between the sheets – Page 2

Alma Katsu

on March 5, 2018

In our ongoing feature Between the Sheets, TrunkSpace picks the imaginative brains of authors to break down what it takes to create the various worlds and characters they breathe life into via the tools of their trade… sheets of paper. While technology continues to advance and change the pop culture landscape, the written word has remained one of the most consistent and imaginative art forms.

This time out we’re chatting with author Alma Katsu about her new novel “The Hunger,” why we’re continuously fascinated with the Donner Party, and her upcoming literary trip to the Gilded Age.

TrunkSpace: Your new book takes a fictional look at a moment in history that still fascinates people 172 years after it occurred – the ill-fated Donner Party. How did you approach blending both the reality of what happened and the fictional side that you personally were bringing to the events?
Katsu: The novel stays close to events as they occurred. As a matter of fact, one blogger felt this is what makes “The Hunger” so effective, because it makes the novel feel completely plausible. Where “The Hunger” diverges from history is with the characters. You need characters to feel like real live people, but often with history, you don’t get a complete sense of a figure, particularly if the figure isn’t historically significant. Frequently, they’re whitewashed, the bad parts omitted. In other cases, they’re just names and birthdates and maybe one tiny detail left to sum up an entire person. While the main characters’ names and backstories are the same or very close to the historical record (with one exception), I had to remake them in order to tell the story I wanted to tell. It was fun to create new characters from pieces of the past, but tailored to service the needs of the story.

TrunkSpace: There have been plenty of interesting moments and people throughout history, many of which have been forgotten. What is it about this story that continues to excite the imaginations of people, and, was it that same excitement that first brought you to the table to write “The Hunger?”
Katsu: I think the reason we’re fascinated with the Donner Party is because even though most Americans have heard of them, few are familiar with the details. We know that something terrible happened to a group of pioneers, that a lot of people died and some had to resort to cannibalism to survive. How and why all this came to pass, however, is a mystery to most. What made it really fascinating to write, however, is that it was about more than just the tragedy. The tragedy occurred during an important time in American history, a period significant to the development of the country as we know it today. On one hand, it was very personal – the survival of individuals – while on the other hand, representative of bigger things at play for the country.

TrunkSpace: As you look back at the work, what are you most proud of when it comes to “The Hunger?”
Katsu: Bringing something new to the story. Let’s face it: there have been many novels written about the Donner Party, not to mention non-fiction accounts, but they tend to stay very close to the historical record. Which, while interesting, misses the opportunity to use the tragedy to show a greater truth: even in the direst situation, some people will rise, will sacrifice themselves for others, and will exhibit the best in humanity.

TrunkSpace: “The Hunger” is your fourth published novel. As you prepare to release it to the world, are the emotions the same as with your first book? Does the process of pouring so much of yourself into something and then putting it out into the world get easier?
Katsu: I’m happy to say yes, it is! For the first book, you’re completely crazy because you have no idea what to expect and you’re getting hit with something new every day, plus you’re worrying about whether you’ll ever be able to write another book. By the fourth book, you feel like maybe you actually do know what you’re doing now and have a better understanding of what’s going to happen. The only thing that doesn’t change is that you’re still nervous about how the book will do. It’s like sending your child to the first day of school. Will everyone like her? Will she make friends? Will mean kids pick on her?

TrunkSpace: What did you learn about yourself as a writer in working on “The Hunger?”
Katsu: I learned to be more flexible. This project was a little different in that I have partners, Glasstown Entertainment, who were involved in shaping the story. While I had worked as part of a team on non-fiction, this was my first such experience writing fiction. It’s probably like writing for television: a collaborative effort, in order to produce the most enjoyable experience for the reader.

TrunkSpace: Prior to pursuing your career as an author, you spent many years as a senior intelligence analyst. The real world sometimes feels more fictional than what any writer could conjure up. In your opinion, what’s more interesting… reality or fantasy? Or, like “The Hunger,” is it a combination of both?
Katsu: Reality is endlessly fascinating, don’t you think? The biggest gift I took away from my day job was that I learned to dive into any subject. It didn’t matter whether you had a personal interest. Once you dove in, you learned so many fascinating things, and particularly with history. Once you get past the surface, the stuff you learn in school, you find entire universes of detail and nuance. It teaches you that nothing is black or white. But the nice thing about fiction is that you get to choose whom you spend your days with – you create them!

TrunkSpace: How long did it take for you to discover your voice as a writer?
Katsu: It’s something I work on a lot. I’ve developed this slightly formal tone that works well for historical fiction – getting it right for “The Taker” took 10 years – but there are lots of unpublished things where I’ve experimented with more informal or stylized voices. Voice is so important, especially today, when readers are used to TV and graphic novels with strong signature styles.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Katsu: It’s still both. I love writing and am glad to be able to do it for a living. However, I’m always cognizant of the fact that it doesn’t mean I can write whatever I want and expect there to be a market for it. I get asked for advice by a lot of people who want to sell a book and one of the first things I tell them is writing and publishing are two separate things. Writing is a craft and an art, but publishing is a business. If it doesn’t feel like work, you’re probably doing it wrong.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Katsu: This particular book started with a lot of research so that I had a good sense of the route, who was in the wagon party, and what the main challenges were. As for working conditions, I’m not precious about them; I’m a workaholic and work anywhere. Now that I write full-time, I’ve had to learn to pace myself and make time for normal things like exercise and grocery shopping and socializing.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Katsu: My normal process is to write a few chapters at a time, just get the first draft out. If I’m just starting a story those first chapters can be really rough as I’m getting to know the characters and setting. Then I go back and edit them. Once I’ve been working on a book consistently, I can usually get the first draft chapters to the point where they won’t need much editing. The really heavy lifting on revision comes later, after my partners on the book, Glasstown Entertainment, and my editor at G.P. Putnam’s Sons, have weighed in.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Katsu: I try to bring the unexpected to every scene, to make it fresh in some way. It doesn’t have to be crazy flashy or self-conscious, but I hate boring writing. To be a novelist, you have to analyze other people’s books. What worked, what didn’t. Great writing can make you see the world in a new way. Pedestrian writing may tell the story but it doesn’t make a meaningful contribution to the reader’s life.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Katsu: The next novel is set around the time of the Gilded Age, which allows me to look at social issues like women’s suffrage and class inequality, but also occultism, which was the rage. As always, the supernatural element rises naturally from the story and isn’t a specific trope, though it’s closer to a ghost story than anything else. It’s quite different from “The Hunger,” more opulent, with some famous people as main characters (which presents its own set of challenges), but hopefully every bit as enjoyable.

“The Hunger” is available tomorrow from G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Between The Sheets

Alafair Burke

on February 5, 2018

This time out we’re chatting with author Alafair Burke about her new novel “The Wife,” what she is most proud of with the book, and why she tends to goof off in six-minute increments.

TrunkSpace: You’ve published an impressive number of novels over your career thus far. With your latest, “The Wife,” having just reached the masses, do you still experience the same level of excitement/nerves that you did when you released your first published work?
Burke: Honestly? If anything, it’s worse. With the first book, it’s hard to believe you even have your name on a book. Now I have that same excitement, combined with the nerves of meeting or beating expectations.

