Ask the Author: Joan Dempsey
Answered Questions (9)
Joan Dempsey
Hi there, Carol, and thanks for reaching out. So glad you enjoyed "Wild Swan". I don't really have a blog, per se, only websites and a free online community for writers called Gutsy Great Novelist Writers Studio (https://community.gutsygreatnovelist....).
"See" you at Inkers Mini Con! :)
"See" you at Inkers Mini Con! :)
Joan Dempsey
Nice to see you, Carolyn, and thanks for the great question!
I've been a serious writer since 2000, when I took my first fiction workshop at Grub Street Writers in Boston. Since that time, in the margins of my life as I've worked full-time at non-writing jobs, I've worked diligently to learn the craft of writing and build a writing career. I wrote a complete novel, entitled VIGILANT, before I wrote THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS. Agents and publishers to whom I submitted VIGILANT, while praising my chops as a novelist, felt it was too quiet and literary for them to easily sell.
After some time, I was deeply and happily into writing THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS, and continuing to push for the publication of VIGILANT was taking far too much of my precious, in-the-margins-of-my-day-job writing time, and so I set it on a shelf and focused intensely on my second novel.
During the past seventeen years, in addition to writing the two novels, I've published a few short pieces (stories, personal essays), earned my MFA in fiction writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, earned a teaching certificate (in writing—also from Antioch), and have critiqued hundreds of manuscripts by other creative writers (fiction, non-fiction, memoir).
I started writing THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS in October, 2009, completed it in summer, 2015, and it will be published on October 3, 2017. The first 2+ years I spent doing research into the topical areas involved in the novel: the Warsaw ghetto in WWII, the psychology of those who rescued Jews in WWII, the modern day "culture wars" between religious fundamentalists and the LGBT community, art theft and Polish contemporary art, and more. The following three years I wrote for only about an hour a day, and then I quit my day job to focus full time for a year on finishing the novel, which I did. Fourteen months of seeking a publisher, and finally a signed contract with She Writes Press in September of 2016. And here we are!
So, as you can see, I've been an incredibly active writer for seventeen years now, and hopefully you'll find that THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS provides evidence that I am, indeed, a "veteran writer." Not yet widely published, but nonetheless "veteran." :)
Does that help answer your question, Carolyn? Thanks again for asking.
I've been a serious writer since 2000, when I took my first fiction workshop at Grub Street Writers in Boston. Since that time, in the margins of my life as I've worked full-time at non-writing jobs, I've worked diligently to learn the craft of writing and build a writing career. I wrote a complete novel, entitled VIGILANT, before I wrote THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS. Agents and publishers to whom I submitted VIGILANT, while praising my chops as a novelist, felt it was too quiet and literary for them to easily sell.
After some time, I was deeply and happily into writing THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS, and continuing to push for the publication of VIGILANT was taking far too much of my precious, in-the-margins-of-my-day-job writing time, and so I set it on a shelf and focused intensely on my second novel.
During the past seventeen years, in addition to writing the two novels, I've published a few short pieces (stories, personal essays), earned my MFA in fiction writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, earned a teaching certificate (in writing—also from Antioch), and have critiqued hundreds of manuscripts by other creative writers (fiction, non-fiction, memoir).
I started writing THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS in October, 2009, completed it in summer, 2015, and it will be published on October 3, 2017. The first 2+ years I spent doing research into the topical areas involved in the novel: the Warsaw ghetto in WWII, the psychology of those who rescued Jews in WWII, the modern day "culture wars" between religious fundamentalists and the LGBT community, art theft and Polish contemporary art, and more. The following three years I wrote for only about an hour a day, and then I quit my day job to focus full time for a year on finishing the novel, which I did. Fourteen months of seeking a publisher, and finally a signed contract with She Writes Press in September of 2016. And here we are!
So, as you can see, I've been an incredibly active writer for seventeen years now, and hopefully you'll find that THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS provides evidence that I am, indeed, a "veteran writer." Not yet widely published, but nonetheless "veteran." :)
Does that help answer your question, Carolyn? Thanks again for asking.
