question? What question (or type of question) do you most enjoy answering?
“What is your book about?” is my least favorite question. I always feel put on the spot when asked to “pitch” my work. My favorite questions are those which cause me to see the work in a new way, those that stop me at the podium and make me think. I stumble through them, but it’s pure pleasure. I do enjoy Q&A sessions with readers.

Based on your own experience, what tips do you have for authors who are preparing for their “maiden voyage” on the sea of publication?
Have an escape plan. Decide ahead of time when you are going to go back to writing full-time.

What was your favorite childhood book? Is there one that, now as an adult, you read again?
Winnie The Pooh. I’m just starting to re-read childhood classics to my son, who is 5 ½. Check back in a year or two.

What type of books do you prefer: non-fiction, fiction, essays, poetry?
I am reading all at the moment. I suppose it’s a tie between fiction and essay.

Where do you do most of your reading?
Everywhere. My nightstand is a disaster zone. The bathroom. My office. I listen to fiction in the car. I’m reading Moby Dick and Sartor Resartus on my iPhone.

What book are you reading now?
Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace.

What book—or author—do you find yourself reading again?
Nabokov, Proust, Nicholson Baker. Cheever. Munro. Ozick. David Foster Wallace.

What others have inspired you — either at a personal level or as a writer?
Same as above.

Which three authors would you love to have a “One on One” with?
Same as above (the three who are still alive).

What are some unusual (or irritating!) questions, comments or theories you’ve heard from non-writers when they find out you’re a writer?
The most irritating thing is when people treat writing a novel as if it’s something to cross off the so-called bucket list.

How do you blend your writing life with your “real life”—do you find it challenging to make time for both sides? If so, what are some of the difficulties and how do you resolve them?
Time to write is precious and, in concert with family life, sometimes contentious. I have a very understanding wife.

What’s the worst advice anyone gave you about being a writer? What’s the best?
Write every day. Write every day.

How do you define success as a writer? What makes you feel successful as a writer?
I feel most successful when those whom I love and respect are moved by what I’ve written. Everything else follows from that.

Conversely, what makes you feel like a failure, and how do you combat that?
When ideas about what I’m writing get in the way of my ability to write it. I combat this improvisationally, with everything I’ve got.

What advice do you have for other writers who are contemplating pursuing a writing career?
Give up now. (Those who are going to be writers anyway will ignore this advice. Those who are wavering might get wise, do something else, and live happier lives.)