TrunkSpace: In terms of your journey with “The Wife,” did the experience of writing and researching this particular book change in any way from your previous novels? Did the inspiration come from a different place?
Burke: Angela Powell is unlike any of my previous characters. “The Wife” was born of a single observation: when a married man is accused of sexual misconduct, the public gaze inevitably shifts to include his private partner – the wife. No matter how hard she may try to avoid the spotlight, she becomes part of the narrative. From that idea came Angela. The crime part of the book came well after I already empathized with Angela for entirely separate reasons. This book is probably the most personal one I’ve ever written.

TrunkSpace: What is your method for discovering and then unraveling the fictional crimes that take place in your work?
Burke: I always find my plots by exploring character. I know generally that something happens and then I try to think about the people affected by that. What do their lives look like in the weeks, months, and sometimes years after? What in the past brought them to that moment? By trying to look at each character’s world – past, present, and future – from that person’s perspective, somehow I manage to find a beginning, middle, and end to the story. For this book, I knew everything about Angela’s past before she met Jason, and her reasons for being so extraordinarily committed to this marriage, before I knew what Jason was accused of, what he actually did, and what would become of the accusations.

TrunkSpace: As you look back at the work, what are you most proud of when it comes to “The Wife?”
Burke: I tried to capture the complexities of sexual assault allegations, including the reluctance of survivors to come forward and the reasons they so rarely lead to convictions. I tried to delve into the reasons why women might (and do) stay silent, gloss over – even internally – violent encounters, or even find themselves apologizing and blaming themselves. At the same time, I wanted to point out that even the accused offenders have people who still love them.

TrunkSpace: Your father is an author, your mother a librarian. Was there an emphasis placed on reading in your house and how important were books to you even at a young age?
Burke: There’s no doubt having a writer for a father and a librarian for a mother shaped my passions for reading and writing. Reading was a constant – our house was filled with books, and every member of our family is a storyteller. I was convinced I wanted to write mysteries since I was a young kid, and would tinker on my father’s manual typewriter, cranking out page-turners like “Murder at the Roller Disco.” Seeing my dad write every single day, even when he was out of print for a decade, I learned (some would say the hard way as his kid!) that you need to write for reasons other than income.

TrunkSpace: We read that it was a real life crime that first inspired you to pursue a career in criminal law and ultimately, to becoming a novelist. Upon consuming certain pieces of pop culture, many people will say something to the effect of, “that particular element of the crime was not believable,” but we tend to believe that if you can imagine it, it has probably occurred in some capacity somewhere. As someone who has seen the dark side of humanity first hand, is the line between fiction and reality not as impenetrable as some care to believe?
Burke: I grew up in a community terrorized by a serial killer who called himself BTK, a gruesome shorthand for “Bind, Torture, Kill,” and I’m sure my fascination (arguably an obsession) with crime, both real and fictionalized, can be traced to those years. But your point is well taken. Interestingly, the times I worried I was stretching the truth a bit too far in my fiction, no one thought anything of it. But the couple times people have said, “not sure that’s believable,” I could have provided footnotes to make the case that it was absolutely real.

TrunkSpace: How long did it take for you to discover your voice as a writer?
Burke: Depends on what you mean by “voice,” I guess. I think it’s clear all of my books were written by the same person, and I think the tone and sensibilities behind the written work are pretty close to the way I even talk to my friends. But I think it took me a couple of books to grow confident in my storytelling. In my early books, I often included more legal detail, both because I happen to like it but also because I suspect I was trying to prove that I had something to offer. Now that I’m more confident in my storytelling, if I find myself hauling out the legal stuff, I hit the delete key unless it advances plot, setting, or character.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Burke: It’s both. I understand that no one wants to hear a writer complain that the work is hard, but it is. Unlike other tasks, good intentions and strong will don’t necessarily cut it. Sometimes you try and try and the goods just aren’t there. No fun. But when the magic is happening, that’s pure love.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Burke: My friends joke that if 15 minutes go by without something fun happening, they find me pulling out my laptop. I just try to keep enough structure in my life so I don’t miss deadlines. As a lawyer, you learn to account for your time, so my idea of goofing off is going on Facebook to look at friends’ pictures for 18 or 24 minutes since lawyers’ time is billed in six-minute increments. It helps that I have a schedule and am forced to be mindful of time. Sometimes, I just have to compel myself to write the next book. I might write 500 really bad words, but I still wrote the 500 words. Besides, there’s always revision.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Burke: I just write until I’m done and then read and re-read until it seems right to me. I get a lot of credit for good plotting, but Hand to God, I don’t write with an idea toward pace or plotting. I focus entirely on character, and it always seems to work out.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Burke: I always think every book is a disaster until it’s completely done, and then I usually end up thinking it’s the best one yet. Neurotic? Absolutely, but it seems to work.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Burke: I’m working on the next Ellie Hatcher novel, which should be out in a year. Ellie leaves her work and goes home to Wichita, Kansas, which is where I grew up. I decided to take her out of New York and allow readers to meet her mom who has been off the page until now.

“The Wife” is available now from Harper.

Between The Sheets

Will von Bolton

on January 23, 2018

This time out we’re chatting with music photographer and author Will von Bolton to discuss his new “585-word instruction manual” for the brain, “Loophole to Happiness,” why he set out to write the book in the first place, and how viewing photographs allows the observer to relive the human emotion captured within them.

TrunkSpace: Your book “Loophole to Happiness” was released January 1st. It seems like a great read for people looking to maintain their 2018 resolutions as they search for their new and improved selves. Was there any thought to releasing it at that time for that very reason?
Will von Bolton: The new year is a great time to reassess yourself and goes well with “Loophole to Happiness” … but the release date was just a coincidence.

TrunkSpace: For many people, happiness can sometimes feel like it only applies to others and not themselves. Parents especially can relate to this, because they’re spending so much time ensuring the happiness of others, they tend to neglect their own emotional well-being. How do we as humans balance our own happiness with that of our responsibilities… be they family, or work, or other?
Will von Bolton: When you nurture your own ‘happiness,’ it reflects on all you do and benefits those around you. There is a balance that everyone has to find.

TrunkSpace: You’ve called the book a “collection of thoughts” that then became an “operating system for your mind.” It is kind of funny to think that with almost everything in life, an instruction manual is included, but not with humans. We’re just expected to know how to function at each and every stage in life. Do you hope “Loophole to Happiness” sheds a bit of light on the “how to” for some who don’t know how to?
Will von Bolton: My thoughts exactly. I wanted to write all of the lessons that have helped me, my “philosophy,” in as few words as possible… for my future self, children I may eventually have, and to anyone with a few minutes to read. “Loophole to Happiness” really has become my brain’s 585-word instruction manual.

TrunkSpace: The book seems like it would be a great gift for a father or mother to pass on to their children because the advice that you’re giving is timeless and is not beholden to any one generation. As you were putting the book together, did you find yourself connecting to it personally in ways that you didn’t expect when setting out on the journey?
Will von Bolton: An interesting aspect of releasing the book is when people quote the book, on social media and in person, it feels like they’re telling me because I need to be reminded of that specific line.

I remember writing “Loophole to Happiness” and the stories behind each line, but it feels like it was channeled through me to me as I look back… it is a beautiful feeling.

