Suzanne Alyssa Andrew's Blog: The PROCESS blog, page 20

Explore the annotated book map

CIRCLE OF STONES races across Canada and back again, stopping in at real cities and towns, and in real locations—everything from the sea walk on Vancouver Island to Zaphod Beeblebrox in Ottawa. I’ve captured these in an annotated Google Map you can explore. Just click on the flags and expand the map to see where the characters go, and what happens there. 

It was fun to create (though tricky to try and not give too much of the plot away!). I hope you enjoy it, and recognize some places you like to go to, too.

Watch the official book trailer

The process of creating an official book trailer for CIRCLE OF STONES was intense and fun at the same time. I kicked around a lot of ideas for it, and in the end I decided I just wanted to sit down and tell you all about the book. Enjoy watching it! I hope it inspires you to preorder it.

Many thanks to my talented production crew. They helped make this happen and were tremendous to work with! Lana Pesch, Christie McNabb and Dave Smith. Original score by Menalon Music. 

On recharging, mid-winter

January is a whirlwind. It’s about getting things done, which is very positive, but all that push forward momentum can get intense. It might start to feel overwhelming. And you might start feeling caged, stuck in doors working, trying, creating for hours and hours (and hours and hours).

I was feeling lackluster and defeated by my to do list last week, and then happenstance, in the form of an invite to a book launch, free tickets to three great music shows, and an art exhibition I needed to cover for a story. Getting out in spite of the cold and in defiance of all my lists and various pressures felt a little mischievous, a little rebellious and totally exhilarating. The full immersion in other people’s creative energy felt luxurious to me, like a spa of sound and visuals.

It was rejuvenating. I got out of my studio and out of my head, and now I’m excited to be back writing and playing music again. The big list doesn’t seem to be nearly as huge or dominating. I’m grateful for friends who got me comps and so very fortunate I was reminded to balance hard work with fun, so I could keep going and look for the fun in my own process again.

Zola Jesus at the Horseshoe, January 22

It was a little bit like Zola Jesus at Webster Hall!

Mutt Kaw at Come Up To My Room, Gladstone Hotel, January 23 (photo by Agata Piskunowicz)

Tariq Hussein with Miranda Mulholland at the Cameron House, January 23

The Wilderness of Manitoba at the Phoenix, January 24

Wearing the guest associate editor beret for Taddle Creek magazine

I’m honoured and excited to be a guest associate editor for Taddle Creek, and I’m looking forward bringing my storytelling approach to the magazine. (I wish the lovely and talented Grace O’Connell the very best as she moves on.)

While the magazine’s official Submission Guidelines are both smart and well-honed, I do have important criteria I’ll be on the lookout for, in support of the editor-in-chief’s overall vision:

Stories and poems about the wide range of experiences and characters in the city today.
Resonant themes that compel us to pause and think, whether they be surprising, moody, chilling, irreverent, inspiring or a combination therein.
Diverse voices.
Honest work that cuts through (“How empty and frustrating it is for a reader to invest their time and attention in something and to feel that the agenda is basically to show you that the writer is clever.” See David Foster Wallace, quoted).
Writing with “a good, natural, steady rhythm” (See Haruki Murakami, quoted)—I am a bass player, afterall.

I’ll add that the magazine was instrumental in launching me on my path to becoming a novelist by giving me the confidence to pursue the wild dream that resulted in Circle of Stones. It published an early version of the “Lucy” chapter (as the story, “Extreme Ironing”), a version of the “Hélène” chapter (as the story “Circle of Stones”) and let me profile the wonderful Elyse Friedman, whose work I admire. The magazine put faith in my writing, and it helped, a million times over, to have a believer. In turn, I’m looking forward to finding some new work to believe in.

Happy reading.

Oh, and p.s. subscribe, why don’t you?

Official Circle of Stones cover

I'm pleased to announce the official cover for Circle of Stones. My novel is an action adventure love story with a unique structure, and it's launching March 2015 with Dundurn Books.

On cover design: Circle of Stones cover revealed

Good cover design is a mysterious (and challenging) alchemical process of distilling a 200- to 300-page story into a single representational image. It’s about finding the balance between something that captures the spirit of the book and something oblique and abstract, so it gives you a glimpse of what’s inside, without being too prescriptive about it. Part of the enjoyment of reading, after all, is to open up your imagination to a story, and create your own interpretation of it.

As an author, the cover design process is emotional and visceral. Each mockup I saw along the way struck an instant, strong gut reaction in me. After working so long and hard on the project, I wanted to see that what I envisioned moved forward the way I dreamed. At the same time, working on the cover design marks a pivotal point in the process of a manuscript finally becoming a book — it’s finally en route to becoming a physical reality that exists outside my own head, which is very exciting!

For Circle of Stones, my first novel (due March 2015, with Dundurn Press), I had the good fortune of working with the talented Natalie Olsen of Kisscut Design. Natalie read my novel and chatted with me about what I had in mind. Here are some of the keywords we agreed upon that describe my book from a design perspective:

Contemporary
Dark
Dreamy
Edgy
Elegant
Ethereal
Layered
Mysterious
Sophisticated
Unconventional
Urban

With the feeling and themes of the book in mind, Natalie came up with this extraordinary image of one of my characters, Jennifer, running away. The backdrop is urban concrete and highlights the concept of reverse graffiti, one of the projects the novel’s protagonist, Nik engages in. The pop of colour on my name breathes a fresh energy onto the image, and fits with the oceanic and water landscapes at the beginning of the novel.

I absolutely adore the design and hope it inspires readers to pick up the book and engage with the characters and their stories.