What do you want your writer’s epitaph to be?
I’ll leave that to another writer.

~~~~~~~~~~~

My thanks to Antoine for being part of One on One: Insights Into the Writer’s Life!

Writer Antoine Leonide Thomas Wilson certainly gets around. Born in Montreal, he grew up in southern California, with, as he puts it, “spells in Central California and Saudi Arabia.” From UCLA, he went to the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and has since taught creative writing at Iowa, Wisconsin, CSU Long Beach, UC San Diego, and UCLA Extension.

But it’s his writing that perhaps spans the broadest range. Antoine is the author of The Interloper (Handsel Books / Other Press) and Panorama City (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), short fiction, essays and nonfiction pieces, and some very visual “side projects” including The Slow Paparazzo and Shopping Carts of Panorama City, among others. (For more information about Antoine Wilson, visit his website at http://antoinewilson.com or follow him on Twitter at @antoinewilson.)

In part one of this interview, Antoine shares some information about his work, his process and his thoughts on writing. Stop back on May 15 for part two!

Antoine Wilson

You have said that being a novelist is your favorite occupation, but you’ve also written essays, reviews and short pieces of non-fiction. What draws you to fiction in general, and to novels versus short stories?
I’ve always felt like a novelist. A matter of temperament, probably. I like the immersive, ongoing experience of a novel. As for fiction versus non-fiction, I think I simply prefer the blank page to the totality of the universe.

How long have you been writing? When did you start? Why did you start —what triggered your writing?
I made a conscious decision to pursue writing near the end of college, when I abandoned my intention to go to medical school. That decision was triggered by three books. More info on that here.

What was your “writer dream”—your goal— when you began to write? Has it changed over the years? What is your “writer dream” now?
My dream was to be Thomas Pynchon, and now my dream is to be Antoine Wilson.

When did you first know that you were a writer?
When I tried to be something else instead.

What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?
Sanity.

Courtesy of James Lipton, host of “Inside the Actor’s Studio”: what profession other than that of a writer would you like to attempt?
Epigeneticist.

Panorama City

What inspired The Interloper? Panorama City?
The Interloper was inspired by a family tragedy. My older half-brother was murdered in 1978, when he was 19 years old. The story grew from hearing that his killer was going to be released on parole. Panorama City was inspired by a difficult-to-describe feeling, and influenced by Don Quixote, Dead Souls, The Jerk, Gilead, and Candide.

What project are you working on now?
Another novel. That’s all I can say without destroying it.

If you have received some less than flattering reviews, how did you handle it? How do you prevent criticisms from creating enough self-doubt to block you entirely?
I’ve got enough self-doubt that reviews don’t tend to add to that pile significantly. Mostly, if I feel that the review is misguided, I feel frustration. If I feel that the review makes good points, I acknowledge it and move on. I don’t expect everyone to like what I write.

Tell us a little about the side projects you have listed on your website. What are they and what inspired them?
The Slow Paparazzo is inspired by my surroundings. I see a lot of celebrities, and I wanted to capture some of the frisson that one feels upon seeing a famous person without disturbing that particular famous person. So I wait until they’re gone before taking the picture. The poems of GM Quinte  are a work in progress. They come from a part of my brain that wishes to take over my whole brain but has so far failed to do so.

When do you feel most confident — what gives you the boost you need to keep writing? And in your self-administered Proust Questionnaire, you said that, if you could change one thing about yourself, you would want more artistic confidence. Can you explore that a little?
I don’t really need a boost to keep me writing, which is probably why I’m still doing it. If I go more than a few days without putting pen to paper, I experience a certain kind of unpleasantness I’d rather not try to describe here.

As for the confidence…let’s just say that one has to really believe in a novel to commit to working on it for years, day in and day out. There’s a tremendous, sometimes overwhelming amount of uncertainty involved. I’d like to be rid of that. If, you know, I had a magic wand.

Where do you do most of your writing?
I move around. Lately, it’s been a chair in my office, but that’s because I’ve been writing longhand, which I tend to do at the beginning of a project. Mainly so I can’t read what I’ve just written. It’s important to keep the internal editor at bay.

Where is the strangest place you’ve written? Where was the most inspirational?
Bar restroom. Sometimes you’ve got to capture a detail before it fades. I’m most inspired by places with few distractions. No beautiful views!

What stimulates your creativity or serves as a writing inspiration? Conversely, what creates a major writer’s block for you? Do you have any writing totems? Superstitions? Strange routines?
Errands can be very stimulating if they come at the right moment. Sometimes a good surf gets me to stop thinking too much. I’m picky about my pens, but otherwise I’m a fairly boring writer to watch.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? The least?
The best part comes about three-quarters of the way through the process, when you’ve got a complete draft and you’ve already started revising. The clay’s all made, the sculpture has a shape, and the task at hand is all pleasure. All other parts of the process I dislike equally.

You attended a University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and did a one-year fellowship at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. What impact did those experiences have on your writing—what did you learn about the craft of writing fiction or on writing in particular?
What I learned from the workshop, aside from the feeling that what I was trying to do was important to some people, was a sense of what it was like to read and address problems in a work of fiction. Editorial skills, I guess, that I was later able to apply to my own work.

A solid percentage of what I learned about craft can be found in a book like Jerome Stern’s Making Shapely Fiction. Nuts and bolts. But the most valuable stuff is difficult to pin down. A few friends who remain first readers. Exposure to a whole lot of interesting writing. And poetry—I didn’t know anything about poetry before I got to the workshop, and I ended up going to basically every poetry reading I could.

For those who can’t participate in one-year fellowship, what suggestions do you have for them to help develop and strengthen their writing abilities?
Find a workshop of some kind, or form a writing group with others who are serious about writing. Step one is recognizing what you’re communicating to a reader, and a solid workshop—in an extension course, or the like—can bring that to light in short order.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Fascinating and insightful — and there is more to come mid-month so be sure to stop back!

We are back with Caitlin Kelly, whose credits include essays, articles and two books: Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail and Blown Away: American Women and Guns. (For more about Caitlin, visit her websites at Caitlin Kelly.com, Blown Away by the Book, and Malled, and her Broadside blog.

In part two, Caitlin talks about her experiences writing and marketing her books, and how she lives her writing life!

Caitlin Kelly

Where do you do most of your writing?
On a desktop on a table in the living room. I live and work in a one-bedroom apartment and have not had a separate office since the early 80s.

Where is the strangest place you’ve written?
I’ve taken notes in the dark rear of a car bumping over rural roads, in French, during an election campaign and while squatting on a wet and heaving deck of an America’s Cup sailboat. The weirdest place I’ve written? A tie between a judge’s home kitchen table in New Brunswick in 1984 and sending a ballet story via teletype, typing it myself on the machine, from Genoa, Italy.

Where was the most inspirational?
A small Arctic village, Salluit, that had terrible social problems because of a poorly designed community center. Seeing a building whose walls were held together with steel beams and whose floor sagged like an old mattress was truly shocking and made the story powerful. I was sent there on assignment by the Montreal Gazette when I worked there as a feature writer.

When do you usually write: are you a morning writer, late night writer, any-time-you-can-grab-a-minute writer? Do you have a schedule that you keep?
I try to keep regular hours, 9-5 or 10-6pm, so I can have my evenings for myself and my husband and friends. When I’m writing a book, I work whenever possible and often go back to work for a few hours after dinner. No schedule — I am busy with so many projects that I write only when I am ready to do so; i.e devoting most of my time to research and interviews. I write very quickly.

How do you write: longhand, on a computer, dictate and then transcribe?
On a computer.

What do you usually wear when you’re writing? Do you “dress for work” or dress for comfort?
Comfort most of the time: leggings and a sweater.

What stimulates your creativity or serves as a writing inspiration? Conversely, what creates a major writer’s block for you?
Looking at visual beauty — nature, an art gallery or museum, a fantastic film — reminds me that the best writing is almost always highly visual and deeply sensual. I try to come home and capture what I’ve seen.

I almost never get writer’s block. It happened on Malled: My Uninentional Career in Retail when my editor deemed my first draft pretty weak. That really dinged my self-confidence and I just couldn’t write for a long time. I read 10 other books for background research and did a ton of interviews for six months before I was ready to start writing again.

Do you have any writing totems? Superstitions? Routines? Things you do or have to have around you when you begin your writing process?
Nope. A pot of Earl Grey tea at 4pm is a nice, civilized break.

Do you keep a journal? If so, how often do you write in it? Is it for personal reflection, for tracking writing ideas or both? How do you use it?
I don’t but I want to start again; I have many journals from the 1980s and 1990s and look forward (sort of) to reading them again.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? The least?
I love doing interviews and background reading. I loathe copy editing and am lousy at it. I find re-reading a book manuscript for the umpteenth time really, really difficult — you know, for a fact you are going to miss things that end up in print, and you do. Then you have to hear about them from pissed-off readers!

What is your most recent book or published piece? What inspired this? Did you pitch the concept to the publisher or did the publisher come to you?

Malled

My most recent book is Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail, which came about after I worked for 27 months for The North Face as a sales associate in an upscale mall in White Plains, NY. It came about after I wrote an essay for The New York Times that received 150 emails from all over the world, and had clearly hit a chord. An agent found me and we sent three chapters out to publishers. Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t work retail in order to produce a book about it. I needed steady cash and did it for that reason, which also gives it an authenticity I think many such books lack.

If you have written more than one book, which one was the most challenging to write either from a technical/research perspective or from an emotional/psychological aspect?
I’ve only written two books, so far. My first, Blown Away: American Women and Guns, was far more difficult emotionally because it required digging deeply into the subject, and that meant reading and listening to many stories of violence and death, either homicide or suicide. I ended up with secondary trauma as a result, with insomnia and nightmares for a while. For that book I spoke to 104 men, women and teens from 29 states. I actually loved doing so many interviews as it gives the book true authority.

How long did it take you to write your first book? Was it easier or harder than you expected?
Not that long. I began research in March 2002 and turned in the manuscript in June 2003. It wasn’t that difficult as I had clear chapter titles so organizing the material was not hard. I think it was easier than I’d expected. The second book was much more challenging because it’s a mix of memoir and reporting, which was not an easy blend. I also found memoir very difficult because you have to decide how much to reveal. The two books were so different it’s hard to compare. The one thing that made both easier was hiring research assistants; four for the first book and two for the second. That helps a great deal.

What are the messages of your books? What do you want readers to come away with after they read them?
The message of Blown Away is that gun use, however repugnant to some, is a major part of many Americans’ lives that is poorly understood and rarely discussed rationally and calmly. My goal was to present it analytically, my goal to prompt people on both sides of the issue of gun ownership to think about it more broadly.

The message of Malled is that low-wage labor is a travesty, and a growing one. These jobs are lousy, tiring and dead-end. Many readers have no idea.

Did you have an agent for your books? If so, how long did it take you to find one?
I had to find an agent for each book, and I had different ones for each. In each instance, the first agent I approached wanted to work with me immediately. I had a lot of writing experience and for major markets. I’ve been writing for the Times since 1990, with only one correction; that track record is, as it should be, reassuring to publishers and agents.

What marketing strategies have you used to promote your book?
Many! I do a lot of public speaking – to women’s groups, at public libraries, at conferences. For Malled, I’ve gone into Neiman-Marcus and Saks to sell books inside the store. I also hired an assistant, one in Canada and one in the U.S., to create a list of every retail management program and reach out to the deans and professors to see if they would like to course-adopt Malled as a textbook. It was chosen as the freshman read by the New York Institute of Technology and I think it has real potential for other colleges as well.

Are there aspects of the publishing business that you have found particularly challenging or difficult? Conversely, have there been aspects or experiences that surprised or touched you or that you thoroughly enjoyed?
I expect too much of my agents. I want and need career help, advice and guidance and they don’t offer it, in my experience. On the positive side, I am surprised and deeply touched when readers made the time to write and tell me how much they enjoyed my work, even when they (politely) disagree with me. The whole point of writing a book, for me, is to touch and move people, and the proof that you have is extraordinarily satisfying.

Any interesting stories from book signing events? From media interviews? Did you find media events harder than you expected?
The hardest part of radio interviews, which I love to do, is when you do a call-in show and people attack you. You have to react on live radio, and keep your cool and say something intelligent, no matter how inaccurate or weird their comment. That’s happened a few times and I did OK, but it’s stressful.

I generally really enjoy it. Getting any sort of attention for our books is tough enough – why complain?

Looking back to your early days of being interviewed, is there anything you wish you had done differently? Did you find it challenging to be the one being interviewed vs the one doing the interviewing?
I enjoy the experience of being interviewed, especially, (which is rare) when someone asks really thoughtful or unusual questions. I’ve learned the hard way not to give super-short interviews. It means the journalist is too rushed and is often trying to impose their agenda.

Based on your own experience, what tips do you have for authors who are preparing for their “maiden voyage” on the sea of publication?
Read as much as you possibly can about what to expect; there are many excellent books about how to get publicity for your work. Talk to fellow authors, especially in your genre, to get their tips and ideas. Be sure your publisher gives you postcards of your book cover and use these as your business card (Carol Weston, a fellow ASJA member, taught me that many years ago.) Register the domain name for your book before you even sign the contract as someone else might take it and you need to start thinking about marketing and publicity even then. Design a fantastic-looking website for your book and pay a designer if need be; update it frequently.

Set aside money you will need to market your book, whether for travel, a website, ads. Never be surprised by how little your publisher and agent do on your behalf – be prepared going into it to do a tremendous amount of this work yourself. Hire assistants to help you with it –whether book research, interviews or post-pub. Marketing and publicity. Think through every possible market and sales venue for your book, whether airport stores or academic use. Always carry your book’s postcard with you, even to the laundromat or out with friends and always keep copies of your book in your vehicle; you never know when someone will want a copy who can be helpful.

What is the next project you have in the works?
I have two book ideas, both non-fiction, one focused on retail and one on work.

What are some unusual (or irritating!) questions, comments or theories you’ve heard from non-writers when they find out you’re a writer?
Many people seem to think you always write an entire story or book first, then sell it. There is a lot of ignorance about the reality of really earning a living as a writer. They fantasize wildly that their work, (even if they have never before written a word), will be a best seller and make them a pot of money, even though probably 90% of professional writers do not, and never will, regardless of talent or hard work.

How do you blend your writing life with your “real life”—do you find it challenging to make time for both sides? If so, what are some of the difficulties and how do you resolve them?
I see little division between them. Almost everything I experience becomes a part of my writing, whether my blog, articles or books. I am not a workaholic, though! I take as much vacation every year as I can possibly afford, four to six weeks at a minimum.

What do you find the hardest part about the “writing business”?
The persistent fantasy – on the part of fellow writers and all of those who profit from our talent (publishers, editors, agents) – that writing is so much fun we neither need nor deserve to be well compensated for it. Wall Street bankers and corporate attorneys also enjoy their jobs, but no one expects them to do it for pennies. The barrier to entry as a writer is so low that there’s a widespread notion “anyone can do it.” This contributes to a consistent under-valuing of our work, even those who have acquired formal credentials and a terrific body of work.

What’s the worst advice anyone gave you about being a writer? What’s the best?
I don’t seek advice and I haven’t been given any really. I read a lot of other writers’ thoughts and ideas, and draw from those whatever seems useful to me.

How do you define success as a writer? What makes you feel successful as a writer?
Knowing I’ve changed people’s minds about an issue – as I did with my first book about women and gun use – or that my work has deeply resonated with readers. I write to make people think differently and more deeply about issues they think they “know” when much of what we “know” is merely slick, shallow reporting by a narrow band of media insiders. I always make sure to include voices of people you won’t hear from in mass media – in Blown Away, for example, I interviewed four young women, all with gun-related convictions. That was a national exclusive that took six months’ negotiation to get and I’m really proud of being able to include their perspectives as well.

Conversely, what makes you feel like a failure, and how do you combat that?
Not much, at this point. I’ve accomplished most of what I set out to do as a writer. I want to earn a much higher income, but that doesn’t make me feel like a failure when I don’t as the writers who do often have skills or interests I don’t have or want to acquire.

What is your idea of a perfect writing day?
One that includes physical activity, preferably a long walk or bike ride, and a long conversation with my husband and/or a friend. Writing is a lonely and isolating business and I often find that the only people I converse with are sources and editors.

What advice do you have for other writers who are contemplating pursuing a writing career?
That’s a whole conversation in itself! Read great writing analytically to understand what makes it so effective – dialogue? Anecdote? Tone? Rhythm? It can be poetry or prose, magazine articles or 18^th century material. I think too many would-be writers focus a lot of energy on the mechanics of the business – finding markets and getting paid – when they should focus much more intently, and consistently, on thinking broadly and deeply, on growing and honing their skills as a thinker, interviewer, writer and editor in order to produce work of serious value. If you want to be a writer, get on with it! Do whatever work is necessary to get the bills paid and write when you can. It is rarely easy or lucrative, so whining is a waste of energy.

What do you want your writer’s epitaph to be?
She made people think.

