TBR [to
be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of
newly released/forthcoming, interesting books who will tell us about their new
work as well as offer tips on writing, stories about the publishing biz, and,
from time to time, a recipe!
My book is
a collection of short stories, loosely linked by place; all are set in West
Virginia, most in an imagined town called “Warm.” The characters are primarily working-class
folks dealing with trying times in their lives and communities. There is a bit
of love, vengeance, and murder.
Which story did you most enjoy
creating? Why? And, which story gave you the most trouble, and why?
I love
when a story just comes to me, whole, as though it’s a gift, so my favorite
stories are the ones that seem to just pour out in one setting. “My Brothers
and Me” was like that, and it is one of my favorite stories not only for that
reason, but because the characters—for better or worse—remind me a lot of my
own family and I connect a with that protagonist. As for the second part of
this question, I think all stories have their own challenges. The stories that
are the “oldest” are probably the ones that gave me the most trouble when
putting the collection together because I feel like I was a much younger, much
different writer when I first wrote them, so getting everything to work
together was a challenge.
Tell us a bit about the highs and
lows of your book’s road to publication.
I don’t
know if I ever would have felt like my collection was good enough or ready to
send out. My friend and an excellent writer, Laura Long, told me to send her my
draft—which was an incredibly generous offer—and I did. I still can’t quite
believe that she was willing to do that for me. She read and told me that I
should send it to West Virginia University Press, which had previously
published her collection. She essentially told me to quit thinking I wasn’t
good enough and that women, especially, do that too much. So, I listened to her
advice and sent my collection to Abby Freeland and she was encouraging. I
cannot give enough thanks to Laura and other writers in my life who have been
so generous with their time and support. I hope someday to be able to do that
for someone else.
One of my
biggest challenges on my road to publication was getting permissions for some
of the quotes I used in my stories. Luckily, I was able to secure permission to
use an excerpt from a CD Wright poem for my epigraph but was quickly rejected
by the Thornton Wilder estate when I requested permission to use some lines
from Our Town. Apparently they never
give permission, and I’ve heard from other writers since—like you, I believe,
Leslie*—that they were also denied. Perhaps we should start a support group.
All in
all, though, this might have been a blessing in disguise. I had to re-write the
section of the story that used the quotes from Our Town and it actually turned out better.
What’s your favorite piece of
writing advice?
I don’t
know that I have a favorite piece of writing advice, other than to just write
the truth, whatever that truth might be. I try to do that. I don’t mean I write
non-fiction, but that I try to be true to the heart of the place, the people,
the issues that I’m writing about. I can’t do more than that.
My favorite writing advice is
“write until something surprises you.” What surprised you in the writing of
this book?
So, I
don’t know if the writing of the book was as surprising as some of the early
reviews have been. One of my first reviews talked about my book as though it
was the darkest piece of literature ever to hit the shelves. It was essentially
“Violence, violence, everywhere!” It wasn’t a bad review—in fact, it was a good
one—but it was surprising to me to see that this is what a reviewer thought my
book was about. I thought it was about family, friendship, resilience,
perseverance. Sure, there is violence, but that was only part of the story to
me. I joked to someone that maybe that reviewer just didn’t get Appalachians. I
sent the review to Laura to see what she thought since she’d also already read
the book, and she said, “I just don’t think they understand the Appalachian
sensibility.” Apparently, I’m a dark little thing and didn’t even know it!
How did you find the title of your
book?
The title
of my book is the title of one of the stories, “The Sound of Holding Your
Breath.” This story isn’t necessarily the “star” of the collection, if there is
such a thing, but the idea of people holding their breath, the waiting, the
anticipation, the expectation for the other shoe to drop does, I think,
represent the feeling I wanted readers to have. I think it also fits well with
the really beautiful cover designed by Than Saffel. The cover has shocking, hot
pink lettering, layered over a faded landscape (which is also layered under a
film of notebook paper). Than said that his concept behind the cover was meant to evoke that feeling you have when the sun
comes up after a terrible (or just difficult) event, when everything is just
really bright and cheery for everyone but you. I really love that.
Inquiring foodies and hungry book
clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your book? Any recipes I might
share?
No, but I
wish there were! There are campfires in a couple of the stories, and people
roasting things on sticks.
READ MORE
ABOUT NATALIE: www.nataliesypolt.com
READ MORE
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER: www.wvupressonline.com
ORDER THIS
BOOK FOR YOUR TBR PILE: www.wvupressonline.com
READ AN
EXCERPT: the title story, “The Sound of Holding Your Breath”: http://www.stilljournal.net/natalie-sypolt-fictioncontest2016.php
*Yes, I
could be a member of this support group! The estate did not allow me to quote
from "Our Town" in my novel A YEAR AND
A DAY. I assumed anyone that rigid wouldn’t hesitate to sue me if I did anyway, so I rewrote
and had to hope that most readers would be familiar with the few iconic lines I
wanted to include (that I don't dare type out here!).