Ask the Author: Samantha Silva
Answered Questions (8)
Samantha Silva
I'm too superstitious to reveal very much -- but let's say it's historical fiction based on the real life of another literary figure, lesser known, but crucial to the evolution of modern thought.
Samantha Silva
I've been in a writing group for a number of years, and I often say to them, the only difference between me and you is that I finished. Even if you're writing crap, keep writing, because the story you have inside you, if it generates enough energy in you, can sustain you to an ending. And then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.
Samantha Silva
I write to understand what I think, and feel. I think it's how writers tease out the answer to a problem, whether it's a view of the world, or a deeply personal story -- a morally complex dilemma or a simple truth. A writer gets to weave a whole world around it, as a way of illuminating the hardest things about being human. I feel very lucky to get to do that, but honestly, I don't know that I could do it any other way.
Samantha Silva
The best answer I can give is that Mr. Dickens and His Carol is a mash-up between real circumstances in Dickens' life that led to the writing of the Carol, and my imagination. The set-up is all pretty accurate: he was a literary star, over-extended financially, had a growing family, a lavish lifestyle, friends and relatives who depended on his largesse, and was a great philanthropist. It's also true that Martin Chuzzlewit was a flop, and that Dickens desperately needed a money-spinner to get him out of debt. The rest is my flight of fancy; I wanted to take Scrooge's journey and imagine Dickens experiencing it for himself as the inspiration for the book.
Samantha Silva
Hi Kelli. There are so many good biographies, but the Peter Ackroyd book is essential reading -- I went back to it often. And also found the Claire Tomalin biography (Charles Dickens: A Life) to be very useful. I didn't read Jane Smiley's book, but that would be next on my list. My Dickens library is vast and varied, but the Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens was my bible -- the most marked up, underlined, post-it-noted book I own. So glad you enjoyed the novel!
Samantha Silva
See my answer above about writer's block. There are so many things that inspire me to write, but sometimes the reservoir's just not full enough, and it's worth taking time (whether it's an hour or a day or a summer) to fill yourself back up, to the point where you feel like you'll spill over the edge if you can't get to that blank page.
Samantha Silva
I think there are two kinds of writer's block: not having an idea at all, and being stuck bringing an idea to fruition. The first makes me restless and depressed. But I know I have to fill the well, by reading, listening, walking, being in nature -- getting out of my head. But if I'm in the middle of something I know I want to write but can't get it to flow, I tend to think something's not quite right. It's like writing a paragraph and getting stuck in the middle of it. There's something wrong with the order of ideas and words, a thought that doesn't fit, which makes me take two steps back and try again. (I hope that makes sense!)
Samantha Silva
Well, that's a long story in itself. Mr. Dickens started as a screenplay some years ago. I optioned it four times to four different companies and had some heartbreaking near misses with the big screen. That's when I decided to adapt it as a novel. There's another film on the same subject (adapted from a non-fiction book) that comes out soon. But it's the true story, and not at all like mine. So there's always hope! Thanks for reading it.
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