~~~~~~~~

My thanks to Caitlin Kelly for being part of One on One: Insights Into the Writer’s Life!

I “met” Caitlin Kelly through the organization we both belong to, the American Society of Journalists and Authors. And I was struck by her commitment to writing — both as a profession and an art form — and impressed by her extensive and diverse background. From investigative pieces, personal essays and informational articles, to her recent book, Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail (2011), Caitlin has traveled far and wide (metaphorically speaking) in her goal to bring information and insights to her readers.

So of course I wanted to know how she does it — and how she handles all the challenges that come with this career choice. And here, in this two-part interview, Caitlin shares her experience and knowledge. (For more about Caitlin, visit her websites at Caitlin Kelly.com, Blown Away by the Book, and Malled, and her Broadside blog.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Caitlin Kelly

I write a variety of stories, from 2,500 word business features for the Sunday New York Times to personal essays to standard magazine stories, like a recent look at current library design, written for the trade magazine of the American Society of Interior Designers. I most love writing long, deeply reported stories with multiple themes and layers, which are difficult assignments to get these days.

I love doing investigative stories that break news, like “Prescription for Obsession”, [that] I wrote for Chatelaine, a national Canadian women’s magazine, about a horrible side effect of the drug Mirapex, which is prescribed for both restless leg syndrome and Parkinson’s disease – it can also cause uncontrollable addictions to gambling, shopping and sex due to its effect on brain chemistry. I actually received a letter from a reader whose doctors kept blowing her off until her mother read my story and made sure they took her off those meds. She said my story had saved her life. I can’t imagine anything more satisfying.

I also write for on-line markets, like the story I wrote for aarp.com about my hip replacement in February 2012 or the on-line personal finance column I wrote for five months this year.

I’m happiest writing books, with the huge canvas, up to 100,000 words, to truly explore an issue in depth and breadth. Only then can I get

Malled

to the many subtleties typically ignored or left out of standard media stories. For Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail (2011), I read 10 other books to get a deeper understanding of the issues of low-wage labor.

It is the greatest luxury to have the time, income and outlet to research and think deeply, then try to apply my thinking and analysis to a timely, national issue – like women and guns, in my first book, Blown Away: American Women and Guns (2004) and low-wage labor in my second.

Do you find it difficult to switch from one writing type to another? What techniques do you use that help you switch “writing gears”?
Not really. I’ve worked for three big daily newspapers, so I start every story and book using the same techniques: What are the story’s main and secondary themes? How do they inter-relate? Who will best express them? How can I best illustrate them? How many interviews do I need and how will I source them? What background material – books, surveys, polls, white papers, other pieces, film or broadcast material – do I need? How much assistance will I need; I often hire and use assistants.

Personal essays require a very different voice, whether funny or poignant. Writing Malled was much more challenging than Blown Away, as I blended straight reporting with memoir, and the latter genre was wholly new for me and I’d never formally studied it. I read other writers to see how well they have handled a specific genre, and that helps.

How long have you been writing? When did you first know that you were a writer?
I was winning prizes for my writing starting in seventh grade, through a tough competition at my private school, and again in high school, so I felt confident I had some talent. I wanted to be a journalist from a very early age, maybe 12 or 14, as my mother worked in the field and my father made award-winning documentary films. I grew up around people who made a good living telling compelling stories. It looked like such a great life!

I started freelancing in my sophomore year at the University of Toronto. I started writing for the weekly newspaper there and made sure to produce several long, well-written features I could use as clips to get in to see national magazine and newspaper editors, as Toronto is the publishing capital of Canada. There was a lively magazine industry then, that paid well, and I began getting assignments from some of the biggest players long before I graduated. I had a weekly shopping column in The Globe and Mail when I was still in college.