TrunkSpace: How much of your work in photography inspired this book? Can you pinpoint a particular moment or shot where it all kind of came together and formed the vision?
Will von Bolton: Being a documentary photographer, you observe more than experience, and it gives you an omni perspective to really study human behavior. This unique perspective, shooting people all over the world reacting to music and celebrity… begs questions like why do people react this way, why do these people and this music mean so much to them?

TrunkSpace: When you’re looking back at photographs you have taken, do you see more within that frozen moment in time than you did while physically looking at it as it played out in front of you? Do photographs help people to sort of see behind the curtain of human emotion?
Will von Bolton: Yes, pictures looked at after time can reveal details or lessons you may have missed in real time. Photography does give you that “behind the curtain of life” perspective. When you look at a picture you smile, cry, laugh, mirroring its emotions… simulating the experience.

TrunkSpace: How long did it take for you to discover your voice as a writer?
Will von Bolton: I never thought of myself as a writer until people started calling me one. I just started writing all my thoughts when I was 25. Those thoughts evolved eight years later into “Loophole to Happiness.”

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Will von Bolton: Writing is a labor of love and I don’t feel like I have much of a choice. Writing is my way of reverse engineering my own challenges. When I write down an idea it allows me to continue thinking. Until it is written, I get in a loop of repeating the idea for fear of forgetting.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Will von Bolton: A big part of writing for me, is setting up a system to organize thoughts and capture them in real time. I’m most productive when I am alone. I love being anywhere I can sleep when I’m tired, eat when I’m hungry, hike, watch documentaries, and write in between. My family has an incredible 1,500-acre ranch, the solitude and open spaces create a really inspiring environment to think.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Will von Bolton: With “Loophole to Happiness,” I was very deliberate with words, so I edited it along the way.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Will von Bolton: I’m not a speed writer. It takes me a while to really think about things and put them into words. One of the lines in “Loophole to Happiness” is “speed does not define intelligence” for this reason.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to check out next?
Will von Bolton: The “Loophole to Happiness” audiobook will be coming out soon online and on vinyl. It is an 18-minute audiobook voiced by me with a soundscape by my talented friend, Christopher Leigh. Also working on the next book, “Innerspace Development,” a rebranding of meditation.

“Loophole to Happiness” is available now.

Between The Sheets

Christopher J. Yates

on January 17, 2018

This time out we’re chatting with Christopher J. Yates to discuss his new novel “Grist Mill Road,” why he likes to discover story elements organically, and how two pints can fuel the creative fire.

TrunkSpace: Your new book “Grist Mill Road” was recently released to the public. When you finish a work and walk away from it in a creative sense, do you also have to walk away in personal sense? Is it difficult to put so much of yourself into something and then put it in the hands of the universe?
Yates: I wish I could walk away from it. But then there are interviews and articles to write, so if you walk away too far you might not be able to answer questions to your best. After my first book, “Black Chalk” was released, I think it took me two or three months to walk away.

TrunkSpace: When you’re sitting down to write a new book like “Grist Mill Road,” how much preparation goes into the genre aspect of what you’re working on? In the planning stage, do you also track the thrill ride moments, or do those come out later in the process as the story takes shape in your mind?
Yates: I put absolutely ZERO planning into it. “Grist Mill Road” begins with a horrific crime. A teenage boy ties a teenage girl to a tree and shoots her over and over again with a BB gun. I had no idea for two years why this had happened and was beginning to panic. One day the idea just popped into my head. I prefer to do it that way, organically, rather than taking moves from the drama writing playbook, which bores me beyond tears.

TrunkSpace: As you look back at the work, what are you most proud of when it comes to “Grist Mill Road?”
Yates: I’m most proud of the language. Most people read books for the plot, and I think I’ve written a great plot. But when I read, I read for language, for voice. I always know within five pages whether or not I’m going to like a novel just from the sense of style, tone and language.

TrunkSpace: What did you learn about yourself as a writer in the process of working on the book? They say that the second time is a charm… is the second book a charm as well?
Yates: We will see if the second time’s a charm. The novel’s just come out and I’m very nervous about sales. What I’ve learned about myself is that I didn’t learn from the first novel to try and relax about sales.

TrunkSpace: You discovered you would become a published author a day before turning 40. Some people feel that they’ve missed their moment to pursue their dreams, but you seem like a perfect example of it never being too late to swing for the fences. Was it daunting for you to take that first step in pursuing your writing or was it an easy decision to make?
Yates: So the first step was when I turned 30. It took me 10 years of steps to get published. No, it’s never too late. Arguably it might get harder, but as a survivor of two unpublished novels and over 50 rejections for my “third” novel (“Black Chalk”), which not only got published but did very well, I can assure you it’s never too late. Persist.

TrunkSpace: You also studied law. As an author working in the thriller space, have you found yourself being able to tap into that part of your education when crafting elements of your novels?
Yates: Studying law was about learning how to fashion a coherent argument. I think a good plot is very similar to a coherent argument.

TrunkSpace: How long did it take for you to discover your voice as a writer?
Yates: Maybe five or six years. My voice was considered “promising” with those first two novels that never got published. But “promising” wasn’t good enough. You have to get to “polished”. I buffed away for a long time.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Yates: Oh, on the good days, hell yes, it’s like you’re flying. Everything else in the world seems very small and far away, there’s just you and the words, it’s the best. And some days it’s just a grind, a labor. Editing can be laborious (although some writers love to edit). I guess my favorite thing is when I write a paragraph and I know I’m not going to change a single word.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Yates: Everyone’s different, you have to find your conditions. Mine involve writing in the morning until maybe 2 p.m. when I take the dog for a walk. I’ve very rarely done good work in the afternoon – although occasionally two pints in a bar (and NO MORE than two), can stir something up again.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Yates: Absolutely. I self-edit hard, over and over again. Unless I’ve been flying!

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Yates: I have a very intense fear of getting something wrong factually. I refuse to make shit up unless I know for certain it is true/possible/not a huge pile of horse shit.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Yates: I’m afraid I’m going to be coy about this. I have 15,000 words of something I love, I hate, I love, I hate… but if people want to read something after they’ve read my fiction, there are a lot of essays about writing on my website.

“Grist Mill Road” is available now from Picador USA.

Between The Sheets

Thomas Pierce

on January 11, 2018

In our ongoing feature, Between the Sheets, TrunkSpace picks the imaginative brains of authors to break down what it takes to create the various worlds and characters they breathe life into via the tools of their trade… sheets of paper. While technology continues to advance and change the pop culture landscape, the written word has remained one of the most consistent and imaginative art forms.

This time out we’re chatting with Thomas Pierce to discuss his new novel “The Afterlives,” the reason he wanted to write about death in a very particular way, and why you’ll never catch him writing in his pajamas.

TrunkSpace: “The Afterlives” tackles a lot of heavy themes that most people have thought about at some point in their lives, either consciously or through some kind of late night internal discussion with themselves. When you set out to write the book, was the goal to create something that was, at least in terms of theme, universally relatable?
Pierce: Creating something that was universally relatable was never really a goal, per se, but I’ll be very pleased if this book resonates with people, late at night or otherwise, and especially if the story has any sort of impact on the way people think about their own lives and deaths. I can say that I was interested in writing about death – or about what’s next – in a way that wasn’t morose or gloomy but also not overly hopeful or certain. I wanted to write a book that was both reverent and irreverent.

