12 or 20 (second series) questions with Ross McMeekin
Ross McMeekin is author of the upcomingnovel, Pepperleaf, out in 2026 from Thirty West Publishing House, aswell as a story collection, Below the Falls (Thirty West, 2024), anda novel, The Hummingbirds (Skyhorse, 2018). His short fiction hasappeared in publications such as Virginia Quarterly Review, X-R-A-Y, Vol.1Brooklyn, and Shenandoah. More can be found at www.rossmcmeekin.com.
1 - How did your first book change yourlife? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feeldifferent?
My first book, a neo-noir novel called TheHummingbirds, changed my life in that it helped me to see and accept myselfas a writer, more so than I had before. It was also gratifying to get thechance to hear people respond to the project I’d been working on for so long inrelative solitude.
That first novel, though told frommultiple perspectives, had the same overriding tone and style throughout it,where my story collection, Below the Falls, is more of a crowd ofdifferent voices, and the styles vary. Another difference is that the storieswere written over a much longer period of time than the novel. For me, storiesconjure up memories from the time and place I wrote them, so the story collectionbrings forth a lot of different times and places, where the novel is lessdisparate in the memories it brings up.
2 - How did you come to fiction first,as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
In a high school English class, I wasintroduced to stories from James Baldwin and Franz Kafka, among others. Throughthose two writers in particular, the teacher opened my eyes to how complex,nuanced, and powerful fiction could be, and that’s when I started to read a lotof literary fiction—and why I was drawn to write it, too.
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?
My process is one of fits and spurts. Iwrite every day and have now for years, but for me that’s no guarantee I’ll beinspired. I’ve come to see the daily ritual as part of the process, even thetimes where it’s dry. Sometimes it’s more important to spend time pacing andthinking about a piece before tapping the keys. At some point, the ideas come,and I write them out.
I think because I move slowly throughthe first draft, it tends to resemble a final draft more than some otherwriters I’ve known, who fly through their first drafts knowing they might throwit all away and not just revise but rewrite the project altogether.
4 - Where does a work of prose usuallybegin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into alarger project, or are you working on a "book" from the verybeginning?
I’ve found that a work of prose beginswith an image in my mind of a place. That sparks the wider story. Another wayof saying that is place comes first, setting. From there the characters emergeand the scene is set into motion.
I have a novel, Pepperleaf,coming out with Thirty West Publishing House in Spring of 2026, and that bookstarted as a short story and then the seeds of it spread out like roots intothe ground. I’m becoming better at getting a sense of how long a story will beearly on, but it’s still kind of mysterious. Once I start writing, and theinspiration comes, there’s no knowing what it might turn into. That’s part ofthe fun of it, I think.
5 - Are public readings part of orcounter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I’m a pretty quiet, solitary person bynature, so public readings can feel overwhelming, especially the time leadingup to them. But once I’m there, I tend to relax a bit enjoy them. I thinkreading one’s work in front of others can be a help in the revision process,because there’s a live audience and you get a sense of what they respond to andwhat they don’t, in real time. But for me, I have a few trusted readers whosefeedback is most important, and that’s usually the crowd I rely on.
6 - Do you have any theoreticalconcerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answerwith your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
I tend to be interested in characterpsychology, more specifically how human beings contradict themselves. Ifexamined, our contradictions can tell us a lot about ourselves, and our world.In that way, I’m also interested in honesty, and how it reveals complexity. Themore honest I can be in writing, the better. I don’t start with questions I’mtrying to answer, and often I can finish a draft or two of a piece beforeunderstanding what questions the story is grappling with.
7 – What do you see the current role ofthe writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you thinkthe role of the writer should be?
I can only speak as a fiction writer,but I think our role can—maybe should—be honesty. Through fiction, writers havea chance to illuminate the nature of humanity and what isn’t being said, orrealities that people are afraid to say for various reasons. The cloak offiction allows writers to illuminate aspects of humanity and culture that mightotherwise remain unsaid.
8 - Do you find the process of workingwith an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
I think having an outside editor hasbeen helpful to me over the years. It requires me to re-examine my work andmake changes when appropriate. Though I tend to be very perfectionistic, I’malso deeply aware that there will be parts I’ve missed or haven’t thoughtthrough. Editors force me to look at my work more dispassionately, which in thelater stages can spur me toward a fuller realization of what I’d expressed in aless effective way. So you could say it leads me toward greater specificity inmy work.