What was your “writer dream”—your goal— when you began to write? Has it changed over the years?
My goal was to get a staff job at The Globe, then considered (and still today for some) the country’s best newspaper. I was hired there at 26, with no staff newspaper experience. But after 2.5 years, the internal politics were wearying and the wait to get an overseas bureau – my real goal – was probably a decade away. I left to go to the Montreal Gazette, to downshift and be able to work in French. Then my goal was to come to New York and work as a journalist, which I did; I got a green card thanks to my American-born mother. Even in my 20s, I wanted to write non-fiction books.

I had always dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent, but speaking to women who do it showed me what a difficult and lonely life it can be as well as exciting. I love being married and seeing my friends, so I knew that would have been a tough choice. By the time I finally acquired enough experience to compete for those jobs, most foreign bureaus had been shut down anyway.

What is your “writer dream” now?
My dream now is to keep writing books and doing more paid speaking engagements. I might like to branch out into working on documentary films as well.

What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?
Journalism is an open door to the most extraordinary experiences and people so — ideally — I dream up an adventure I want to have, or a story I want to explore and someone will pay me to do that. I want to write to tell amazing stories that haven’t yet been told, or told by a woman or told well or told in depth. I want readers to say: “I had no idea!” I want readers to feel moved emotionally and think differently about an idea after they’ve read what I’ve written.

What was your favorite childhood book? Is there one that, now as an adult, you read again?
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. I did try to re-read it recently, but it felt thin. I love all the Winnie the Pooh books, and do enjoy re-reading them; the illustrations are so great.

What type of books do you prefer: non-fiction, fiction, essays, poetry?
Non-fiction. I never read poetry, (which I should), and find much fiction disappointing. I sometimes read essays.

Where do you do most of your reading?
Living room and bedroom. I’ll read a lot more on vacation when I have uninterrupted time.

What book are you reading now?
Voyageur, a book by a British man who decided to replicate a 19^th-century journey across Canada in a birch bark voyageur’s canoe. The writing is wonderfully British –understated.

What book—or author—do you find yourself reading again?
None. There are so many books and I have so little time and attention for them. I want to read so much more than I already have. If I find an author I enjoy, I’ll try their other work, but have often been very disappointed — like Zadie Smith and Alexandra Fuller. I loved White Teeth and loathed On Beauty; I found Scribbling the Cat (Fuller’s second book) much less interesting.

Who are three of your favorite authors and why?

• Gerald Durrell. He was a British nature writer who ran his own zoo for many years, the younger brother of Lawrence Durrell. His writing about nature was so delicious and descriptive – and his books about his family so funny. It made me long to write as well as he did.
• Alexandra Fuller. Also British. Her memoir of growing up in Africa, Don’t Lets Go To the Dogs Tonight was a best seller, and searingly honest — her mother called it “that awful book.”
• Tom Rachmann. A fellow Canadian and fellow University of Toronto grad. His novel, The Imperfectionists, was simply lovely, in tone, style, content — also a best seller.

Which three authors would you love to have a “One on One” with?
Balzac, Thomas Hardy and Ray Bradbury. (Tie with John Cheever.) Sadly, all of these are dead.

