Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview.
Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?
The three years I spent in correctional work, including a year and a half at a Juvenile Detention Center, had a significant impact on my worldview. The basic premise for Bliss arose out of my extraordinary and often jarring experiences with adolescent offenders.
Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?
When I started Bliss four years ago, I was too naïve to know the advantages of developing a plot before starting the manuscript. I just jumped right in. (I think, however, this approach captured—if only by accident—the main character’s listlessness and disillusionment.) I knew I wanted a character from an affluent background to fall in love with a woman uncompromisingly devoted to her underserved community. After that, creating the rest of the story involved capturing his attempts to navigate two lives, one he does not want and one he cannot have.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
This has happened to me on every manuscript I’ve ever undertaken. I’ve learned to accept the fact that interesting characters, like people, are unpredictable. It’s impossible to plan for all the variables that go into a novel-length story, and every decision a character makes sends ripples throughout the rest of the work. Things I expected a character to do or want to do, perspectives I anticipated her having, feelings I anticipated her experience, aren’t always what they turn out to be. I appreciate this, because it’s difficult and it keeps me, as a writer, on my toes.
Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?
Though I only work one novel at a time, I always have plans for future manuscripts. It takes me about a year to complete a project, so I don’t need many ideas in order to stay busy or excited about what’s to come.
Although, for almost a decade now, I’ve been contemplating this story about an Amish man whose community is succumbing to modernization. I’ve started it three or four times, but can’t finish. It’s my White Whale.
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
My manuscript ideas always start with characters, and I gravitate toward characters who challenge me as a writer, those with unique motivations, dispositions, behaviors, and/or circumstances. I try to let the plot unfold from there.
I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?
I used to have a Shih-poo (a mix dog between a Shit Zu and a Poodle) named Jackson, but, sadly, he passed away about a year ago. Now, my four month-old daughter, Clare, keeps me company while I work.*
*Just kidding: that’s impossible. I wait until she’s napping.