The theme may be one reason that I got framable rejections from American publishers and it wound up being taken by a Canadian publisher.
How would you describe your creative process while writing this book? Was it stream-of-consciousness writing, or did you first write an outline?
I can’t work with outlines. I had a hard time starting the novel. I just couldn’t get past a few pages until — it sounds hokey, but there was the morning when I sat down to write — and Jemma walked into the room. The novel had to be written in the first person. That’s not my favorite voice, but nothing else worked. The whole book comes off Jemma’s ideas and personality.
Of course I manipulated the character, but she’s a strong personality, and not a particularly comfortable one to carry around in your head for years.
From the moment you conceived the idea for the story, to the published book, how long did it take?
Forever! Or so it seemed. I wrote it first as a short story in 2000. Then a novel in two parts, and finally I turned the first part into JEMMA7729. From the time the publisher took the novel to its publication was about two and a half years.
Describe your working environment.
I live in an 1860 farmhouse at the edge of a small Massachusetts town, with a huge yard and a protected wetland just beyond my back yard. Very pleasant place, even though the age of my house means windows don’t fit well anymore; it’s hot in summer and cold in winter and the floors are uneven. There are two stories. My study is a huge room on the second floor, with a window beside my desk that looks out to a street and a wonderful maple tree I planted in 1976 which is now taller than the house.
My study is very messy and full of bookshelves, files, two desks — the computer desk and one that came off a 19th century sailing ship. There’s a sound system, too. Sometimes I like music when I write — music of all kinds. Mozart is good, so are Dixie Chicks. Depends on what I’m writing.
I use a Mac. I am generally accompanied by one or more of my three cats. If they aren’t sprawled some place in the room, they come to interrupt me periodically. The big cat boys (Max and Mouse) like to sit behind me when I write. I have a big leather chair, so there’s room for them, one at a time. The little cat, Jenny, likes to sit under my feet.
Article comments
1 - Lisa Damian
Nice interview. Enjoyed reading it. The Jemma book and the Tales of the Winter People series both sound like interesting concepts.