Courtesy of James Lipton, host of “Inside the Actor’s Studio”: what profession other than that of a writer would you like to attempt?
Interior design and/or running my own small housewares shop. I have studied antiques and design and worked in retail. I love making a home pretty and comfortable and am addicted to all things related to interior design — art, textiles, color, antiques.

~~~~~~~~~~

This ends part one of my interview with Caitlin Kelly. Be sure to come back on February 15 for the second segment, where she shares her experiences writing her two books, Blown Away: American Women and Guns and Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail, as well as her thoughts on writing and success!

Novelist, short story writer, memoirist — and editor. One could be forgiven for wondering if Dawn Raffel ever eats, sleeps or even has a life! But she does, and that life has given this New Yorker much inspiration for her writing, and resulted in reviews such as “The stories in Dawn Raffel’s astonishing Further Adventures in the Restless Universe (Dzanc) as as sharp and bright as stars” (Elissa Schappell, VANITY FAIR), “[Raffell's] prose is intense enough to make even everyday topics seem fire-hot.” (TIME OUT NEW YORK) and “Her gift for capturing the nugget of a relationship in a single backward glance works beautifully in this illustrated memoir.” (The Chicago Tribune). (For more information, visit her website and Facebook page and follow her on Twitter at @Dawnraffell.)

In part 2 of this two-part interview, she shares insights into her writing process, the writing biz and how she defines success.

Dawn Raffel

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? The least?

I love the part where something shows up on the page that completely surprises me. My least favorite part is getting started.

How do you begin your stories: with a character, a setting or dialogue?

Usually with a visual image that I don’t fully understand.

What is the story behind one of your book titles?

My most recent fiction is a story collection, Further Adventures in the Restless Universe. There is no story in the book with that title, but it seemed to fit the overarching theme. This book grew out of grief over the death of my parents and is the most autobiographical work of fiction I’ve written.  When I was a child, my father read to me every night from The Restless Universe. It was a very strange choice of bedtime tale; the restless universe is a physics term, and this was a layman’s guide to physics written by the Nobel laureate Max Born. I was still deciding on the title when I picked up my young son from the Art Students’ League one Saturday, and he had drawn a vivid picture of a very restless solar system. At that moment, I knew I had both the title and the cover.

What is your most recent book or published piece? What inspired this?

The Secret Life of Objects is a memoir written in vignettes, the central idea of which is that our possessions reveal our life stories. I was

The Secret Life of Objects

drinking coffee out of the mug that I drink out of every day—I always pick that mug from the cupboard because for me it contains a story about my late mother and my aunt. Then I realized my house is full of stuff like this—things you wouldn’t give me five bucks for but that are priceless to me. I wrote the stories very quickly, then realized I had a book.

Which book has been the most challenging to write either from a technical/research perspective or from an emotional/psychological aspect?

My novel Carrying the Body was the toughest. I’ve never written chronologically, and in a novel that created a major structural challenge.

How long did it take you to write your first book? Was it easier or harder than you expected? Given the number of books you have written, have you developed ways to streamline the process?

My first book and my subsequent works of fiction have been about seven years each and I have another one that’s been cooking in my head for a long time. I wish I knew how to streamline this. Or maybe I don’t.

Are there aspects of the publishing business that you have found particularly challenging or difficult? Conversely, have there been aspects or experiences that surprised or touched you or that you thoroughly enjoyed?

There is a very narrow range of books that receive the bulk of mainstream media attention and they are not necessarily the best or most interesting books. Lately, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the fact that mainstream review outlets have become more receptive to small press titles and even print-on-demand.

What is the next project you have in the works?

I’ve done a fair amount of historical research on something I stumbled on that fascinates me…and I have no idea yet what form it will take.

What was your favorite childhood book? Is there one that, now as an adult, you read again?

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. I loved the layout as much as the story and the illustrations. I couldn’t have articulated this as a child but it had to do with the way the type was set to create a visual rhythm. As an adult, War and Peace.  I read it the first time when I was thirteen; I had no idea what I was getting into except that it promised bigness. I’ve read it three times since and I’m not done.

Where do you do most of your reading (room or location?)

Anywhere and everywhere, including on my phone.

How do you blend your writing life with your “real life”—do you find it challenging to make time for both sides? If so, what are some of the difficulties and how do you resolve them?

I’ve always been a daydreamer; this just provides justification.

What do you find the hardest part about the “writing business”?

Rejection. It’s part of the game, at every stage of your career.

What’s the worst advice anyone gave you about being a writer? What’s the best?

There’s a whole string of “you can’ts”—you can’t have a full-time job and be a writer, you can’t be a mother and be a writer, you can have one kid but not two and be a writer, etc. It’s crap. Best advice: Take what you perceive to be your flaws or your deficits and use them to your advantage.

How do you define success as a writer? What makes you feel successful as a writer?

Bringing something to completion. Hearing from people who get it and connected with it.

Conversely, what makes you feel like a failure, and how do you combat that?

There’s a point in the writing of almost every story and every book where I can’t figure out how to complete it and I feel like I’m going to have to abandon it; the whole thing starts to feel hopeless. At this point I recognize that feeling and know that I have to keep working through it, that I will eventually find or make a window in the brick wall.

What is your idea of a perfect writing day?

There’s no such thing but I’m happy if I have even a few sentences that are keepers.

What advice do you have for other writers who are contemplating pursuing a writing career?

Take a long view and write what makes you happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Dawn, for being part of One on One: Insights Into the Writer’s Life!

“I was an editor before I was a writer,” wrote Dawn Raffell, adding “I had some idea that writers were magical people with special gifts.”

And while she said that she later realized it took both labor and talent to be a writer, there is no denying that Raffell does indeed have a special gift for not only bringing out the best in those she edits but also in herself as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Her illustrated memoir, The Secret Life of Objects, was on Oprah’s Summer Reading List for 2012, and she is also the author for two story collections— Further Adventures in the Restless Universe and In the Year of Long Division (soon to be reissued)—and a novel, Carrying the Body.

As for her short stories, they have appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, BOMB, Conjunctions, Black Book, Fence, Open City, The Mississippi Review Prize Anthology, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, Arts & Letters, The Quarterly, NOON, and numerous other periodicals and anthologies.

On the editorial side of the desk, Raffell served as a fiction editor for many years, followed by a seven-year stint as Executive Articles Editor at O, The Oprah Magazine and three years as Editor-at-Large at More magazine. She has also taught in the MFA program at Columbia University and at the Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia; Montreal; and Vilnius, Lithuania. Raffell is now Editor at Large, Books at Readers Digest, and the editor of The Literarian, the magazine for the Center for Fiction in New York.

Raffell lives outside New York City with her husband and sons. (For more information, visit her website and Facebook page and follow her on Twitter at @Dawnraffell.) The following is part one of a two-part interview. (Stop back on January 15th for the second half!)

Tell us a little about yourself. What type of writing do you do? If you do more than one kind or prefer one genre over another, what type is your favorite?

Dawn Raffell

I have written a memoir, a novel, and two collections of short stories. I also write essays and nonfiction (reported) pieces. Each has different satisfactions; I enjoy genre-hopping. I find fiction to be the most challenging.

Do you find it difficult to switch from one writing type to another? What techniques do you use that help you switch “writing gears”?

The subject dictates the genre, so I don’t use any specific techniques to switch gears. But I do need quiet time and private space to write fiction, whereas I can write nonfiction anywhere.

In addition to being a writer, you have also held editor positions at O, The Oprah Magazine and More magazine, and currently at Readers Digest and The Literarian. Do you find it challenging to keep your “editor hat” on and not switch to your “writing cap” when editing other writers? How has your writing background helped (or hindered!) your ability as an editor?

I was an editor before I was a writer. I had some idea that writers were magical people with special gifts. Over time—and working so closely with writers—I came to see that only a tiny portion of it is “talent.” The rest is labor—not just writing and writing and grinding it the same way, but reading, observing, questioning, trying new things, and allowing yourself to fail. As an editor, my job is to first do no harm. That means not changing the work so that it looks like something I’d write but instead trying to understand the DNA of the work so that I can help the writer bring it closer to the ideal that he or she intended. I’m also not a “my way or the highway” kind of editor. I will make suggestions but appreciate counter-suggestions. In the end, it’s not my name that’s going on the story.

How long have you been writing? When did you start? What was your “writer dream”—your goal— when you began to write? Has it changed over the years? What is your “writer dream” now?

I’ve been writing for as long as I could read but I didn’t start writing fiction for publication until I was almost thirty and had a career as an editor. If I had a dream, it was just to publish a book. [My writer dream now is that] I get to keep doing this, and that I can keep it fresh. I’ve always said that I’d rather fail than keep writing the same book over and over again.

When did you first know that you were a writer?

You know, I still don’t introduce myself to people as a writer.

