Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "to-begin-again"
Meet author Jen Knox and enter to win an ebook!
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I am thrilled to be introducing you to one of my favourite indie authors today,Jen Knox.
I met Jen online over a year ago. I was interested to read her memoir,Musical Chairs, as it had been getting some great reviews. It's one of those books that made me realise that memoirs can be just as entertaining as fiction books. I used to only read fiction. Musical Chairs is written about Jen's decision to run away from home at the age of 15, the reasoning behind it, and all the ensuing problems. It's a book of hope and inspiration against the odds. It really is an interesting read, and even if you don't usually read memoirs I would recommend it because it is written by a born storyteller.
I could tell, when I read Musical Chairs last year, that this was a writer with a gift, so I was very happy when I found out that she also writes fiction. I recently read and enjoyed her collection of short stories,To Begin Again.
She is an award winning author, a creative writing tutor, and an all round fabulous person.
As well as agreeing to answer my interview questions, Jen is very generously giving away 2 ebook copies of her short story collection! All you have to do to be in with a chance to win is leave a comment on this blog post, or 'like' the post. It's that simple! Winners will be announced on 30th June 2011.
Here are Jen's answers to my questions:
From the bio on your website, I see that you are a creative writing professor. Do your students ever read your books and if so, what kind of responses have you had from them about your writing?
Yes, and I love teaching writing. So far, most of my students read more fantasy and thrillers, so I haven’t had too many approach me about my own work. Those who have seem to like my stories. But who knows? I mean, if I’m in a position to grade a person, how objective will s/he be?
Have any of your students ever written anything you wish you had written?
I don’t tend to read things and wish I’d written them, but I’ve read some remarkable work by my students—work I’d love to read again.
How do you go about telling a student that his or her story or writing is not very good? Is there an easy way to do that?
It’s never that simple. We all, as writers, have something positive to work with. I’m a very generous reader in that I give a piece time to develop the way the author intended. Often, critiques are balanced. What’s remarkable to me is that it’s often the writers who struggle most and have to work the hardest that really stick with it. I think the most common error I find in student writing is too much imitation, but this may just be a stage all beginning writers go through.
Many of your short stories and essays have been published in online literary magazines and journals. Do you have any advice to give to other writers who would like to approach such websites for inclusion of their stories, and are there any websites that you would recommend in particular?
Read the magazines. Familiarize yourself with what they publish. Unless you’re independently wealthy, I recommend picking journals, online or print, that pay. Or, if they don’t pay, ask how they represent their authors; many journals are very supportive of their authors, and as any writer knows, we need as much support as possible right now (as do the journals). NewPages.com is a great resource.
To Begin Again, is a collection of stories, some of which have been published before in other media. Did you write any of the stories specifically for the collection, or were they all stories that had already been published?
Most were published, but a few were written for the collection. “Absurd Hunger”, for instance, was written for the collection. I’m hoping the protagonist of this story, Wallace, will have his own novel one day.
Do you have any favourite stories from the collection?
“Disengaged” and “Absurd Hunger” are nearest my heart.
I think that some of the stories in the collection may be true stories, is that correct?
Yes, this is a collection of short fiction and nonfiction. The original title was To Begin Again: A Collection of Fact & Fiction but my publisher dropped the subtitle. I kind of liked this idea, though, it makes for interesting conversation.
In your fiction stories in To Begin Again, did you base any of your characters on real people?
Well, half of them are essays, such as, “At the Window” and “Dandelion Ghosts”; but those that are fiction, such as “Disengaged” and “Soft like Snow”, are purely fiction.
I enjoy reading your blog whenever I get a bit of time. I have worked out that you like to experiment a lot with writing. You were trying out different music to listen to whilst writing, and recently I’ve seen that you have started writing poems and short pieces inspired by art and photography. Have you concluded anything interesting from your experiments that you would like to share with us?
This is what I tell myself: Don’t get too comfortable with routine when it comes to writing. Mix things up a little. It’s fun, and what’s more, you may surprise yourself with what you can accomplish outside of your comfort zone. Writers can stop growing if they turn themselves into little factories, churning out variations of the same story again and again. There’s so much more out there to explore.
I think I’ll always be experimental with writing.
I read that you recently tore a tendon in your wrist in your writing hand. That must have been a bit of a nightmare as most of your work involves writing and typing. I hope you’re on the mend. Have you discovered any ingenious ways around this problem that you can share with us?
It is a nightmare. I’m in pain even now. I’m getting good at typing and writing with my left hand, but it’s painstakingly slow.