TrunkSpace: When the core concept of the book first planted its seed in your mind, was the character Jim Byrd different from who we ultimately go on a journey with today? What was Jim’s creative discovery like and did you “find him” right away?
Pierce: I was working on a different novel four years ago, but then my wife and I had our first child and I was having a tough time staying connected to that project. Also I was pretty exhausted all the time. So I began to jot down fragments and lines, as they occurred to me, and eventually I realized those pieces all shared a similar sensibility and perspective that really interested me. That became Jim’s voice, ultimately. I created him from the inside-out. Aspects of his biography evolved and changed, but his essence was always the same. From the beginning he was the sort of person who wished the sky would break open and the universe would reveal its true nature to him. He was always a seeker – but an affable one.

TrunkSpace: You’re now only a few days away from the release of “The Afterlives” to the masses. When you put so much of yourself into a project like this, both creatively and personally, is it daunting to then completely relinquish control of it?
Pierce: Definitely. The book and I now go our separate ways. But this divorce is amicable.

TrunkSpace: Early reviews of the book have been wonderful thus far. Has that peer acceptance brought about a different sense of accomplishment than you could perhaps feel should the same feedback come from a consumer audience?
Pierce: Thank you! I’m grateful for every reader and every good review. That being said, I’d really love to reach a point as a writer and as a human where my mood is not at the mercy of a review or other people’s reactions. Positive or negative. It seems like it might be important to my overall mental health, long-term, as a maker of things, that I not let my sense of accomplishment or worth hinge on criticism or praise. I’m not there yet, but I’m really trying. A work-in-progress.

TrunkSpace: As you look back over your own personal journey with “The Afterlives,” what is a moment that will stick with you and that you’ll carry with you throughout the rest of your career?
Pierce: I narrated the audiobook, and I’d been in the recording booth for a few days when I reached a passage in the novel that is particularly sad. Without going into detail, it’s a plot point that I’d really struggled with – how to render it most effectively – and for all that technical struggling I’d somehow stopped experiencing it on an emotional level. It’s almost like I’d been watching an edit of a film without the score, paying attention only to the transitions and the lighting and whether the actors were hitting their marks. But reading it aloud, for whatever reason, I got the full effect. Suddenly I could hear the orchestra swell underneath the crucial scene. It was a little overwhelming. My family lost someone really important to us while I was working on this book, and I think that loss was encoded into the story at a certain level. So much of what I was thinking and feeling and experiencing over the last couple of years became enshrined in this book, even if obliquely so, and I don’t think I fully appreciated that until then, there in the studio.

TrunkSpace: Did you learn anything about yourself as a writer in the process of working on “The Afterlives” that perhaps you hadn’t seen or considered in your prior creative endeavors?
Pierce: I’m not sure if this is because of the book or if it’s something that has happened to me in conjunction with it, but I’ve learned in recent years to take my work both more and less seriously. More seriously because I understand we only have so much time together on this planet. Less seriously because – well, same reason actually.

TrunkSpace: How long did it take for you to discover your voice as a writer?
Pierce: I’m not sure I’ve found it yet! I joke, sort of. Rather than a voice I might be more comfortable saying that I have over the last decade developed a certain sensibility. But I’m still refining that sensibility, and the confidence comes and goes.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Pierce: Depends on the day. Or maybe it’s always a little bit of both. If I’m deep into a story, I really love it. I love disappearing into it. I also love coming up with new ideas while I’m in the shower or on a run. Problem-solving. Writing while not writing.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Pierce: I can work most places, though I tend to stick close to home these days. I have a desk there with pictures of things I like to look at and a window over the desk. When I’m smart, I turn off the internet. I like to listen to music. I like having the dog at or near my feet. I like “clocking in.” I’ve always appreciated that anecdote about Cheever putting on a coat and tie before going down to his desk in the basement. No tie for me but I never write in pajamas.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Pierce: I circle back constantly and rewrite. Each day I like to re-type much of what I wrote the previous day as a way of sharpening and clarifying but also as a way of reentering the story. Sometimes it’s like trying to fall back into a dream you didn’t want to wake from. You have to convince yourself again that it all makes perfect sense.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Pierce: I don’t think I’m particularly hard on myself as a writer. Except maybe: I always wish I could fit more life and more ideas into a story. I never feel quite satisfied that it’s all there.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Pierce: I’ll have a new short story out in Oxford American this spring. It is one of a handful of connected stories I’ve been working on over the last few years. I’m hoping to put together another collection soon. I have a novel I’m slowly moving forward with and an idea for another one. I’m also adapting one of my stories into a screenplay for Fox Searchlight.

“The Afterlives” is available now from Riverhead Books.

Between The Sheets

Chandler Baker

on September 19, 2017

In our new feature, Between the Sheets, TrunkSpace picks the imaginative brains of authors to break down what it takes to create the various worlds and characters they breathe life into via the tools of their trade… sheets of paper. While technology continues to advance and change the pop culture landscape, the written word has remained one of the most consistent and imaginative art forms.

This time out we’re chatting with Chandler Baker to discuss her new novel “This is Not the End,” the process of writing with a new baby by her side, and how starting her career as a ghostwriter helped to shape her own creative journey.

TrunkSpace: We read that you wrote the entire first draft for “This is Not the End” over the course of your 12-week maternity leave. Were you writing in quick spurts or was it something that you committed to doing during every waking hour? (With a newborn at home, there tends to be many of them!)
Baker: I was really lucky in that I had a very easy, sleepy baby! I told myself I wouldn’t do any writing for the first four weeks after my daughter was born and I didn’t, but after that, I was itching to get to work. I committed to writing during at least a couple of her naps each day, which still allowed me a little time to rest as well. Other times she’d be happy to watch me work while she hung out beside me on the couch. It was a very fruitful time creatively, but I fear if I tried to recreate it with a second baby I might not get the same results!

TrunkSpace: Keeping with that process, did you write it all on a computer or did you give yourself some freedom from the physical restraints of a device and write long-form through any of it?
Baker: For “This Is Not The End” I brainstormed, drafted and revised entirely on my laptop. At the time, it was the easiest way to ensure that all of my thoughts stayed organized and readily available. But with each book my process evolves and I now write quite a lot long-form during the early stages of a project. I try to fill half a composition book with handwritten notes before I begin to draft.

TrunkSpace: There are so many life changes that a person goes through when they’re becoming a parent. Do you see those themes, personal transitions, reflected in the writing of “This is Not the End?”
Baker: Absolutely. Being a new parent is such a raw, vulnerable time. I found that particular emotional state useful while trying to get into the headspace of my main character, Lake, who has suffered the devastating losses of those closest to her. But even more apparent of a change for me was the way I began to look at the parents in the book. I paid much closer attention to them than I had in previous novels I’ve written. I thought a lot about parents experiencing the loss of a child and how parents are just people and aren’t going to act perfectly or even admirably in the face of excruciating pain. During the writing of this book I was, no doubt, hyper emotional and I think it’s no coincidence that so far readers seem to be finding this novel to be the most emotionally wrenching thing that I’ve written.

TrunkSpace: What do you hope readers most connect to when sitting down to read “This is Not the End?”
Baker: My hope is that the experience of reading this book is an exercise in empathy. I would like readers to do the same thing I did, which is to ask themselves: What would I do if I were in Lake’s shoes? Who would I choose to bring back to life? Asking this alone is practicing empathy, albeit with fictional characters, and I want the story, as it unfolds, to draw readers into an understanding and appreciation of why each character is the way he or she is and doing the things he or she is doing, whether or not that character is “right” in doing so. I know the world needs as many empathetic people as it can get right now. Readers are already ahead of the game in this regard, but I would love for my book to help stretch that muscle a bit.