What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?

It brings focus, joy, and discovery. I once interviewed a visual artist who said, “art, for me, is a ticket to experience.” I feel the same way.

Who are three of your favorite authors and why?

The weirdest trio just popped into my mind: Tolstoy, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy (the earlier novels). Why? Moral and artistic courage, a deep understanding of human nature, a willingness to ask the hardest questions and resist the easiest answers.

Courtesy of James Lipton, host of “Inside the Actor’s Studio”: what profession other than that of a writer would you like to attempt?

Photographer of found stories.

Where do you do most of your writing?

This is ridiculously haphazard. Right now I’m at my dining room table. I prefer to write in “blank” places. A long time ago I went to a writers’ colony where I had a cottage with a beautiful view and I ended up closing the shutters!

Is writing your full-time career? Part-time career?

I am going to reject this paradigm and say that anybody who writes with any seriousness is a full time writer, because it’s a way of moving through the world; you are always paying a particular kind of attention.

On average, how much time do you spend writing a day? Do you have a schedule that you keep?

I don’t have any writing schedule. Here’s what happens: I procrastinate until I am going to explode if I don’t write something.

Do you keep a journal?

I don’t keep a journal. Language is a translation of memory, which is a translation of experience…and you always lose something in translation. I’m afraid that journal-keeping would be one more translation, that it would reduce and confine what I remember.

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Stop back on January 15th for the second part of this fascinating behind-the-scenes interview with Dawn Raffell!

It was the kind of review that first-time novelists dream of: “Pagán writes with both a subtle sense of humor and great wisdom in her quietly compelling literary debut.” (The Chicago Tribune).

But each novel requires “a leap of faith,” points out Michigan journalist-turned-novelist Camille Noe Pagán, and there’s no guarantee that the outcome will be all the author desired. However, since Pagán is now working on another novel, it’s clearly a leap that she is willing to take. (For more about Pagán, visit her website.)

Tell us a little about yourself.

Camille Noe Pagán

I’m a journalist specializing in health, nutrition and psychology; my articles have appeared in Parade, O: The Oprah Magazine, Men’s Health, Glamour, among others. My first novel, The Art of Forgetting,  was published in 2010 in hardback and in 2011 in paperback by Penguin. Library Journal calls Forgetting a “page-turner”, and The Chicago Tribune says, “Pagán writes with both a subtle sense of humor and great wisdom in her quietly compelling literary debut.”

When do you usually write: are you a morning writer, late night writer, any-time-you-can-grab-a-minute writer?

I dream of a time in my life when I can write fiction all day, with the occasional journalism story thrown in for good measure. Right now, however? I have a two-year-old and a four-year-old, not to mention a full-time, bill-paying career as a journalist. So I fit fiction in during the first two hours of the day, when I have childcare, and even more so, at night after my kids have gone to bed. I’m not a night person by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s remarkable how much you can get done if you make something a habit.

How do you write: longhand, on a computer, dictate and then transcribe?

I’m a fast typer and am strictly computer-based for journalism projects; but for fiction, I always begin on paper. When I was young, I filled journal upon journal, and although I don’t journal anymore, writing with a pen seems to trigger the same creative impulses that I experienced when I was journaling.

The Art of Forgetting

For Forgetting, I wrote an outline and the first few chapters on a legal pad, then wrote the rest on the computer. But for my latest novel, each chapter has been written in a marbled composition book before it gets transcribed (and finessed) on my computer. For reasons I can’t begin to explain, the entire process feels more organic, and it’s far easier for me to identify—and scratch—extraneous or boring scenes when they’re in my notebook.

How long did it take you to write your first book? Was it easier or harder than you expected?

I wrote my first novel, The Art of Forgetting, in four months. It took twice as long to edit it, so there are some downsides to writing quickly. In hindsight, though, Forgetting was a dream process. I secured an agent quickly; my novel sold at auction; and I sold foreign rights to five countries.

It isn’t always that easy, as I learned. After Forgetting, I wrote two novels that have not and will not be published; they just didn’t work, and my agent and I decided not to send them out in the world. I’m now halfway through another draft and it’s safe to say I’m in love with it—I’m hoping and praying it will be my second published book.

But writing a novel is a leap of faith, and it’s incredibly difficult to spend months or even years on a draft, re-read it and receive outside feedback, then ultimately decide, “No, this doesn’t cut it.” In the end, though, it’s my name that’s going on the cover; I have to feel great about it to even try to get it published.

What book are you reading now?

After recently finishing John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, I’m now nearly through with Waiting For Alaska, one of his earlier YA novels. For me, the very best fiction is equal parts funny and sad/moving, and Green hits the mark brilliantly on both counts. Next up is Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior— Prodigal Summer is one of my favorite novels and I’ve heard good things about her latest.

How do you define success as a writer? What makes you feel successful as a writer?

This changes depending on where I’m at in my career and overall life. Right now, it’s writing a chapter that I can’t wait to show my sister, who’s my first early reader. It’s writing a first draft of a book that I can’t wait to show my agent. If I’m not excited to share it, I know it’s not ready to be published. I wish I’d figured this out a few years ago!

What advice do you have for other writers who are contemplating pursuing a writing career?

Ignore the naysayers and go for it. If I had a dollar for every time someone talked about how impossible it is to get published or how if you could do anything other than writing you should do it, I would never need another book advance.

It’s not that it’s easy to get published or that the road will be smooth, but you have to cling to your optimism and hope if you want to be able to sit down at your computer each day and keep writing.

Thanks to Camille Noe Pagán for being part of One on One: Insights Into the Writer’s Life!

Amy Hill Hearth has an unusual credit to her professional bio. She not only co-authored the New York Times bestseller Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, but was also portrayed in the film version by actress Amy Madigan. Talk about watching your words come to life!

But for Hill Hearth, that book is only one of long line of publication credits. She has authored or co-authored six other books, and is also known for her photography, including those featured in her 2008 book, Strong Medicine Speaks: A Native American Elder Has Her Say: An Oral History, an oral history of the matriarch of a Lenni-Lenape tribe.

With her latest book, Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society: A Novel (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster), Hill Hearth has now entered the fiction realm. In this interview, she talks about her writing process, background, and how she came by her name. (For more about Hill Hearth, visit her website.)

With your latest project, you have now expanded your repertoire to both fiction and non-fiction work. Do you have a favorite or preference? And how do you switch “writing gears” from one type to another?

Amy Hill Hearth

Oh, very hard question! I love doing both. It was hard for me, initially, to try fiction. I had to give myself permission to write in a different way. I did not have to stick to the facts, which was terrifying and liberating at the same time. I found that it took more concentration to write fiction, and I needed blocks of time for undisturbed writing.

How long have you been writing? When did you start? What was your “writer dream”—your goal— when you began to write? Has it changed over the years?

I must be a born writer. It always came naturally to me. After I finished college, I worked in the newspaper business – in Florida, Massachusetts, and New York – as a reporter and editor. My dream at that time was to get a byline in The New York Times, and I did. In fact, I have 88 bylined articles in The New York Times. After that, my dream was to write a book. I did that, too.

What is your “writer dream” now?

Well, I took the leap and tried fiction and landed on my feet, so my hope is that I will continue taking risks and trying new things and improve my craft.

What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?

Writing helps me make sense of the world. I think it’s just the way my brain is wired.

Where do you do most of your writing?

In my home office. I have two computers – one that is connected to the Internet and one that is just for my writing projects. This helps me stay focused.

When do you usually write: are you a morning writer, late night writer, any-time-you-can-grab-a-minute writer?

I usually do my best writing in the late morning to early afternoon. But I often get a second wind around 10 p.m. and will write for another two-three hours.

How do you write: longhand, on a computer, dictate and then transcribe?

I use a computer but I take handwritten notes all the time, and I edit by hand after printing out a section of my work.

What stimulates your creativity or serves as a writing inspiration? Conversely, what creates a major writer’s block for you?

I’ve found that it’s very important to get away from my desk. Spending time with family and friends is rejuvenating, as is visiting museums or going to see a live theatrical or musical performance. Going to the movies (or watching one at home) is diverting but not as good as going to a live performance, in terms of mental rest.

Do you have any writing totems? Superstitions? Routines? Things you do or have to have around you when you begin your writing process?

When I wrote Having Our Say, I kept a photo of the Delany sisters on my desk where I could see it at all times. I’ve done that with every nonfiction book since. My novel, Miss Dreamsville, was inspired by a real person – my late mother-in-law – and I kept a photo of her and her son (my husband as a little boy) on my desk.

What is your most recent book or published piece? What inspired this?

Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society: A Novel is my newest book and first novel. I never thought I’d write a novel. I was just taking a break from the competitive world of book publishing.  I remember telling my mom that I was going to write just for fun for a while. And that evolved into Miss Dreamsville.

What is the message of your book? What do you want readers to come away with after they read it?