9 - What is the best piece of adviceyou've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
Show up to write every day. I’ve heardit from a lot of places, and while it’s not true for everyone, it’s true forme. It helps me see the process as one of seasons. Through experiencing the ebband flow of it, I’ve been able to be less anxious when I’m less “productive”—interms of actual word count, page count, etc.—and feel more enjoyment when I’mwriting profusely. I’m at a point in life where my schedule varies a lot eachday, so having a solid writing time that won’t change has helped me be morecreative and have a more enjoyable time through all aspects of the process.
10 - How easy has it been for you tomove between genres (short stories to the novel)? What do you see as theappeal?
I’m always writing short stories, evenwhen I’m focusing on a novel. Stories are the primary tenants of my apartmentbuilding. I think rather than distracting from larger projects, they comealongside them and, in some cases, help move them forward. Both short storiesand novels have a lot to teach each other, and often intersect. For me, forwhatever reason, going back and forth between them feels natural.
11 - What kind of writing routine doyou tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you)begin?
I wake up around one in the morning,work until four-thirty when my wife gets up, then rush through the day ofresponsibilities from there. I wake up without an alarm. It’s not rushed. Mymost creative times are in the late night/early morning.
12 - When your writing gets stalled,where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
A professor from grad school told me hereads poetry before he sits down to write fiction. I don’t always do that, butwhen I’m feeling stuck, I do, and it helps. I also have found that researchinghelps get me inspired. But most often I pace around, and that seems to help,too.
13 - What fragrance reminds you ofhome?
Evergreens, wet soil, rotting branchesand leaves. I’m fortunate to live in a place where I’m surrounded by trees,which I love, save the cloud of pollen hovering over us every spring. Smallcost, though. I wish I smelled it more often, the smell of home…it’s funny howa person gets used to a smell and ceases to smell it, then leaves and comesback a few days later to discover that smell again.
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 influences my writing, for sure.Language is music. I studied jazz as an undergrad, and I know its rhythms are apart of my writing, as are many other forms of music. A sentence is a melodyand often also a harmony.
15 - What other writers or writings areimportant for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
So many! Flannery O’Connor, Tom Drury,Pinckney Benedict, Elizabeth Strout, Charles Portis, Graham Greene…these arejust a few on my all-time list of writers who’ve inspired me.
16 - What would you like to do that youhaven't yet done?
What I’ve been doing over the lastcouple of months: writing a True Grit-esque novel taking place in the late1800s in the Pacific Northwest. I’m drawn to that period because it was a timeof great societal change, and I’m drawn to the place because I’m surrounded by theland and its history.
17 - If you could pick any otheroccupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think youwould have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
I’d love to teach fiction writing againsomeday. I’ve always harbored the fantasy of being a fly-fishing guide, thoughI don’t think I’m anywhere near talented enough to do it. Overall, I would saysomeplace where I could help people learn and get joy from an artistic pursuit(which fly-fishing can be, too).
18 - What made you write, as opposed todoing something else?
I think because it’s what I enjoy most.I love to write…even the difficult parts, in the end, I enjoy. Before mygrandmother passed, she told my father that she thought there was going to be awriter in the family. That stuck with me, and I’ve become that, and I feel asatisfaction that I’m doing good by her. But in the end, I do it because it’swhat I love.
To go a bit further, I think there issomething to the way that I experience the world that lends itself towardscreative expression. Writing is a way of thinking, and something like a storyor novel is the expression of a long, intense period of thought, strung out(usually) over weeks or months or years. I read that once the poet RobertLowell was described as, “thinking in metaphor.” I think that’s true of a lotof fiction writers, too, but maybe more so that we think in story.
19 - What was the last great book youread? What was the last great film?
The last great book I read was Suttreeby Cormac McCarthy, which I’d read years ago and then returned to. I rememberedit as a dark, serious book—which it is—but was surprised by how funny parts ofit are. I think the comedic elements of his writing are sometimes overlooked.The last great film I watched was another revisit: the original Rocky.The character development and rising action are superb, and the quieter partsof the film can be gentle and sad in a very satisfying way. And no one does amontage scene like Sylvester Stallone.
20 - What are you currently working on?
I’m drafting that PNW period novel Imentioned, and I also have a short story without an ending, or at least asatisfying one. I’m also beginning to think through minor changes to Pepperleafin anticipation of the editing process before publication.
