How do you research your books?
I love doing research.
There’s a story in the collection, Fix,
that is a based on my experiences living on Capitol Hill in Seattle
What books or authors have most influenced your life?
Siddhartha by
Herman Hesse, The Body Artist by Don Delillo and The Unbearable Lightness of
Being by Milan Kundera all changed me as a writer. Those particular books also
changed my outlook on life. I try and re-read them once a year if I can. I’d
say not far behind are If On A Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino and
Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway.
Who is you favorite character in your book and why?
That’s a hard
question. Milan Kundera once said, and I’m paraphrasing, that each character is
an author’s experimental self. Like most
writers I have a love-hate relationship with myself, and so I guess I have a
similar relationship to my characters. That said, Frank from the short story Oxygen is probably my favorite. He’s
wonderfully curmudgeonly and smart. He
also maintains optimism despite his struggles with cancer. I suppose a
psychologist could unpack that one for me.
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Tell us about your latest book.
My
latest book (which is also my first), The Filled
In Spaces
is a collection of short stories. The
stories are all previously published, so, in some ways, it’s a little bit like
a collected works. However, rather than
including every story that’s ever made it through the vetting process of a
literary magazine editor, I chose to focus on the stories that seemed linked
thematically.
What are you doing to market the book?
I’m trying to do everything that I can, but I end up feeling
like I’m missing something. Social media is a big part of the marketing – so
Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and YouTube. I like talking to other
writers and readers so it’s been fun to push. However, when it comes to talking
to people in person I tend to flail a bit; hence, I’m channeling an outgoing
extrovert of mythic proportions as my other strategy. Like many writers and
artists I tend to be somewhat of a recluse, which, as it turns out is handy for
generating art, but not so handy for marketing it.
What's the best thing about being a writer?
Having a seemingly valid reason to tell lies
that you’re congratulated for.
When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
At present most of
my non-writing time is spent working. In addition to teaching English 102 at Shoreline Community College
I also work as a writer in Residence with Seattle
Who or what inspired you to become a writer?
I’m really not sure. The best I
can answer is that there were people along the way who seemed to continually
encourage me. The enjoyment of make-believe, and the fact that no one ever told
me I couldn’t are probably the two largest and most significant contributing
factors.
What is your work in progress? Tell us about it.
I’m currently at
work on a novel that jives with the types of books that I really enjoy (surreal
and philosophical). Without giving too much away it’s about a successful
accountant who starts to lose track of reality and becomes obsessed with
Colobus Monkeys at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle
Does your family support you in your writing career? How?
I think a writer
and his or her family have to come to some sort of accord. For us that accord
is that no one assumes that a character in one of my stories is meant to
represent them (or me); the part of that accord is that I can carve out time to
write. My whole family is also supportive in that they read my work – which
means at least someone reads what I wrote.
author interview
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Interview
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interview with author
Jo Linsdell
Michael Overa
short stories
The Filled In Spaces
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