One of the stories from your collection, To Begin Again was featured in an anthology Short Story America Anthology, Volume 1 this year. How did that come about?
"Disengaged" has made its way around the literary landscape, and I’m quite proud. It was originally published in Superstition Review then reprinted in Short Story America. Because it was a “Story of the Week”, it also made it’s way into the SSA anthology. I’m very proud of this story. It’s my favorite in the collection, and I hope of all the work I’ve done before 2010, it will endure.
Congratulations on your recent award. I understand To Begin Again has won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for short stories 2011. That is a wonderful achievement. How did it feel to win that?
It feels good to get recognition for the work. But awards are a temporary high.
I read that you recently suffered a bout of writer's block. Did you discover a good way to get around it that might benefit other writers?
I tend to write a lot, so when my writing slows I get dramatic. I’m not really sure what writer’s block is, but days that I don’t write are tough days, so when I’m not writing creatively, I tend to complain about not writing. I’ve never figured a way around writer’s block. I just wait it out, and write about it. Any tricks outside of this technique have not worked. Luckily, the blocks I’ve faced have not lasted long. (Perhaps the key is to write about writer’s block?)
Your memoir, Musical Chairs, launched you as a writer. It’s a very honest and open account of your life. It can’t have been easy to write as you would have been re-living many traumatic memories in doing so. Reviews have been very positive and it seems that readers find the book very inspirational. Would you encourage people to write a memoir, and what have you learnt by doing so?
I would only encourage it if the writer is already 100% sure s/he wants to write a memoir. The genre is tricky. The writer has such a huge responsibility to tell the truth and also protect certain identities. There were details in Musical Chairs, for instance, that might’ve made the story arc a little smoother; but these details would also compromise certain privacy rights of those I wrote about. These decisions are not easy. The genre is tough to do well with such constraints.
Further, there tends to be a backlash. Some readers tend to analyze the writer instead of the writing. I’d tell a writer of memoir to be ready to face personal attacks as well as a lot of judgment (positive and negative). Just don’t let it catch you off-guard. All that said, memoir is also the most rewarding of genres. It’s liberating in a way no other genre has been in my experience. So, if you’re in for an emotional roller coaster and some tough decisions, but you feel your story could truly benefit people or tell a story they’ve not yet heard, write a memoir!
Having written both fiction and non-fiction, what is your preference?
Fiction, I find, is far easier to write well. It’s more enjoyable to write as well, but there’s something about nonfiction that feels so raw and important. Nonfiction, when well done, will always be my favorite genre to read. Fiction will always be my favorite to write.
Who are your favourite authors and what is it about their writing that you like?
Tobias Wolffand Erica Jong, for their memoirs. Vladimir Nabokov because his sentences are perfect. Amy Bloom and Mary Gaitskill because they write such realistic, nuanced fiction. There are so many more…
Do you have a favourite book?
Nabokov’s Lolita. It’s brave and beautiful, and it makes readers face real demons—people need to do that more, quit ignoring what’s uncomfortable.
What was the last book you read?
Caraliza by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick, a remarkable new author whose work I look forward to reading more of.
Are you reading a book at the moment?
I read two to three books at one time. Fusion by you, Maria Savva; The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard and Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories by Tobias Wolff.
What do you think about ebooks?
Not a fan. I don’t mind them for short stories, but novels are tough to read on ebooks. I just don’t like clicking a button to turn a page—as silly as that sounds, I’m on the computer all day, clicking. At the end of the day, I just want to curl up with a book.
How important are reviews for you as a writer?
Pretty important. Feedback is not something a person should ignore just because someone’s decided to publish my work.
What’s your favourite part of the writing process?
The third revision. It’s when things start to come together like a puzzle I’ve finally figured out.
How do you go about choosing a cover for your books?
My father’s design is on the first. He’s an artist who has recently started a business, so I have to plug his site: knoxworx
For the second cover, I actually solicited the services of Laura J Miller because I liked the covers of her own works (she writes under Jaimey Grant). She is incredibly talented.
What are you working on now?
I’m trying to give Wallace that novel—to take "Absurd Hunger" from a short story to a 250 page book. I have written a lot of pages, but they are pages that need a lot of work.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers?
The early adopters tend to be the most daring, intelligent, remarkable people on earth. I appreciate you all.
Where can people buy your books?
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Indie Bookstores can order from IndieBound
Thank you, Jen for answering my questions!
Remember, to enter to win an ebook of To Begin Again just 'like' this blog post or leave a comment below. Good luck!