TrunkSpace: Do you put expectations on your books? It seems like it’s becoming more and more difficult to gauge how a book will be received in the current content consumption landscape, so in a way, it almost feels like expectations are forced to change as the industry does?
Baker: I try not to set expectations, but for anyone trying to make a career out of writing, it’s impossible not to keep tabs. My goal is for each book to “do better” than the last and there are lots of ways to measure that both in terms of critical and commercial success. The biggest thing a book can have going for it is the support of its publisher. I generally have a pretty realistic internal gauge of how a book will land I think. When I finished writing and revising “This Is Not The End,” I really felt there was something special there. Thankfully, my agent did, too, and then my editor and so on. It’s been really exciting to see how this book is spreading organically. My publisher, Disney’s, support has made all the difference and this book has far exceeded my expectations based on when I first got the kernel of an idea for the story.

TrunkSpace: You started your career as a ghostwriter. What was the process like for you in terms of stepping out from behind that anonymity and then being the name and mind associated with a particular piece? Did it change the process for you, good or bad?
Baker: It’s changed the process significantly. As a ghostwriter I had very little creative control. I churned out books quickly based on a map set out for me. Now, all the decisions are my own, with guidance from a very smart editor, of course. The difficulty is that there’s no one drawing up a synopsis, creating the map. That’s me! But it’s also very freeing. Plus, the training of ghostwriting has come in handy. I’m not precious about my creative work and am quick to say ‘yes’ to editorial changes. On the flip side, I have to keep reminding myself that it’s my name on the cover and if there is something I feel strongly about creatively, then I need to speak up.

TrunkSpace: YA is a term that is thrown around quite a bit these days and it seems the actual definition of it blurs based on who you ask. In your opinion, what does YA mean and who is the audience? (Not necessarily age demographic, but the profile of the reader.)
Baker: The YA readers I interact with are sophisticated and passionate. They love interacting with their favorite books by creating fan art, post-worthy pictures, and thoughtful reviews, complete with well-timed GIFs. There’s almost a collector’s mentality for a lot of YA readers. They curate beautiful collections of books they love. It seems to be, in some ways, an expression of self, much like fashion or tattoos or art. It’s been really cool to watch the book community develop online and to see my work become a part of what readers love. Then there are the “older” YA readers that really “get” that young adult books aren’t just for young adults. There’s great literature coming out of the YA community right now and I absolutely adore the mature-in-age readers that recognize that.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Baker: Depends on the day! My husband often wonders aloud why I want to do what I do. It’s such mentally-taxing and tedious work, after all. But there’s something about holding a completed book in my hands and knowing I wrote every word in it that I can’t get over! It’s so cool. When the writing isn’t going well, when a problem seems unsolvable, it’s just labor. But inevitably, the book opens up and something clicks into place and there is no better feeling in the world. I’m also a nightmare to be around when I’m not engaged in a creative project, so I know it’s a part of my identity that needs feeding.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? Post-maternity leave, what are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Baker: A great day of writing involves my husband taking our toddler somewhere for four to five hours and me getting uninterrupted, no internet writing time. I’ll usually turn on Mac Freedom so that I don’t have access to the internet for long stretches of time. If I’m trying to make serious progress, I’ll go to a coffee shop or work in my home office. Otherwise, I’ll plop down at the kitchen table or on the sofa. But a good writing day just means that it’s a normal day and I don’t have any unexpected errands or life-tasks popping up that require my immediate attention. On those days, I’m happy to get four dedicated 15-minute segments of time in, with a goal of writing a solid 1,000 words for the day.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Baker: Yes, especially for the first third of the book. I almost never move on from the first line of a book until I know I’ve gotten it right and that line rarely changes. I self-edit a lot at the beginning because I want to make sure I’m hitting the right voice and tone. I know a lot of authors are content to let voice and tone come in later drafts, but the characters and what they do are all too tied up in what I want the book to feel like overall for me to work that way!

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Baker: It changes from book to book because I’ll be become fixated on an aspect of my writing that I think needs work. I’ll focus relentlessly on that part of my writing and make progress, but then on the next project, I’ll find another aspect of my writing that now needs improvement. For “This Is Not The End,” I was very hard on myself about fleshing out characters, and not just the main character. Currently, I’m obsessed with pushing myself into more creative world building.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Baker: My next book will come out in January and it is the last book in my “High School Horror” trilogy. That book is more or less finished, though, so I’m currently in the throes of drafting a new project that I can’t say much about, but it’s a big departure for me—historical timelines, a dash of fantasy—it’s been a lot of fun!

“This is Not the End” is available now from Disney-Hyperion.

Between The Sheets

Diane Rios

on August 22, 2017

This time out we’re chatting with Diane Rios to discuss her new novel “Bridge of the Gods: The Silver Mountain Series, Book One,” the fantastical draw of fantasy, and how working in the world’s largest independent book store inspired her on multiple levels.

TrunkSpace: Your debut novel, “Bridge of the Gods: The Silver Mountain Series, Book One,” was released on August 15. What emotions were you experiencing leading up to the release of the book? Was it a mix of excitement and nervousness?
Rios: Yes, both! Also joy and relief! It being my first novel I had no idea how it would be received, and it’s a bit of a leap of faith to throw yourself out there like that! Especially being such a fan of middle grade literature – I did not want to let my literary heroes down, or my friends or their children! Thanks to some very encouraging reviews I am feeling a lot better, and the joy and excitement are taking over.

TrunkSpace: What was the journey like for you in terms of the first creative spark that gave birth to The Silver Mountain Series to where you physically held a copy in your hands? How long was it? How difficult of a journey was it, if at all?
Rios: I always wanted to write a middle grade novel, because I LOVED middle grade novels when I was a middle grader. They were my best friends for years, and those friends never left me. That was the initial “creative spark” – those books. L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” books, the Little House on the Prairie Books, the Cricket in Times Square series, the Narnia books, Beatrix Potter’s stories and Marguerite Henry’s books, among others, all took me to worlds I wanted to live in forever. Also, I was absolutely crazy for horses and anything to do with horses. As I grew, those passions remained, and when I got a job working at Powell’s City of Books in downtown Portland I was in middle reader heaven.

For three years I worked in every room of the store, which is the size of an entire city block, and my favorite of course was the Rose Room, or the children’s room. There I shelved new and used and out-of-print children’s books of all kinds. Caldecott winners, Newberry winners, Coretta Scott King award winners. Middle readers, Young Adult, fantasy, poetry, biography – and my favorite, horse stories. I rebuilt my personal collection of best-book-friends from childhood, and my imagination was definitely sparked to finally write my own story.

“Bridge of the Gods” took four years to complete. The original manuscript was around 170,000 words, over 60 chapters long, and I decided it worked much better as two books, so “Bridge of the Gods” is Book One of the series, and Book Two is obviously already written. When I discovered She Writes Press through my mother, it seemed the perfect way to publish and I submitted. After being accepted I began the editing process, which lasted about six months. Six months after that – the book arrived on my doorstep in a big cardboard box. A thrill to open!!! All told, from submission to doorstep was about one year.

