12 or 20 (second series) questions with Amy Mattes
Amy Mattes loves PNW rainy days powered by too much coffee and writing toepic movie scores. She has a vintage suitcase full of old journals and a heartshaped rock collection. She is inspired by the grit and beauty of human connection,often drawing story out of struggles with identity, sexuality, grief andaddiction. She holds an Anti-Oppressive Social Work Degree from the Universityof Victoria and is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts School ofCreative Writing at Vancouver Island University. Amy is represented by Carolyn Forde of Transatlantic Agency and is currently writing her second noveland raising a child. She holds gratitude for the Snuneymuxw First Nation whoseunceded territory she lives, learns and loves on.
1 - How did your first book change your life?How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feeldifferent?
Late September is my fictionalized story thatbegged to be written. There was a lot of healing for me in having it come tofruition. It is a dream come true. A dream I worked at, but I don’t think Iever want to go back into the headspace of a 19-year-old character again. Formy work in progress, the main female lead is closer to my age now. There is awisdom that comes with ageing that I couldn’t have tapped into in my current writinguntil I’d been through it.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, asopposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
My novel contains a lot of non-fiction experiencesand observations woven in and embellished or mutated and I’ve been writing whatI call ‘scrap’ poetry my whole life. For some reason calling myself a poetfeels superfluous, though I am starting to take more ownership of that term. Alot of my note taking starts out as poetry. Writing a fiction novel, however, wasjust something I always felt that I needed to make happen. I believed in thestory that was developing and kept on with it, despite a gap where I went touniversity. Writing a fiction novel was what I always wanted to accomplish, nowI feel like the possibilities are open ended.
3 - How long does it take to start anyparticular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is ita slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, ordoes your work come out of copious notes?
I am a mix of all those. Some works come and Ihave to get them down immediately and others I sit with. My drafts usuallymaintain their bones. I free write and journal a lot and then move to mycomputer. I try to make sure I really live outside of my writing time, doing sogives me more passion when I get the opportunity to craft.
4 - Where does a work of prose usually beginfor you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a largerproject, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
So far, I’ve started both books from thebeginning, though they don’t take a linear trajectory after that. My firstnovel I wrote the start, then the end, then the middle over the span of sixyears. My second, I’ve promised myself won’t take that long, and I am tryingsomething different with perspectives and timelines, so I am jumping aroundeven more.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter toyour creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I wouldn’t say readings are part of mycreative process, but I do enjoy them. They help me develop a dialogue withpeople who care about the same things I do and being given graciousopportunities to read from my work feels cathartic, though I’m learning theyneed to be sustainably planned.
6 - Do you have any theoretical concernsbehind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with yourwork? What do you even think the current questions are?
My debut novel is about the coming-of-agethemes I experienced like grief, addiction, and sexuality and I look to otherauthors to read the ones I haven’t like immigration, and racism. I think thequestions we ask are still the basics of who are we? What unites us? What hurtsus and divides us? I really valueconnection and listening, and I imagine most of my work will cover personalgrowth in one way or another.
7 – What do you see the current role of thewriter being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think therole of the writer should be?
Like any artist, a writer reflects life. Ithink part of that role is a responsibility to be political and just andcurrent. To be more than tolerant, to teach and to learn. A writer should aimto channel and articulate issues and values.
8 - Do you find the process of working with anoutside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
Patients wouldn’t survive to tell a good storyif their surgeons didn’t perform their best. The editors I’ve worked with havefixed me up, made me a better writer. Got me exercising my writerly muscles.Editing is a big and miraculous undertaking. I’m enthralled by their abilitiesto see within.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you'veheard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Most thing aren’t worth anger.
10 - How easy has it been for you to movebetween genres (poetry to fiction)? What do you see as the appeal?
As I said before poetry has always been therefor me, but it’s felt less tangible. I’m taking some poetry classes right nowand since my days are busy, I love that it gives me the chance to read andwrite in shorter spurts, but with the same command.
11 - What kind of writing routine do you tendto keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
On days when I don’t have my son, I drinkcoffee leisurely in bed while I think, no phone, no book. Then I will write atmy desk for an hour or so before heading to work. When I do have him, life ismore hectic, but I always carry a notebook everywhere and will write on myphone. I’ll puts words down wherever and then try to amalgamate them in theevenings when he’s asleep.
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where doyou turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I take my dog for a walk in the rainforest toquiet things down. I usually focus my thoughts on where I am stuck, and I will problem-solveand breathe and usually get the answers I’m looking for. If that doesn’t do thetrick I will rest or read. I am a big fan of sitting in stillness.
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
I have a sensitive sense of smell, so thisconjures up seasons and memories over a lifetime of homes, but to choose one,since “home” here feels like the past, or the first, I’d say the crisp, but staleinside of an old hockey rink.
14 - David W. McFadden once said that bookscome from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work,whether nature, music, science or visual art?
Music all the way. I am moved to tears on aregular basis by song. I also really love film moments where the music is just right,and feelings are captured and slowed down. I aim to reconstruct that in words. Mynovel was influenced by skateboarding and the use of public space as a contextfor adolescent development. Skateboarding is a hobby that is emulated infashion and art, but if you are a real skateboarder, you’re usually apatheticabout inspiring the trends, the true focus is on creative expression withoutboundaries. Grit and determination, play. I don’t think we play enough asadults.
15 - What other writers or writings areimportant for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
I’m a huge fan of Miriam Toews and Joshua Whitehead. The Kite Trick by Bill Gaston changed the limits of what Ithought was possible in a short story. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeousby Ocean Vuong, to me is the most eloquent production of a poem and I justbathe in those words when I lose track of where I am going.
16 - What would you like to do that youhaven't yet done?
This question is so perplexing to me. I’vedone a lot in my lifetime. Take my son to Disney? Travel the World? What is onesupposed to say? In my truth, there is something deeper percolating: I want toenter a relationship with the vulnerable task of communicating my needs calmly.I want to be seen and heard in love. I don’t think I’ve done that.
17 - If you could pick any other occupation toattempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would haveended up doing had you not been a writer?
I have a full-time career as a ProbationOfficer on the side. It’s humbling and forces me to show up for people and bearwitness to their stories. I try to fudge the system how I can, I am not in itfor the law enforcement. I love connecting with people and being a part oftheir lives in a positive way.
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doingsomething else?
Strangely enough, writing has been theconstant. It’s as though if I am not writing I am not breathing. It’s the way Iprocess life. In my elementary school writing books, I was always asking theteachers for more library time and more art!
I played a lot of sports, played in band anddid drama, but when things fell to the wayside, writing was always there.
19 - What was the last great book you read?What was the last great film?
I can find greatness in nearly every book Ifinish. I recently adored Rouge by Mona Awad. As for film, I was very moved bythe remake of All Quiet on the Western Front. I am a sucker for dramas with anepic score.
20 - What are you currently working on?
Iam currently working on a collection of poems, and a second novel about aninfertile woman returning to her unincorporated hometown for the funeral of herchildhood best friend, a woman whose addiction resulted in the loss of herkids. One desperate to have a child, the other incapable of caring for them. Itis a walk down the memory lane of a secret-holding, shady and depressedcommunity.
12 or 20 (second series) questions;