I am thrilled to be introducing you to one of my favourite indie authors today,Jen Knox.
I met Jen online over a year ago. I was interested to read her memoir,Musical Chairs, as it had been getting some great reviews. It's one of those books that made me realise that memoirs can be just as entertaining as fiction books. I used to only read fiction. Musical Chairs is written about Jen's decision to run away from home at the age of 15, the reasoning behind it, and all the ensuing problems. It's a book of hope and inspiration against the odds. It really is an interesting read, and even if you don't usually read memoirs I would recommend it because it is written by a born storyteller.
I could tell, when I read Musical Chairs last year, that this was a writer with a gift, so I was very happy when I found out that she also writes fiction. I recently read and enjoyed her collection of short stories,To Begin Again.
She is an award winning author, a creative writing tutor, and an all round fabulous person.
As well as agreeing to answer my interview questions, Jen is very generously giving away 2 ebook copies of her short story collection! All you have to do to be in with a chance to win is leave a comment on this blog post, or 'like' the post. It's that simple! Winners will be announced on 30th June 2011.
Here are Jen's answers to my questions:
From the bio on your website, I see that you are a creative writing professor. Do your students ever read your books and if so, what kind of responses have you had from them about your writing?
Yes, and I love teaching writing. So far, most of my students read more fantasy and thrillers, so I haven’t had too many approach me about my own work. Those who have seem to like my stories. But who knows? I mean, if I’m in a position to grade a person, how objective will s/he be?
Have any of your students ever written anything you wish you had written?
I don’t tend to read things and wish I’d written them, but I’ve read some remarkable work by my students—work I’d love to read again.
How do you go about telling a student that his or her story or writing is not very good? Is there an easy way to do that?
It’s never that simple. We all, as writers, have something positive to work with. I’m a very generous reader in that I give a piece time to develop the way the author intended. Often, critiques are balanced. What’s remarkable to me is that it’s often the writers who struggle most and have to work the hardest that really stick with it. I think the most common error I find in student writing is too much imitation, but this may just be a stage all beginning writers go through.
Many of your short stories and essays have been published in online literary magazines and journals. Do you have any advice to give to other writers who would like to approach such websites for inclusion of their stories, and are there any websites that you would recommend in particular?
Read the magazines. Familiarize yourself with what they publish. Unless you’re independently wealthy, I recommend picking journals, online or print, that pay. Or, if they don’t pay, ask how they represent their authors; many journals are very supportive of their authors, and as any writer knows, we need as much support as possible right now (as do the journals). NewPages.com is a great resource.
To Begin Again, is a collection of stories, some of which have been published before in other media. Did you write any of the stories specifically for the collection, or were they all stories that had already been published?
Most were published, but a few were written for the collection. “Absurd Hunger”, for instance, was written for the collection. I’m hoping the protagonist of this story, Wallace, will have his own novel one day.
Do you have any favourite stories from the collection?
“Disengaged” and “Absurd Hunger” are nearest my heart.
I think that some of the stories in the collection may be true stories, is that correct?
Yes, this is a collection of short fiction and nonfiction. The original title was To Begin Again: A Collection of Fact & Fiction but my publisher dropped the subtitle. I kind of liked this idea, though, it makes for interesting conversation.
In your fiction stories in To Begin Again, did you base any of your characters on real people?
Well, half of them are essays, such as, “At the Window” and “Dandelion Ghosts”; but those that are fiction, such as “Disengaged” and “Soft like Snow”, are purely fiction.
I enjoy reading your blog whenever I get a bit of time. I have worked out that you like to experiment a lot with writing. You were trying out different music to listen to whilst writing, and recently I’ve seen that you have started writing poems and short pieces inspired by art and photography. Have you concluded anything interesting from your experiments that you would like to share with us?
This is what I tell myself: Don’t get too comfortable with routine when it comes to writing. Mix things up a little. It’s fun, and what’s more, you may surprise yourself with what you can accomplish outside of your comfort zone. Writers can stop growing if they turn themselves into little factories, churning out variations of the same story again and again. There’s so much more out there to explore.
I think I’ll always be experimental with writing.
I read that you recently tore a tendon in your wrist in your writing hand. That must have been a bit of a nightmare as most of your work involves writing and typing. I hope you’re on the mend. Have you discovered any ingenious ways around this problem that you can share with us?
It is a nightmare. I’m in pain even now. I’m getting good at typing and writing with my left hand, but it’s painstakingly slow.