TrunkSpace: As a new author looking to build a readership, what are the biggest hurdles you face? How does “Bridge of the Gods: The Silver Mountain Series, Book One” go from being published to being read?
Rios: My biggest challenge as a new author is to get reviews. I need to connect with my readers and ask them to help support the book by leaving reviews everywhere they can – on Amazon, on Goodreads, or any blog or article they see it mentioned. As a consumer, I know how important reviews are – I rely on them myself! I hope the media attention the book has gotten so far is enough to excite people to read the book, and if they like it I would be THRILLED if they could take a second to leave a review, and recommend by word of mouth. I love getting book recommendations from my friends!

TrunkSpace: As mentioned above, you actually used to work in a book store. Did that experience help shape you as a writer? Did it help shape your branding/marketing brain because you were able to see firsthand what connected with consumers and what didn’t?
Rios: Oh yes, Powell’s was an incredible education for me. It was my first job as a bookseller and they trained me from scratch. As you may know it is the biggest independent bookstore in the world! They have literally acres of new and used, out-of-print and rare books, and I was the luckiest girl in the world to have been able to handle them all. My job title was “Generalist” and that meant I worked in every capacity – as a cashier, at the info stands, shelving, sorting, labeling, I even got to work in the Rare Book Room!!! What a dream!!! I am a very visual, display-oriented person and LOVED Powell’s displays, and I saw how much customers were drawn to that. But that is just my marketing/branding brain, I was so influenced by my job at Powell’s in other ways too! Just the books themselves, and the amazing rooms they were in gave me no end of inspiration! Working in the Gold Room – it’s the Sci Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror, Graphic Novel room – I spent hours and hours up a ladder in there shelving, and I worked deep in “The Cave” (the almost-windowless-lined-with-paperbacks work-space of the Gold Room), listening to loud rock and roll while we sorted the sci fi/fantasy/romance/paranormal romance/mystery/ books off the big carts from the warehouse. It was SO much fun, so inspiring, and the PEOPLE I worked with blew me away too! As you can imagine, Powell’s is full of talent – incredible talent. Artists, writers, musicians – I was amazed on a daily basis by who I was working with. Someone ought to just start a Powell’s music label and publishing house already.

TrunkSpace: How important has the written word been in your life, both as a consumer and as someone with thoughts that just need to get out in a creative capacity?
Rios: Almost everything. The written word has been absolutely critical to me. My values and world view was formed in large part by the stories I read as a child, and as a young adult. My expression of my deepest feelings and instincts, the expression of any wisdom I may have acquired through my 50 years on this planet, is mostly-expressed through the written word. Writing is an outlet for everyone. It is one of the most powerful tools we all have access to. You don’t need a power cord for it, or a computer, or wi-fi access, or a phone – you only need something to write with or on. Writing is therapy, it is healing, it is love, and literacy is one of the most important issues of our time.

TrunkSpace: Readers escape in the worlds of fantasy, getting lost in the characters and their thrilling adventures. As an author of fantasy, do you find yourself getting lost in those same situations but from a different perspective?
Rios: Actually, it’s very much the same! I write what I want to read – and I edit by reading it as I would any book, which works very well for me! The terribly-written parts just jump out at me when I pretend I’m a reader reading it for the first time. It’s kind of horrifying actually – editing can be scary, but oh-so-necessary! When I finally get it just the way it should be, I know because I feel transported. I walk into the world in my head and I just…expand in it, trying to savor it, be in it, live in it. It makes me want to write more and more books just to BE in those places longer! It’s one of my favorite things when an author I love writes a long series. I’m never ready for it to be over!

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Rios: I do love the process, but I didn’t always. When I started BOG I didn’t really know what I was doing. The very first version of the manuscript was IMO very silly, and I basically re-wrote the whole thing, from a different angle. Then I re-wrote it again because it was still kind of terrible. It’s at times like these that it isn’t any fun at all, and does feel like hard work. I felt like giving up of course, I think that is a predictable stage in any difficult project. I didn’t give up because I wanted to finish it. I’m not getting any younger, and even if nothing ever happened and it was never published, at least it would be DONE. And hopefully not too embarrassing, please literary gods! So I rewrote it again until it was better, and I was happier, and then further editing made me even happier, so now that it’s done and I’ve gotten some good reviews – it’s finally fun! Phew! I think Book Two will be a lot more fun.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Rios: For me, the best time to write is in the wee hours of the morning. “Bridge of the Gods” was written almost entirely between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. I have a bit of insomnia and I go to bed at a ridiculously early hour, so believe it or not, I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at that hour! It’s very quiet out in the world then, and nobody is up in the house so I can really immerse myself and get a lot done.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Rios: Yes, I will write it all out quickly at first – changing things here and there – and then I immediately will go through again and really edit. Then another pass usually, possibly a fourth – and it’s usually there, at least until the next day when I re-read. A little time between editing frenzies makes a HUGE difference in the end result!

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Rios: I criticize myself for not taking MORE time on it. I’ve heard you never feel “done” and I guess that’s true. I’m so nervous I’ll see something I really don’t like about it, something that I missed during the editing process – that I’m afraid to read it! Like an actor that doesn’t watch their own movies. That’s just the nerves talking though, it goes away, and it motivates me for Book Two.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Rios: I’m going to start editing Book Two next month! I have a working title I’ll share at a later date, but Chloe’s adventures continue with a super-exciting finish! It’s the culmination we’ve all been waiting for, and along the way you get to meet some incredible animal characters. In Book Two we meet Auberon King of the Bears, Mai the Wise Wolf, Afra the Great White Doe and King Cornix of the Ravens. Book Two will be an action-packed sequel, and hopefully will be out in 2018!

I’m also writing a collection of children’s poems called “Poems For Little People” inspired by A.A. Milne’s “When We Were Very Young” and “Now We Are Six.”

“Bridge of the Gods” is available now from She Writes Press.

Between The Sheets

Mark Perez

on August 1, 2017

This time out we’re chatting with screenwriter/author Mark Perez to discuss his new novel “How To Win At Life By Cheating At Everything,” how he’s been conning people for 20 years, and… how he may actually be Greg, his own foster son?

TrunkSpace: Your debut novel, “How To Win At Life By Cheating At Everything,” is described as a con-man’s guide to life. You have worked in the entertainment business for years. Does that particular industry allow for more con-based wiggle room than others?
Perez: (Laughter) I guess one could argue that the entertainment biz is built on a sort of grift. When your whole business model is focused on the selling of an idea. Not a real thing, mind you, but the concept of a thing. You can imagine how much bullshitting has to be going on. How much hyperbole. How much shadiness. And lets be honest, how much straight up lying. If you’re an agent, it’s literally in your job description. I’ve been conning people for 20 years. Right to their faces. It’s called a “movie pitch.”

TrunkSpace: The book is part memoir and part graphic novel. What ultimately led to you deciding that a visual element was part of your vision?
Perez: It was always a part of the plan. I wrote the project for Dark Horse Books. They made their bones on comic books and they were just starting to branch out into more prose-centric novels. So, the idea was always to think of it in terms of a quasi graphic novel. Not as much art as you would see in that particular format, but still quite a bit of it. Then I thought it would be interesting to add some photos from the 80s. Reflecting the time when the character purportedly grew up. Almost as if the book were this sort of a diary of a conman.

