12 or 20 (second series) questions with Ivy Grimes
Ivy Grimes lives in Georgia, and herwriting has appeared in The Baffler, Maudlin House, hex, ergot.,Vastarien, and elsewhere. Her collection Glass Stories is available fromGrimscribe Press. For more, please visit www.ivyivyivyivy.com.
1 - How did your first book or chapbook changeyour life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does itfeel different?
I just started it all! I had a fiction chapbook out lastyear: Grime Time. I had a lot of fun working with the editor, Matthew Stott, and I enjoyed my online conversations with everyone who read it. Mycurrent collection, Glass Stories, was also a lot of fun to edit, and Ialso loved working with editor Jon Padgett.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposedto, say, poetry or nonfiction?
I actually started writing poetry first. It was quicker! Itransferred my energies to fiction once I realized how much more time I spentreading fiction than poetry. I love both, but fiction is the truer love of mywriting life.
3 - How long does it take to start any particularwriting project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slowprocess? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or doesyour work come out of copious notes?
I tend to either do things quickly or not at all. I also havemany more ideas for projects than I actually start. My first drafts are oftenrather close to their final shape, but I feel uneasy about that. I’d like toexperiment with more radical revisions. On the other hand, too much editing isdangerous for me since I want to be led by my unconscious mind rather than myanalytical mind. I suppose I can’t win!
4 - Where does a work of prose usually begin foryou? 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?
With Glass Stories, I wrote a couple before I realizedI wanted to keep going. I got really excited by the idea of having a differentglass element in each story, and having a number of “Glass ____” stories. Theconcept came before the story for most of these, as it often does for me.Again, it’s the initial idea that excites me, and that excitement pushes methrough the sometimes-slog of finishing a project.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter toyour creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
Heck no, I don’t enjoy giving readings…I don’t want to feelthe gruesome weight of everyone’s eyeballs on me!
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behindyour writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work?What do you even think the current questions are?
I’m very interested in ideas about spirituality. I oftenexplore various kinds of anxiety as well. Often existential anxiety, which Isuppose goes hand-in-hand with spirituality. My hope is that when someone readsa story I’ve written, they leave with their own questions.
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?
I hate performing. I know that’s not what you’re talkingabout, but I can’t help but think of “roles” that way. I think ideally, anyperson (regardless of hobby or profession) cares about the world at large andtries to live with empathy and improve matters. I don’t think writers have aspecial call in this way, though, and I don’t think this care has to beexpressed in one’s writing. Ultimately, I think the role of the writer will bedifferent for each writer.
8 - Do you find the process of working with anoutside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
To be perfectly honest, neither! Working with an editor iswonderful because it helps me see my words from another perspective, and manyeditors have great ideas and a more thorough sense of the literary landscapethan I do. I don’t feel like I’ll die without an editor, though.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard(not necessarily given to you directly)?
When lecturing about storytelling, Kurt Vonnegut said - “Thetruth is, we know so little about life, we don't really know what the good newsis and what the bad news is.” He was giving the example of Hamlet, howmany of the events in the play aren’t obviously good or bad, but simply thingsthat happen to Hamlet. I think this advice favors storytelling that allows thereader to wonder rather than telling them what to think. It also encouragessomeone to retain a sense of humility and mystery about writing as well aslife, which for me is essential to survival.
10 - How easy has it been for you to move betweengenres (short stories to the novel)? What do you see as the appeal?
Shorter and longer fictions each have their challenges forme. Short fictions are easier to tackle, but longer fictions give me more spaceto play around. I enjoy the thrill of a quick short story, of course, and Iappreciate that its world can be much more sparsely decorated. On the otherhand, I also enjoy telling longer stories without having to create a new worldevery few pages.
11 - What kind of writing routine do you tend tokeep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
I don’t adhere to a writing schedule. On days when I write,sometimes I like to keep hammering away, and other times I come and go. I add alittle here, subtract a little there, and in between, I look up a bunch ofstuff online.
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do youturn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
Fun facts, history, new films, old films, art museums,poetry, surrealism, memories of childhood landscapes, favorite authors, fairytales….
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Magnolia blossoms, with their hot lemon breath.
14 - David W. McFadden once said that books comefrom books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whethernature, music, science or visual art?
Other than books, I’m most conscious of the fact that filmsinfluence me. For example, was an important influence for me inwriting eerie, strange fiction.
15 - What other writers or writings are importantfor your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Too many, with more to come! Every writer I’ve encounteredhas been important in some sense. Some writers who’ve especially influenced mywriting include Kafka, Beckett, Murakami, James Joyce, Flannery O’Connor,Barbara Comyns, Lorrie Moore, Dostoevsky, Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Evelyn Waugh, Kazuo Ishiguro, Barbara Pym, Tana French, Raymond Chandler, Maya Angelou, Donna Tartt, Richard Brautigan, Ralph Ellison, Tove Jansson, Tolkien,the Victorians, Sayaka Murata, Iris Murdoch, Paul Auster, etc., etc.
16 - What would you like to do that you haven'tyet done?
Reach enlightenment!
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 lot of half-baked pastoral dreams of farming orshepherding. I’m not crazy about getting my hands dirty, though, truth betold.
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doingsomething else?
I’ve always loved to read so much. It’s one of my veryfavorite things in life. That’s the only reason.
19 - What was the last great book you read? Whatwas the last great film?
I really enjoyed the memoir Work by Bud Smith, whichis about his experiences working heavy construction and growing up in NewJersey. He’s very funny and finds poetry in unusual places.
I’ve been going through the Japanese Horror section of the Criterion Channel, and I especially enjoyed a film called Cure byKiyoshi Kurosawa. I haven’t even watched half of these movies yet, though, so Ihave more to go!
20 - What are you currently working on?
I’m doing secret experiments in the semi-darkness.