The Writerly Blog Tour stops in at The Process

Thanks to my friend and author Heidi Reimer for tagging me in this tour. Heidi is a talented writer of both non-fiction (she contributed to The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood) and fiction. I’ve been fortunate to read a draft of her novel, and it’s a powerful, engaging story. Remember Heidi’s name, because I’m sure we’ll hear much more from her in the future!

And now for my answers:

What I’m working on

I’ve just completed the formal editing process for my debut novel, Circle of Stones (Dundurn Press, March 2015). The process felt highly charged because it’s a big responsibility to bring a book into the world, but I thoroughly enjoyed working with my editor, Shannon Whibbs and the comments we shared back and forth in the Track Changes margin. My characters lived in my own head for a long time, so it’s such a pleasure to engage in deep conversations about them and their stories. I can’t wait to share them widely with other readers.

I’m also working on a new novel that hits on some deeply personal themes. It’s not about me, but the protagonist faces some difficult issues that I’ve had to look at, and writing her story is requiring me to go into the depths. It’s funny how one of the most difficult yet essential things to do as a writer, musician or any kind of creator is to be honest and raw and say the things you’re not supposed to say. That’s what makes it art, and that’s what makes it resonate. I’m also slowly working on an idea for a non-fiction book I’d love to write. And I wrote a short story earlier this year that I’m trying to rework into a script for a short film.

How does my work differ from others in the genre?

Circle of Stones has an unusual structure. The overall story is told from the perspective of the people the main characters meet along the way. When I was writing it, I was interested in looking at different voices and points of view, as well as different ways we’re all connected, especially in cities. Circle of Stones is also about struggle—all the different ways we fight for the survival of our dreams, our relationships and our very existence.

I don’t want to give too much away about my second novel. It’s still forming and I have an overwhelming instinct to protect it. I will say, however, that some of the characters are in a band. Hard Core Logo excepted, CanLit historically hasn’t rocked hard enough, in my opinion.

Why do I write what I do?

Life isn’t easy. Good storytelling engages us in the struggles others encounter so when faced with our own we have a deeper understanding and way to find a sense of meaning. Reading good novels is like continuously tracing roadmaps—routes we can take in our own lives, sometimes to give us vital ideas, and sometimes to help us find a way out of confusing and difficult situations we may find ourselves in. And both writing and reading are fun. We all need more joy in our lives. It’s the fuel that energizes us.

How does my writing process work?

I never seem to have a shortage of ideas—there just never seems to be enough time for them all. I wish I had more hours in the day to devote to my own writing and music practices, but making money and living life tends to get in the way. What works for me is booking off hours each week for my own work and trying to keep to a regular schedule. I run my own freelance business so it’s really difficult to enforce a routine, but routine is essential. Routine is a gift to the writing process. It helps that I have two incredible writing partners, Sarah Henstra and Heidi, to work with, because the constant encouragement, reassurances and feeling that we’re in this together helps keep me going. It’s almost like we’re a band, but we get together and perform on the page instead of on a stage.  

Interestingly, playing bass in an actual indie band seems to fuel my writing process. It’s that joy component I was telling you about.

Next up, I’m tagging the lovely Lindsay Gibb, another writer/editor who performs in a band. She’s working on a book about Nicolas Cage as part of the ECW Press Pop Classics series. 

I’m also tagging the charming Shari Kasman, a musician who made the cross-over into writing and now writes wonderful fiction and prose.  

Please check out some of the other great writers on this tour!

Rebecca Rosenblum * Julia Zarankin * Maria Meindl * Ayelet Tsabari * Angie Abdou * Kathy Para* Theodora Armstrong * Eufemia Fanetti * Janie Chang * Lorna Suzuki * Barbara Lambert * Matilda Magtree * Alice Zorn * Anita Lahey * Pearl Pirie * Julie Paul *Sarah Mian * Steve McOrmond * Susan Gillis * Jason Heroux * Heidi Reimer 

"I am much more like somebody driving in the dark. My headlights will illuminate a little bit ahead..."

“I am much more like somebody driving in the dark. My headlights will illuminate a little bit ahead of me, and I know where I’m going. I’m not just driving randomly. I know if I keep down this road, I will get to New York. But what happens on the way, I will find out.”

- Neil Gaiman on his creative process

"One of the reasons that I wanted to study literature was because it exposed everything. Writers..."

“One of the reasons that I wanted to study literature was because it exposed everything. Writers looked for secrets that had never been mined. Every writer has to invent their own magical language, in order to describe the indescribable. They might seem to be writing in French, English or Spanish, but really they were writing in the language of butterflies, crows and hanged men.”

- Heather O’Neill, The Girl Who Was Saturday Night

On performance

Every time you get in front of an audience of people, you’re performing. it took me awhile to adjust to the fleeting, temporary nature of performing. You can’t edit it. You have to be in the moment. Now I enjoy literary readings, because each one presents a unique challenge. A chance to get real. And to reveal.

Marina Abramovic explains how a performer must be 100 per cent present during a performance to make sense and convey meaning:

“Performance is the moment when the performer… steps in front of the audience in a particular time. This is not theatre. Performance is the real. Theatre you can cut with a knife and there is no blood. The knife is not real and the blood is not real. In performance the blood and the knife and the body of the performer are real.”

One thing that people often say when giving performance and reading advice is to tell jokes. Be warm and personable. Smile. I think that’s important, but I also think that depending on what you’re trying to do, and the material you’re presenting, that doesn’t always have to be the case.

“It’s very hard to make a strong, illuminating work of art,” says Abramovic. “I’m very interested in the ideas I really feel about. I’m really interested in the ideas that change something or make me learn something. If you do things you like or you have pleasure doing, you never change.”