Miss Dreamsville is about a middle-aged wife and mom who moves with her family from Boston to a sleepy backwater in South Florida in 1962. She starts a book club but the only people who will join are the other “misfits” in town. Together, they find the one thing that eluded them as individuals: a place in the world. We’ve all been outsiders at some time in our lives. I think this is a story of hope.

Did you have an agent at the time? 

I have been with the same literary agency (William Morris) since 1991.

Are there aspects of the publishing business that you have found particularly challenging or difficult? Conversely, have there been aspects or experiences that surprised or touched you or that you thoroughly enjoyed?

I am thrilled with social media. I am able to connect directly and in a personal and heartfelt way with many more people than ever before. I love hearing from fans at my website, www.amyhillhearth.com . It means so much to me that readers find Miss Dreamsville such a fun read but also inspirational and thought-provoking. People feel so strongly about it – they don’t just like it, they love it, and believe me, that is so gratifying.

What was your favorite childhood book? Is there one that, now as an adult, you read again?

I re-read Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women every year. I was named after one of the characters in the book – Amy March, the youngest of the four sisters in the book.

What advice do you have for other writers who are contemplating pursuing a writing career?

Be resilient, expect a lot of setbacks, and set realistic goals.

What do you want your writer’s epitaph to be?

When I was in the newspaper business it would have been, “She never missed a deadline.”

Thanks to Amy Hill Hearth for being part of One on One: Insights Into the Writer’s Life!

We’re back with New York City novelist (just to name one of his successful professions!) Morrow Wilson, whose latest novel David Sunshine is “delightful and full of truth,” according to Eliot Fremont-Smith (book critic of The Village Voice, The New York Times and, before that, Editor-in-Chief of Little-Brown). (For more information about Wilson, visit his Facebook page.)

In Part 2 of our One-on-One, Wilson talks about his latest work and the business side of the publishing business, along with his thoughts on writing.

What is your most recent book or published piece? What inspired this? Did you pitch the concept to the publisher or did the publisher come to you?

Morrow Wilson

My latest novel is called David Sunshine and it was inspired by my early experiences in the television industry. And it was written years ago. It includes incidents that are completely true, down to the dialogue, that were so funny I have been dining out on them ever since they happened.

I took David Sunshine directly to a publisher who signed me up and gave me what in those days was a princely advance. Then backed out of the deal. At this point, literary agents descended on me but none could get a nibble elsewhere. The book was a roman de clef and word came back that publishers were afraid of being sued. Since all the stories were true, I thought we were pretty safe, but no one wanted to chance it.

So I put the manuscript away, dusted it off a few months ago and thought that kid who had written it way back then (me) was pretty good. So, because of that and the popular resurgence of interest in all things 1960s — “Mad Men,” et al, I decided to have it published myself though a piece of contemporary fiction had now aged into a piece of historical fiction.

As to why I decided it was worthwhile — even though it is no longer the exposé it once was (all those potential litigants are gone) — is that it is serious literature with a light touch, not unlike Dickens or Mark Twain, and that it concerns itself with the on-going drama of the pursuit of the American Dream which has been with us in novels from The Great Gatsby to Day of the Locust to All the King’s Men.

David Sunshine

Specifically, television at that time seemed at a crossroads. To oversimplify, it could be a force for enlightenment or a craven money machine. David Sunshine is about a fraud and admitted con man who masqueraded as a Philosopher King. At the time, the character upon whom he was based was a media darling, Thus the fear of being sued but, much more likely, I think, the fear of going against the common wisdom, the trend, the superficial and official view the media took at the time. Snobbery. It was not the usual kind of sordid exposé – it simply exposed him to ridicule. Kiss and tell without much of a kiss.

There is more to the book, of course; primarily about what it was like in those days to be a part of the television industry as the sun had set on its Golden Age and the dawn was beginning to come up over the Vast Wasteland. There was a human cost and many a well intentioned kid could be ground into bite-sized pieces. However, for all that, the most memorable moments in the book are probably still the funniest ones.

What marketing strategies have you used to promote your book?

I should say that I have dealt for some years with well-known publishers, editors and agents. Indeed, I grew up with them since my father was a man who all his life earned his living exclusively as a writer.

Therefore, the first marketing strategy — and it went on for some years — to sell my books was to take them to publishers and literary agents. Two very different novels were promised publication by book publishers, but they both reneged. One of them actually then sued me for the advance even though their company was in breach of contract; another was astonishingly and quite unrealistically over-priced by a well-known agent at an auction and when no one wanted to advance a half million dollars on a first novel, the agent lost interest in trying to sell it; another agent gave me a long list of well-known editors she claimed to have sent another of my manuscripts to, but it turned out she hadn’t.

My second marketing strategy was to publish a book myself. This one was called M.I.M. and it was about the way writers are underpaid and ill-treated by publishers who understand neither art nor commerce, so there was no other way to get it between hard covers but to publish it myself. A very difficult book to write, by the way, since it had to admit how heavy the odds are against the very best writers and how unlikely it is to be published by playing by the rules. Or if what you have to say is original.

Thanks to my friends, I was able to finance it, back it like a play. Then I promoted it on TV and radio talk shows and in print media, not only to sell it but to raise people’s consciousness about the endangered species that the serious writer of fiction had become. This succeeded in causing great whoops of outrage among publishers since in those days this was considered — booga-booga! – “Vanity Publishing. “ And the System (completely without vanity, one presumes) must be defended.

Today, when it is the rare publisher who will even read a novel manuscript that is not brought in by an agent (indeed some will not even consider a first novel no matter who presents it) and when the book publishers have become the playthings of international conglomerates, an increasing percentage of fiction must be either self-published or go unpublished. So the stigma has faded somewhat and “Vanity” publishing has been replaced by “Self” publishing – a true distinction without a difference.

And, yes, you might well argue it was ever thus (well, often thus) since any syllabus of great American writers includes many who, at one time or another, were self-published, including Steven Crane, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, James Fennimore Cooper, Edgar Alan Poe, Upton Sinclair, Carl Sandburg and Ezra Pound.

When I told a young and particularly sub-moral editor — no, I take that back; as I think back on his baggy corduroys and shaggy hair, I’d say he was about average — that Mark Twain had published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn himself and even hired a force of salesmen to peddle it door-to-door, this whelp responded, “Yes, but that was only because he wanted to make money!”

Your witness.

So, to sum up: for whatever it’s worth, my strategy is to by-pass the literary world altogether. (That seems to be its strategy regarding me.) And to go directly to the readers via mass media. Fiction is harder to get on TV and radio than is non-fiction, but I have done it in the past and present and will continue to do so in the future. And unless some publisher can convince me otherwise, I’ll remain content to continue on my independent way.

Based on your own experience, what tips do you have for authors who are preparing for their “maiden voyage” on the sea of publication?

Well, I’d say see about the tried and true methods. You know, those instructions all the books give you about having a grabber of a query letter and a neat manuscript. You might be one of the lucky ones an editor or agent likes and thinks your work can be a marketable commodity.

You might also want to read M.I.M. so you know you’re not alone if that doesn’t work — though I must warn you, as rotten as things were for serious writers when that novel was written, the situation has severely deteriorated since then. As noted earlier, the ways in are fewer. And, even once inside, fewer and fewer people can make their living solely as fiction writers – so few, in fact, I bet you know the names of every one of them. My guess is they number at most in the dozens.

What is the next project you have in the works?

My next project is another novel, this one a first person narrative about a mother who wakes one morning to discover her teenage daughter has run away, leaving no clue. The story is the mother’s sometimes dreadful, sometimes arduous, sometimes funny, sometimes beautiful adventures in finding her daughter. It is called Persephone and will be out next fall.

What was your favorite childhood book? Is there one that, now as an adult, you read again?

Dickens and Mark Twain are writers I loved as a child and, of course, read as an adult.

What type of books do you prefer: non-fiction, fiction, essays, poetry?

I read to learn. So all writing categories work.

Where do you do most of your reading?

Three places: an armchair in my living room, the bedroom, of course, and, most of all, the bathtub. (Agatha Christie wrote in hers; I read in mine.)

What book are you reading now?

The book I’m reading now is Neil Lanctot’s biography of Roy Campanella.

What book—or author—do you find yourself reading again?

Robert Caro. I have now read all four volumes of his LBJ biography. What a writer!

Which three authors would you love to have a “One on One” with?

Jane Austin, Raymond Chandler, William Goldman.

What are some unusual (or irritating!) questions, comments or theories you’ve heard from non-writers when they find out you’re a writer?

The only troublesome comment I get from non-writers is, “Give me a copy and inscribe it to me.” Fact is: I would like to, but, since I make (a portion of) my living as a writer I have to explain that I will be glad to inscribe the book; but they have to buy it first. Embarrassing and usually something of a turn-off.

What’s the worst advice anyone gave you about being a writer? What’s the best?