One of the stories from your collection, To Begin Again was featured in an anthology Short Story America Anthology, Volume 1 this year. How did that come about?
"Disengaged" has made its way around the literary landscape, and I’m quite proud. It was originally published in Superstition Review then reprinted in Short Story America. Because it was a “Story of the Week”, it also made it’s way into the SSA anthology. I’m very proud of this story. It’s my favorite in the collection, and I hope of all the work I’ve done before 2010, it will endure.
Congratulations on your recent award. I understand To Begin Again has won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for short stories 2011. That is a wonderful achievement. How did it feel to win that?
It feels good to get recognition for the work. But awards are a temporary high.
I read that you recently suffered a bout of writer's block. Did you discover a good way to get around it that might benefit other writers?
I tend to write a lot, so when my writing slows I get dramatic. I’m not really sure what writer’s block is, but days that I don’t write are tough days, so when I’m not writing creatively, I tend to complain about not writing. I’ve never figured a way around writer’s block. I just wait it out, and write about it. Any tricks outside of this technique have not worked. Luckily, the blocks I’ve faced have not lasted long. (Perhaps the key is to write about writer’s block?)
Your memoir, Musical Chairs, launched you as a writer. It’s a very honest and open account of your life. It can’t have been easy to write as you would have been re-living many traumatic memories in doing so. Reviews have been very positive and it seems that readers find the book very inspirational. Would you encourage people to write a memoir, and what have you learnt by doing so?
I would only encourage it if the writer is already 100% sure s/he wants to write a memoir. The genre is tricky. The writer has such a huge responsibility to tell the truth and also protect certain identities. There were details in Musical Chairs, for instance, that might’ve made the story arc a little smoother; but these details would also compromise certain privacy rights of those I wrote about. These decisions are not easy. The genre is tough to do well with such constraints.
Further, there tends to be a backlash. Some readers tend to analyze the writer instead of the writing. I’d tell a writer of memoir to be ready to face personal attacks as well as a lot of judgment (positive and negative). Just don’t let it catch you off-guard. All that said, memoir is also the most rewarding of genres. It’s liberating in a way no other genre has been in my experience. So, if you’re in for an emotional roller coaster and some tough decisions, but you feel your story could truly benefit people or tell a story they’ve not yet heard, write a memoir!
Having written both fiction and non-fiction, what is your preference?
Fiction, I find, is far easier to write well. It’s more enjoyable to write as well, but there’s something about nonfiction that feels so raw and important. Nonfiction, when well done, will always be my favorite genre to read. Fiction will always be my favorite to write.
Who are your favourite authors and what is it about their writing that you like?
Tobias Wolffand Erica Jong, for their memoirs. Vladimir Nabokov because his sentences are perfect. Amy Bloom and Mary Gaitskill because they write such realistic, nuanced fiction. There are so many more…
Do you have a favourite book?
Nabokov’s Lolita. It’s brave and beautiful, and it makes readers face real demons—people need to do that more, quit ignoring what’s uncomfortable.
What was the last book you read?
Caraliza by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick, a remarkable new author whose work I look forward to reading more of.
Are you reading a book at the moment?
I read two to three books at one time. Fusion by you, Maria Savva; The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard and Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories by Tobias Wolff.
What do you think about ebooks?
Not a fan. I don’t mind them for short stories, but novels are tough to read on ebooks. I just don’t like clicking a button to turn a page—as silly as that sounds, I’m on the computer all day, clicking. At the end of the day, I just want to curl up with a book.
How important are reviews for you as a writer?
Pretty important. Feedback is not something a person should ignore just because someone’s decided to publish my work.
What’s your favourite part of the writing process?
The third revision. It’s when things start to come together like a puzzle I’ve finally figured out.
How do you go about choosing a cover for your books?
My father’s design is on the first. He’s an artist who has recently started a business, so I have to plug his site: knoxworx
For the second cover, I actually solicited the services of Laura J Miller because I liked the covers of her own works (she writes under Jaimey Grant). She is incredibly talented.
What are you working on now?
I’m trying to give Wallace that novel—to take "Absurd Hunger" from a short story to a 250 page book. I have written a lot of pages, but they are pages that need a lot of work.
Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers?
The early adopters tend to be the most daring, intelligent, remarkable people on earth. I appreciate you all.
Where can people buy your books?
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Indie Bookstores can order from IndieBound
Thank you, Jen for answering my questions!
Remember, to enter to win an ebook of To Begin Again just 'like' this blog post or leave a comment below. Good luck!