Joan Dempsey
Thanks for asking, Rohi.
I'm an ENFP in the world of personality types, which means I like to mix things up all the time and do things differently as much as possible, so "daily routine" is not something I think a lot about. That said, I do like to take a morning walk to get my blood going, and then make some coffee (decaf) and come out here to my writing studio in "The Shed," and then, if I turn to writing on that day, I'll sit in my reading chair with my cozy lap-desk and do some work on my novel-in-progress.
I'm an ENFP in the world of personality types, which means I like to mix things up all the time and do things differently as much as possible, so "daily routine" is not something I think a lot about. That said, I do like to take a morning walk to get my blood going, and then make some coffee (decaf) and come out here to my writing studio in "The Shed," and then, if I turn to writing on that day, I'll sit in my reading chair with my cozy lap-desk and do some work on my novel-in-progress.
Joan Dempsey
I'm not a big fan of this idea of writer's block, I have to confess. I don't doubt that it's real, but I think we make a bigger deal of it than we should. Waiting for the muse is something I get tired of hearing about—if you approach writing like the job that it is, you'll show up and get to work, just like you do for your day job. Sit down in the chair and get to work!
Joan Dempsey
As a fiction writer, the thing I like best is getting to step inside the skin and heart and mind of characters who are unlike myself. I love discovering what makes people tick, especially those who are unlike myself. Also, I love being forced to learn things because of those characters, things I ordinarily might not think to be interested in. For instance, the protagonist of THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS is Polish. I honestly never thought too much about anything at all having to do with Poland, but getting to know Ludka Zeilonka finally propelled me to Warsaw for a full month, where I did research and wrote, and stumbled around the city knowing only how to say "good morning" (dzien dobry) and "thank you" (dzięki). Crazy fun!
Joan Dempsey
Give yourself permission to be who you are. Learn as much as you can about the craft of writing, but don't take anything as gospel. There are as many ways to write as there are writers, so figure out what works best for YOU, and do that. Too many aspiring writers get bogged down in learning the "right" way, and the truth is, there IS no "right" way; there's only the way that works best for you. Listen to your gut, change things up as needed, and for goodness' sake, do what you want to do!
PERMISSION GRANTED!
PERMISSION GRANTED!
Joan Dempsey
My second novel (well, third really—the first is in a drawer), which will star one of the more minor characters from THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS, Frank Zeilonka. I liked Frank from the moment I met him, and as I wrote his character, all these hints kept cropping up that indicated he probably had his own story to tell. He does!
This one will center around a case of wrongful imprisonment, a topic that greatly interests and disturbs me—exactly what I need to sustain me through the process of writing a novel.
This one will center around a case of wrongful imprisonment, a topic that greatly interests and disturbs me—exactly what I need to sustain me through the process of writing a novel.
Joan Dempsey
It honestly doesn't take much. I fell in love with writing from my first serious fiction workshop at Grub Street Writers back in 2000, and I've been inspired ever since. Truly, there's nothing I'd rather do than muck around with sentences and books.
Joan Dempsey
THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS started out as a solely political novel starring a powerful Massachusetts senator. Only trouble is, his 85-year old mother kept muscling her way into the narrative. I finally caved in to her pushiness, and now it's her story (Ludka Zeilonka)—still political, only now it's also so much more.
One of the origins, though, came from living next door to a religious community that was dubbed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of the top dozen hate groups in the country. A land-dispute pitted liberal townspeople against the more conservative religious community, and bigotry began to blossom on both sides of the divide. How bigotry can begin in each of us is at the heart of THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS. It was that question, about how we are each capable of hatred, that became the seed of the novel.
One of the origins, though, came from living next door to a religious community that was dubbed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of the top dozen hate groups in the country. A land-dispute pitted liberal townspeople against the more conservative religious community, and bigotry began to blossom on both sides of the divide. How bigotry can begin in each of us is at the heart of THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS. It was that question, about how we are each capable of hatred, that became the seed of the novel.
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Jan 04, 2022 09:08AM · flag