Maybe because I’ve always been a writer, no one ever gave me any advice, good or bad. I’ve had bum steers aplenty as to editors and agents. Insane rejection slips, of course, containing both good and bad evaluations. I had one literary agent tell me I was a wonderful writer but she didn’t even want to speak to me as she could not sell anything I wrote. An honest agent is a rarity and I’m sorry we couldn’t do business.

How do you define success as a writer?

Every novel, play, short story, essay, column, etc., is an experiment. And experiments can always fail. Never forget that. So a writing success is an experiment that succeeds; a writing failure is a work that doesn’t come off. How to combat those facts? Impossible, I’m afraid.

What is your idea of a perfect writing day?

A perfect writing day? I’ve never had one. In fact, I’ve never heard of one.

What advice do you have for other writers who are contemplating pursuing a writing career?

As in any of the arts, pursue such a career only if you have to. And always remember Thomas Mann’s definition: “A writer is someone who has more difficulty writing than anyone else.”

What do you want your writer’s epitaph to be?

“A love of literature is the only thing that separates humankind from the publishing industry.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to Morrow Wilson for being part of One on One: Insights Into the Writer’s Life!

Morrow Wilson started his writing career comparatively early: he received his first rejection slip at age 14 and his first payment for his writing at 17. Since then, he’s held a variety of roles related to creative professions, from novelist and short story writer, playwright, columnist, and reviewer to award-winning New York actor, singer, producer, broadcasting, publishing and advertising executive. And, he adds (only slightly tongue-in-cheek), “the survival jobs associated with being a Renaissance Man centuries after the Renaissance.”

A graduate of New York’s Columbia College, where he studied English and American literature with, among others, Mark Van Doren and Lionel Trilling, he’s a Lifetime Member of The Actors’ Fund of America, this country’s oldest theatrical charity and a Board Member of The Players, this country’s oldest theatrical and literary social club.

Wilson currently makes his home in New York City, sharing space with two cats, both named after Shakespearean heroines: (Kate, the husky defiant one; Juliet, the slender loving one). David Sunshine is his second published novel. (For more information about Wilson, visit his Facebook page.)

In this two-part interview, he shares his thoughts, observations, experiences and philosophies on living the writing life.

Tell us a little about yourself. What type of writing do you do? What type is your favorite?

Morrow Wilson

Over the years, I’ve done every sort of writing — novels, plays, film treatments, teleplays, short stories, essays, editorials, columns, copywriting from national advertising campaigns to hang tags. In fact, I actually have three professions – writing, acting and singing. All different approaches to story-telling.

Currently novels are my favorite form and that’s complicated because a novel is not just a long piece of fiction. In fact, I would venture to say that most people who write what they think of as novels have no idea what a real novel is.

Do you find it difficult to switch from one writing type to another?

I think the switch may or may not be difficult, depending on how many years you’ve been doing it. I saw Sir Alec Guinness interviewed and asked if there was any difference between his movie acting technique and his stage technique. He was vehement. “No, no, absolutely no difference.” Then they showed him rehearsing for a play and his technique was completely different from his film approach. After a while you get used to switching and it becomes second nature.

How long have you been writing? When did you start?

I received my first professional rejection slip at age 14 and my first payment for writing at 17. Over the years I have observed many changes; but the most notable is that book publishers no longer even pay lip service to literature. Whereas they once said, “No good book goes unpublished” (false, of course) they now say, “It’s a hard business to crack.” This is dreadful since it means our publishers have zero allegiance to literature and are so ignorant of their own business that they do not realize serious literature is often extremely commercial, and stays commercial for – well, in Shakespeare’s case, say, rather a long time.

What was your “writer dream”—your goal— when you began to write? What is your “writer dream” now?

My goal as a writer, then, now and always, is to write novels of excellence. Literature.

When did you first know that you were a writer?

I always was a writer; story telling was and is part of my temperament.

What does the act of writing bring into your life? Why do you want to write?

A writer friend of mine says writing to him is like breathing. But to me, it’s like giving birth. Edward Albee recently remarked that he will be walking along and suddenly realize he is “with play.” It has little to do with wanting; it is simply in certain people’s nature.

Who are three of your favorite authors and why?

Dickens, above all. For all his sentimentality, wastefulness and hopeless plotting, at his best, his characters, his descriptions, his passion are sublime. Thomas Mann, intelligence, understanding and he is strong as a rock. Third is a tie between Dostoevsky and Chekhov; Dostoevsky is brilliant, intense, funny and crazy; Chekhov is brilliant, relaxed, funny and unshakably sane.

Where do you do most of your writing?

Early on, I wrote my quickest novel (six weeks) in my study on a beat-up portable typewriter (remember those days?) The not-so-quickest (six months) was in longhand, ballpoint pen on yellow legal pads, usually on the kitchen table, though I did steal a few hours from lulls in my day job at my office (but still in longhand and still on legal pads). My two latest novels were started a few addresses ago, but both ended up being completed on my computer in my study. Currently, I have moved again, and write on a computer with the sound of classical music in the background.

Point being, I like to set up a stable atmosphere so that I have the fewest possible distractions from the writing itself. (However, ideally I also like to have a different venue for each book; that’s just my personal preference and, I confess, it’s not always realized.) To expand on this concept slightly: if you find you need different equipment and/or a different place for each book, go to it. And however eccentric it sounds, if you need green ink and purple paper for this one, say, buy a ream of purple paper and a barrel of green ink. If you can only write at picnics, go to a whole lot of picnics. Don’t have any excuses not to write. Well, to be realistic, since life is what it is, have as few distractions and create as much self-encouragement as you can.

What stimulates your creativity or serves as a writing inspiration? Conversely, what creates a major writer’s block for you?

I am a believer in inspiration – or, to refer again to Albee’s concept — gestation. For that reason, I have never experienced writer’s block. My father was a professional writer, and I’ve known many like him, who set a daily schedule or daily word quota for their writing. Such people are often complimented as pros or denigrated as hacks. But, again, I say it’s whatever works for you.

In my case, I begin with labor pains. Nothing much happens at first. I make coffee, pace, sharpen pencils, get a sentence or two down, struggle to stay at my desk for the time I’ve allotted. Then I come back the next day. If I’m lucky I get a paragraph but the time is dragging. Slowly it goes but if you insist on going back every day the momentum does build until finally you’re spending more and more time and you become more and more eager to write the book.

Dickens used to cry when he was coming to the end of his books because he would never be with his characters again. (I don’t even call them characters in my writing; I call them people.) Balzac died asking for a doctor who was a character in one of his novels. It gets very, very real. True literature creates its own world and creativity is not altogether healthy for that very reason.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? The least?

I enjoy writing least when it’s at that slow beginning stage and enjoy it most after the momentum begins.

Fiction—how do you begin your stories: with a character, a setting or dialogue?

David Sunshine

How you begin a novel varies of course. A setting, dialogue, a character are always woven together one way or the other very early. For me, it’s merely seeking out the best way to start the story. And I like to do it with as much impact as I can. Which can mean a rude remark by the narrator (“Hope is mental clap.” – M.I.M.) or an unusual invitation (“Gather round and settle down, and this book is going to tell you a story about a hero.” –David Sunshine.)

But, if I felt like taking a while, describing the rolling green lawn and its inlaid stones in the walkway leading up to the house of some very minor character, I’d do that, too. You ought to do what’s appropriate, regardless of all the advice you’ll get from agents and editors about starting it off with a fiery death, a car crash or a nuclear explosion.

Where do you come up with your titles—what is the story behind one of your book titles?

Titles can only come from two places – within the story or from outside. The two novels of mine I just mentioned both have titles that come from within. The initials of one stand for something you need to read the book to learn about; the other title is of course a name which people will correctly assume is the name of one of the characters in the novel. Most books have that (inside) sort of title.

However, quotations, proverbs and clichés that are fitting: Remembrance of Things Past, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Generation of Vipers, Gone with the Wind, and The Voice of the Turtle have proven successful enough, too.

Still, titling (if there is such a word) is a talent all its own. My father, who studied at the knee of Theodore Dreiser, had that gift. And while Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy are certainly okay titles for books that have stood the test of time, my father’s books (which have not) have much more compelling titles: Ambassadors in White, Corn Bread and Creek Water, A Man’s Reach, Empire in Green and Gold, to name four.

And though the titles of my own books are not particularly enticing or grand (so far, anyway), I must say I see titles everywhere. Clarence Darrow, a renowned atheist, was asked what if he was wrong and there was an afterlife after all? Would he go to heaven or hell? “It’s immaterial to me,” said Darrow. “I have friends in both places.” Friends in Both Places is a truly cool title, isn’t it?

Dear Me was a marvelous title for Peter Ustinov’s autobiography. If I were to write my autobiography, I’d call it If Memory Serves or maybe I Can’t Begin to Tell You. Struts and Frets seems to me an excellent title. As does The Price of Eggs in China. I like Spilt Milk, Mortal Remains. A World Elsewhere, The Songs of Apollo, Deserts of Vast Eternity, The Land of Lost Content, Dream Catcher, Trances, Flesh Wounds, Brea and Chablis, Gramercy Park, Good Intentions – well, you get the idea. Titles are everywhere.

Click here  for Part 2 of this fascinating interview with Morrow Wilson.