TrunkSpace: Speaking of vision, is the novel/book world the only place a creative brain gets to fully see its vision come to fruition without outside sources having their say? Much of your career has been spent screenwriting, which is well-known for being a notes-driven outlet.
Perez: I often say that in writing a screenplay, there is a lot of math you need to always be considering. Page 30 is the hook. Page 60 is a turn. Page 90 is the fall. Page 120 is the end. Now, there have been crazy creative people who have made some amazing art inside those parameters. But, there certainly are hardened rules to be mindful of. In writing this book, there were no rules. I could basically do anything I felt like doing. And then add pictures to the mix, too. Write jokes with visuals. Age a photo and make it look like I found it in a drawer somewhere. It was freeing in a lot of ways. I let loose, didn’t give myself any rules, and then reflected on what the final product was afterwards. In other words, I didn’t hold myself back along the way.

TrunkSpace: By not writing in a note-heavy environment, did you still rely on someone to test the material out on or was the process itself more solitary than you are used to working in?
Perez: I always give everything to my wife. We have been together since college. From when I was writing scripts on a broken card table in our shitty apartment in Hollywood, to right up until this book, she’s always been a part of my process. But, beyond that, it was cool that I didn’t have to send 100 drafts to managers and producers and executives who usually only tell you what is flawed about your project. Also, I had a great editor. A book editor is on your side, so to speak. She gave notes that added to what I was trying to say in the book as opposed to saying things like, “It’s great. I love it. But can you make the lead character a woman. Set it in World War I. And can you give her super powers? Lady super powers are really hot right now.” Writing the book was less painful in that way.

TrunkSpace: While the book has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, there is also a heavy, dramatic relationship element to the storytelling. Can you tell us about that and why it was important to you to balance those elements?
Perez: First of all, thank you! I sat down to write a book that was two things. I wanted it to have a linear storytelling quality, with a main character that had a bit of an arc. But also, because it was going to have such cool art in it, I wanted it to be a book you could pick up in line at Urban Outfitters, read page 47, and maybe get a quick laugh. I have a very close relationship with my dad. And by making it a father/son relationship story, I could tap into something that was near and dear to me. So, while the book is clearly goofy, I tried to make that relationship real. Because at the end, underneath all the cons, and jokes, and cynicism, there’s a little bit of a love story between father and son.

TrunkSpace: With this being your debut novel, have you placed expectations on it, not only in terms of its success but how it may change people’s view of you as a writer?
Perez: I’m excited about it because I get to sell my writing in a different way to Hollywood. Instead of sending out a new spec script to the town, I get to send out a cool book with pictures in it! People around here have very short attention spans lately. Especially when they’re reading 100 scripts a week. So with this project, I might be able to reach them in a different way. And as far as expectations, I’m just excited that I’ve written something that some people may actually read! In my career I’ve sometimes toiled over screenplays for years that only end up getting read by literally ten people. So, if I get twenty people to read this book, I’ll be ahead of the game!

TrunkSpace: Just so we’re clear, are you conning your way through this interview right now?
Perez: I’m not actually Mark. He’s currently at a gentleman’s club he often frequents. I’m his foster son, Greg, who he forces to do this shit for him. Help me. Please.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Perez: I always think of the cliché. “I hate writing. But, I love having written.” And I guess it’s a cliché because it’s so true. I’ve spent the past 20 years sitting in front of a computer trying to come up with stuff. I’ve written every fat buddy character. Every foulmouthed neighbor kid. Thought of every comedy idea from The Hardy Boys grown up to be losers to a movie about ghosts raising a baby. (It was called RAISED BY GHOSTS, no bullshit.) And after every experience, I announce to my wife that I hate writing and that I’m retiring. Then I go to a batting cage or take a long drive and I come up with some other wacky idea that I feel the immediate need to write for no reason. And then the process repeats itself. It’s very healthy. I’m not at all crazy. Anyway, who am I kidding? It’s better than working for a living.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Perez: I’ve tried them all. Locking myself in a room until I write an entire script. Or taking a year to do it by writing only half a page before I go to sleep every night. I write on a laptop at my pool. (Yep, I have a pool.) I write on a desktop in the dark. I’m always trying to trick myself that writing is actually fun and exciting. Hey, let’s try writing on a beach! It’ll be fun! With the water and the sun and… it never is though. Fun or exciting. It’s always painful, the writing part. Except this time maybe it’s painful on a beach. My wife once forbid me from bringing my laptop on vacation one year. And I maniacally wrote an entire movie in a notebook. It was called ACCEPTED and it got made at Universal. On the flipside, I’ve also spent three years writing a spec in the perfect conditions that everybody thought was terrible. So, who knows???

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Perez: As far as screenplays go, I like to bust out a first draft right away. Without looking back. Because if I did stop and edit, I would be constantly changing things before I knew where I was gonna end up. I prefer to write the whole thing, read how ragged it is, and then go back and edit. As far as the book goes, I can’t even imagine if I had gone back and edited along the way. I think doing that with 30 or 40 thousand words would be maddening.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Perez: Oh God, you name it. Is this funny? Does this seem real? Are people going to hate this? Is this entire idea shitty? Am I a total fraud who should kill himself? I’ve sold a ton of screenplays and was lucky enough to get this book published and I still can’t believe anybody pays me to do it. I was much more confident as a dumb kid who moved to Hollywood to try and make it. I was a much worse writer, but much more confident.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Perez: I just finished the first draft of a memoir called JEWS OF THE CARIBBEAN. I’m first generation Cuban American. And I grew up with my dad, sister and my very Hispanic grandparents in Hinsdale, Illinois. Which is basically the John Hughes Chicago suburbs. We moved around a lot before and after that time, and my father always used to tell me that we could make it anywhere because the Cubans were the “Jews of the Caribbean.” My dad preached other weird shit like that to me growing up. So, I decided to write a book about it all. I also wrote GAME NIGHT which is a movie coming out March 2^nd, 2018 via New Line/Warner Bros. It stars Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler and Jeffery Wright. I’m pretty excited about it.

Between The Sheets

Erin McCahan

on July 25, 2017

This time out we’re chatting with Erin McCahan to discuss her new novel “The Lake Effect,” why she didn’t want to be forced out of her shell as a child, and how she’d edit her own dreams if she could.

TrunkSpace: Your new book “The Lake Effect” was released on July 11. What emotions do you experience as you gear up to the release of new material?
McCahan: I try not to gear up for the release. I’m serious. Between my expectations and anxiety, it’s too nerve-racking to think about.

TrunkSpace: As you look back over previous releases, where do you think you have grown the most as a writer with this latest offering?
McCahan: In not gearing up for the release.

TrunkSpace: It seems that more than anything, one area that is a major turn off for young adults is when they feel like they’re being talked down to and not treated as the young adults that they truly are. How important is honesty (and particularly emotional honesty) when writing in the genre?
McCahan: It’s paramount. I was repeatedly told, as a teenager in the midst of some crisis or restlessness or even happiness, “That will change when you get older.” What I heard was, “Your feelings don’t count right now.” In my work with teenagers – for 10 years as a youth minister and now as a young adult author – I diligently try to honor teenagers’ feelings and experiences.

