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!
Give us
your elevator pitch: what’s your book about in 2-3 sentences?
Greer Michaels has come home to tend
to his dying mother - but this means reckoning with the ghosts of his past. Set
in 1977 in a small town where family secrets are rooted in the traumatic
history of the segregated South, As a
River is a spare and lyrical exploration of our struggles to understand
each other, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.
Which
character did you most enjoy creating? Why? And, which character gave you the
most trouble, and why?
Though
I am completely in love with my protagonist, Greer, the novel features several
characters, as everyone’s story is intertwined with those around them. It was
an interesting process getting to know each person.
I
particularly enjoyed creating Ceiley, a curious teenager whose mother claims
she was immaculately conceived. She has a burning curiosity about the world
outside of Bannen, Georgia, so when Greer shows up in town after many years
traveling the world she is obviously drawn to him. I found the unlikely
friendship that develops between the two really touching.
The
character I had the most trouble with was Caroline, the girl Greer fell in love
with when he was sixteen. She was hard to get a handle on, maybe because she
herself was a rebel and hates to be pinned down. She actually appeared in one
of my dreams once, dangerous and livid. She was outraged that I was getting her
wrong on the page. She was the only character who snuck into my subconscious to
threaten me!
Tell us a
bit about the highs and lows of your book’s road to publication.
Wow,
how long do you have? It has definitely been a long journey.
I
queried agents for a couple years. Lots of feedback said that the novel was
“beautiful, but too quiet.” (Quiet, beautiful novels are actually some of my
favorites, but I digress).
I realized it
probably made more sense to approach small presses, so I did. Another
long process, but I was thrilled when it got signed in early 2015. Right when
the production cycle was about to start, however, the press abruptly closed.
Needless to say, I was heartbroken.
The
novel then found its way to another small press who had agreed to take on some
of the original publisher’s orphaned manuscripts. Though the intentions were
good, they unfortunately didn’t have the bandwidth to follow-through on the
commitment. It was frustrating; nothing ever advanced.
At
that point, I put the book on the back burner. The
querying and publishing gauntlet felt like waiting for others to bestow their
approval upon me – a miserable feeling. I knew I needed to reclaim my own sense
of agency. Yes, publishing a novel was a dream. But I had other dreams, too –
ones that I could achieve myself.
The second message was from Jaded Ibis Press. While I had been delighted by the previous day’s news, something inside me immediately lit up as soon as JIP’s email arrived. I felt intuitively that I had finally found a home. Or rather, it had found me! They had heard of my manuscript from another press who had enjoyed it but didn’t have space in their catalogue. But unbeknownst to me, they had recommended the manuscript to Jaded Ibis, who reached out asking if it was still available.
I am certain that surrendering and becoming less attached to the outcome of publication made space for the abundance to arrive. It also highlighted, again, the importance of community and connection. You have no idea who your champions will be, but they are out there. Treat everyone with an open heart.
What’s
your favorite piece of writing advice?
I’m
not a writer who ever has a clue about where the words are taking me. I don’t
start with an idea or a plan; it begins with an image, or a sound, or a stray
line of dialogue. This means I never know where I’m going.
Writing often feels like stumbling
in darkness through a large, strange house. Trying to draw a blueprint of a
place I have never been.
One of my advisors at Vermont College of Fine Arts, Ellen Lesser, had a simple suggestion: inch forward in the dark.
The directive resonated. I absorbed it as a way to combat my panic about feeling lost in a foreign house. Stretch arms out in front of you, take tiny steps. Get to know the space. You might bump into things, run into a wall. So change course. You’ll eventually find a door. Open it! After a time you’ll come across a lamp. Switch it on. Suddenly an entire room becomes visible. It might be different than what you’d originally pictured. But it’s by continuing to explore and moving forward that you find the light.
One of my advisors at Vermont College of Fine Arts, Ellen Lesser, had a simple suggestion: inch forward in the dark.
The directive resonated. I absorbed it as a way to combat my panic about feeling lost in a foreign house. Stretch arms out in front of you, take tiny steps. Get to know the space. You might bump into things, run into a wall. So change course. You’ll eventually find a door. Open it! After a time you’ll come across a lamp. Switch it on. Suddenly an entire room becomes visible. It might be different than what you’d originally pictured. But it’s by continuing to explore and moving forward that you find the light.
My
favorite writing advice is “write until something surprises you.” What
surprised you in the writing of this book?
The
structure!
At first I thought
As a River would be a series of
interlinked short stories. Some chapters worked as stand-alone stories, but
others just didn’t. I realized after awhile that I would have to break open the
narrative and try a different approach.
I write in
fragments and I had scenes written in all of these different time periods –
1944, 1958, 1961, 1973, 1977. I didn’t
know how to string all of these disparate scenes together.
What finally
clicked was an idea that the wonderful novelist Sophie Hardach offered after
reading a draft. She suggested that I think of narrative washing lines that I
could string along throughout the whole book; I could then peg the scenes onto
those lines.
So while things
happen in different years, the complex structure I had been wrestling with suddenly
had a simplified solution. 1977 became the “present time” of the novel and
every chapter set in that year moves forward chronologically as you advance in
the book. So straightforward and yet I hadn’t been doing that before – ha!
Interspersed
between the present time chapters, we fly back to the past or into a new
character’s head. The latter was also a big surprise! I think of the
first-person sections as “soliloquies.” Most of the book is written in close
third person to Greer, but some characters demanded their own sections to speak
for themselves. They were not who I would have expected, either. Everyone has
something to say!
How did
you find the title of your book?
I
credit my publisher, Elizabeth Earley, for this one. I had been living with
another title for years. One that evoked a kind of bittersweet nostalgia and
came from some advice Greer offers Ceiley – but was really something he needed
to hear himself.
My
publisher wasn’t wholly convinced by the title, however. She thought we needed
one that pointed to the river’s primacy in the story. Once I was able to let go
of my long-held idea (you’ll notice the importance of surrender in my
publishing tale!), I agreed with the wisdom in that.
The river is
central to the novel, playing a crucial role in many of the character’s lives,
as well as providing a literal dividing line. Bannen is segregated racially
into East and West with the water as an actual physical barrier between the
two.
But it’s not just
a barrier. People also go there seeking freedom. It’s a source of both joy and
pain.
My publisher and I
brainstormed several different options for titles, looking at the many times I
evoked the river for clues. At a late hour in the process Elizabeth went to a
Buddhist monastery. She wrote me the next day saying that there was a sign on
the wall that read “go as a river.” And
then the group did a long, silent walking meditation through the woods together
and the monk said, “move as one like a river.” And so, she wondered: what about
As a River?
She suggested
other options stemming from that experience, too, but As a River immediately felt right to me. Its unadorned beauty. A
simple elegance. It seemed to match the lyrical restraint of the novel’s style
and leave space for interpretation. It offers an invitation to inhabit the
river and its meaning. An important underlying tension in the book is the power
of the unsaid, and I think the title points to that, as well.
Inquiring
foodies and hungry book clubs want to know: Any food/s associated with your
book? (Any recipes* I might share?)
I’m
not a good cook myself, but some soul food and sweet iced tea would be perfect
to get you into the book’s Southern mood! One of the novel’s culminating scenes
sees an overflowing of dishes and drinks at a gathering. Food is steeped in
tradition and provides the social glue.
So
as to provide an idea, here’s a link to an iconic country cooking restaurant in
my hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Mama Dip’s opened
in 1976, around the same time as my novel takes place. You’ll find recipes for
cornbread, BBQ chicken wings, cucumber coleslaw, among many others. Yum! I got
hungry just typing that.
***
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MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: https://siondayson.com/
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