Ask the Author: Sian Griffiths
Answered Questions (8)
Sian Griffiths
Book research, including a lot of eventer bios (Pippa Funnel, Mark Todd, Mary King, William Fox-Pitt)
Marie-Helene Bertino's 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas
M. K. Asante's Buck
Percival Everett's Erasure
Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer
Marie-Helene Bertino's 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas
M. K. Asante's Buck
Percival Everett's Erasure
Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer
Sian Griffiths
Sorry for the delay--I only just saw your question. I'm so, so glad you enjoyed the novel.
Writing is going well. I have a second novel (not a horsey one) and am currently looking for an agent or publisher. Who knows what will happen with that. While I've been looking for a home for that novel, I've worked on a number of short projects (mostly stories and essays) and finding journals where they'll appear. I'm starting work on a new novel, which is going to return me to the horse world, my favorite thing to write about.
Writing is going well. I have a second novel (not a horsey one) and am currently looking for an agent or publisher. Who knows what will happen with that. While I've been looking for a home for that novel, I've worked on a number of short projects (mostly stories and essays) and finding journals where they'll appear. I'm starting work on a new novel, which is going to return me to the horse world, my favorite thing to write about.
Sian Griffiths
I write something different. I have a million projects I could be working on at any time, so if thing one isn't working, I write thing two or thing three. I keep thing one in the back of my mind. I keep my eyes open to the world and collect ideas in my journal. I try throwing something unexpected into the work that is stuck. If something doesn't get unstuck, maybe it's not supposed to or maybe I'm just not ready to finish it. I give myself this permission: Finish something else. The first thing will be there waiting for you to come back to it when you're ready.
Sian Griffiths
Writing, like reading, pushes you into the minds of others. It works only when you're seeing the world authentically from those perspectives. Writing makes me aware of my own failings, my flaws of perspective, my limitations. It keeps me humble and makes me more human than anything else I can imagine. Writing is like reading on steroids.
Sian Griffiths
Remember Nigel in Spinal Tap with his amplifiers that went to eleven? I have an image of him on my laptop and outside my office door to remind me everyday to turn it up to eleven--to push whatever I'm doing to its extreme, to be bold, and to make my work unlike every other expected thing.
Sian Griffiths
I'm working on my second novel as well as writing some short fiction. Bret Anthony Johnston has said that writing short fiction does not teach you how to write a novel but writing a novel may teach you how to write short fiction. I've thought about that statement a lot, turning it in my mind and trying to decide if it's true. I've decided that, for me, it works both ways. The long form helps me to improve the short and the short helps improve the long.
Sian Griffiths
For inspiration, I read, and I listen to podcasts. Because I currently live in Utah, it's easy to feel isolated from the literary community. Books and podcasts give me a way to connect.
Sian Griffiths
I'd wanted to write a book about a girl who rode horses since I was an undergrad. I had several false starts but they didn't go anywhere. I was re-reading Jane Eyre one day (an all-time favorite) and I kept thinking about how great Bronte is with plot in that novel. I kept thinking, if only I could re-write *this* book... But I knew Jane's story didn't suit the character I had in mind. Once I had the idea to give her Rochester's plot line, I was off and running.
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