TrunkSpace: We read that you were very shy growing up. As a shy child, how important did losing yourself in literary worlds become during those years?
McCahan: Reading was a breather. Only other shy people will understand this – it’s hard to be shy. Add to this that parents and teachers – at least my parents and teachers – treated shyness like a disease that they were going to cure by “bringing Erin out of her shell.” So in addition to living in an extroverted world, I felt further burdened by the belief that there was something wrong with me. It was a relief to be home, alone, after school, in my room reading – or listening to music – and not having to think about my own horrendous failings as a shy person for a while.

TrunkSpace: For those young adults of today who are also experiencing similar feelings, what advice would you give them?
McCahan: Shyness is a temperament, not a character flaw. You’re allowed to be shy.

TrunkSpace: You were born in Michigan and were raised in Ohio. In your opinion, how much of where a writer comes from influences their literary voice? How did Ohio shape your writing?
McCahan: I think it’s more family dynamic and social environment that shape not just a writer but everyone. And a huge chunk of my family is – uh – I’ll say difficult. Dysfunctional is the polite term. In need of a map, a compass and a Sherpa to lead them back to normal. They would have been that in any state.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
McCahan: It is absolutely a labor of love. I cannot imagine doing anything else, and if for some reason I never have another novel published, I’ll still write every single day.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
McCahan: A good day is a productive day, and not every day is productive. Some days, I sit at my desk and write, delete, write, delete with very little worth saving. Other days, I write pages and pages and hate to quit in the evening. The only part of the process that is consistent is that I am at my desk, from 9 to 5, 5 to 6 days a week, with breaks for working out or running errands or playing with my cats, of course.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
McCahan: As I write, as I think, as I speak. If I could do it as I dream, I would.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
McCahan: I struggle with the belief that I’ll just never be good enough. And since I haven’t actually defined ‘good enough,’ I worry it’s an unknowable and unattainable standard.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
McCahan: I’m working on a couple things, and I would love to tell you about them, but I haven’t run either of them past my editor yet. She’s on maternity leave, and I think I need to discuss them with her first.

“The Lake Effect” is available now from Dial Books.

Between The Sheets

Matthew Quick

on July 6, 2017

This time out we’re chatting with “The Silver Linings Playbook” author Matthew Quick to discuss his new novel “The Reason You’re Alive,” how writing helps him get to the truth of the matter, and where he’s hardest on himself as a writer.

TrunkSpace: Your new book “The Reason You’re Alive” reached the public on July 4th. In a way, does it feel like the entirety of the United States celebrated its release with fireworks and parties?
Quick: Um.

TrunkSpace: In all seriousness, the book deals in some heavy subject matter, which is an area you never shy away from in your writing. For a lot of people, reading about serious human conflict, either internal or external, helps them get through their own life moments. As the person penning the work, does writing ever open that door for you? Can working through things by way of a character inadvertently serve as an unintended form of therapy for the author?
Quick: Tricky territory here. Writing is a highly personal experience. Every novelist has his or her own reasons for writing. My writing journey was definitely born out of mental health struggles. Mostly anxiety and depression. I often say fiction writing is where I take all the chaos in my mind and chest and attempt to make order on the page. I didn’t realize what I was doing when I first started writing fiction as a teenager. I also didn’t know the wild feeling in my chest was anxiety, but writing made it temporarily go away. When I used to teach I’d tell my students we read novels to make us more empathetic, and I think that’s true. We can always be more understanding toward ourselves.

TrunkSpace: On the opposite side of that coin, can spending time in another person’s darkness, even a fictional person, make it difficult to stay in your own nonfictional light?
Quick: I’m a pretty big believer in the truth setting us free. And fiction writing, for me, is always an attempt to get to the truth of something or someone. The only time I get dark is when I’m creatively blocked. That happens when I am trying to force a lie into my work or life.

TrunkSpace: Something that you do so well is blend humor into the world of your characters, which in a lot of ways, strikes a beautiful balance with the aforementioned heavy subject matter. Is that a conscious focus of your writing or is that relatable funny something that just comes natural to you and in turn is reflected in your characters?
Quick: It’s a coping mechanism that I employ in real life as well. I don’t like tension. I’m an INFJ. I’m a highly sensitive person. An empath. I learned at a young age that making people laugh changes the energy they put out. Lightens things. I wouldn’t say I consciously try to be funny in my novels. But when I am laughing while writing, that’s almost always a sign that the writing is going well.

TrunkSpace: How much did the current state of polarization here in the United States influence “The Reason You’re Alive” and did working on the novel give you any insight into the divisive mindset of the nation as it stands today?
Quick: I finished writing the novel well before the last presidential election began to heat up. I was raised by extremely conservative Republican Christians and educated by extremely liberal professors. Most of the people I work with now are extremely liberal. My needle moved left a long time ago, but there is part of me that will always feel a little loyal to my original tribe and because of that I often feel isolated somewhere in between the left and the right. We all need to talk more. There has to be less us/them.

TrunkSpace: You started to make a serious push towards a writing career at age 30 by leaving your job and focusing on the craft full-time. What advice would you give to aspiring writers at similar places in their life who question if the move is the right one to make?
Quick: Don’t listen to people who offer writing advice. Half joking here. Some of the best advice I got was from non-writers. I’m not sure anyone can advise you on becoming the writer you need to be on the page. But being professional and realistic, making good business decisions, being smart about money because money is what buys you time to write, these types of things you can learn from others. Maybe how to survive as a creative type. Perhaps the best advice I ever received came over a breakfast beer in the Peruvian jungle. Painter Francisco Grippa said, “Be a professional, not an asshole.”

TrunkSpace: Had you started to pursue writing in a full-time capacity 10 years earlier, do you think it would have put you on a different creative path in terms of your voice as a writer?
Quick: In some ways I did start my writing career at twenty. I was writing back then, albeit unpaid. Reading. Taking creative writing classes. Justin Cronin was my teacher. But I hadn’t lived enough yet. I had to fumble through my twenties. Gain life experience.

TrunkSpace: Regarding the process, is writing a labor of love for you or does it feel more like labor? Do you enjoy the process?
Quick: Depends on the day. There are days when it feels like I’m not even writing, but channeling some divine voice. That sounds ridiculous, I realize, but we’ve all been high on our own words, even if it’s delusional. And there have been many more days when I stare at the screen for hours doing nothing but thinking, My career is over.

TrunkSpace: And what does that process look like? What are the ideal conditions for putting in a good day of writing?
Quick: Well, this will sound pretty uncool, I realize. But at the ripe old age of forty-three, eating healthy, getting good sleep, prioritizing my mental health, exercising (especially running, I try to do 30-40 miles a week these days), and limiting alcohol and caffeine intake – these things have become increasingly important. In my early thirties I drank coffee all day and sipped alcohol all night and wrote in alternating fits of anxiety and depression. It worked for a short while, but that sort of living would probably kill me now. It was a shitty way to function. I’m a lot happier these days.

TrunkSpace: Do you self-edit as you write?
Quick: Yes.

TrunkSpace: Where are you the hardest on yourself as a writer?
Quick: I seem to be in a deadlocked battle with imposter syndrome.

TrunkSpace: What are you working on now and what will people be able to read next?
Quick: A few screenplays for The Weinstein Company. Can’t really talk much about these projects right now, but I’m really excited about each. I will be writing another novel at some point, but not this year.

“The Reason You’re Alive” is available now from Harper.