AUTHOR 2 U BOOK NETWORK INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH
AUTHOR IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Petra Lozano, Creator of author2ubooks.com is pleased to interview:
Magdalena Ball, Author of SLEEP BEFORE EVENING.
Hello Maggie thank you for participating in this interview.
Petra:
Where did you grow up?
Maggie:
I lived in NYC, where the story was primarily set, until I was 12, and then I moved to Long Beach, Long Island. I moved briefly to Charlottesville, VA when I was in my last year of High School, and then back to NYC for University, before leaving the country for grad school. The territory/setting of the book is one which was familiar to me in a way that one's childhood home is when you've long since left it -- viscerally and sensually. I had to revisit heavily to get the actual facts of the place, but the scents, the sensations, and the inner sense of it where already there. My first home was an apartment on the lower east side -- an area which is relatively trendy now, but which was a little scary back in the late 60s and early 70s when I was a kid. There was a lot of character in the area though, and there still is -- a blend of young and old; poor and bohemian living side by side.
Petra:
Who or what was the earliest influence that compelled you to write?
Maggie:
It's hard to pinpoint the earliest influence as I started writing as soon as I started reading -- around 3-4. Possibly Maurice Sendak or Dr Seuss, as both were among my favourite authors (still are!). I still feel a funny sensation when I read Little Bear to my daughter -- it's a kind of feeling of linguistic possibility, so I suspect that the combination of words and visuals led me to feel that early awakening of hunger that ultimately compelled me to create my own stories.
Petra:
I was quite taken by Mari's character and could identify with her fears. What compelled you to write about a teenager and her struggles?
Maggie:
I think it was probably that sense of being seventeen or eighteen as a critical moment in a person's life -- a turning point when they move from childhood to adulthood and I wanted to trace that shift in someone who was an artist. It was always my intention to explore the sense of awakening that leads a person to make the commitment to art that Mari does. The drugs and pain and breakdown all came much later as I was outlining and working with the plot. I was inspired by Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to write my own, female version, in a generation x type of era (1982), but as I'm a creature of a very different time, place and background, of course the story was a completely different one.
Petra:
The effects of the drug Heroin was most descriptive throughout the book. How did you research this subject?
Maggie:
This was one of the most challenging things for me, as I was well aware that many of the people reading the book would have had experience with heroin, and would know immediately if I made a mistake.
I spent some time visiting, talking with, and reading about addiction in general, and heroin in particular, and I also relied on my aunt Susan (Gordon Lydon)'s memoir Take the Long Way Home, which charts her involvement with heroin addiction -- I lived through and experienced first hand some of her struggles so was able to relate both my own memories of that time with what she wrote about so vividly. My mother too, had a brief dalliance with heroin and some of her friends did as well, and one of them in particular spent a lot of time reading and critiquing the book for me to ensure that every specific detail of my writing about the subject was accurate.
Petra:
You had some great characters in this novel. Do you pick your characters from people around you, or are they all pure fiction?
Maggie:
I don't think that there's any novel that contains 'pure fiction'! Writers always pick, like magpies, from what's around them -- people they know and experiences they've had. I'm pretty ruthless when it comes to using things. There's a lot of stuff in there that came from people I know, conversations I overheard, and experiences I've had. But of course there's no such thing as pure fact either. There are a few characters who began with me visualising someone -- the grandfather Eric for example was initially based loosly on the philosopher Derek Parfitt, whose work I've very much enjoyed. But then I messed around and brought in characteristics from both of my own grandfathers, and other people I knew until he began to take on a quality that was quite different from the early character. It was the same for other characters -- there's some of me in all of them, from Miles to Marianne to Lily and even Cathy. But in the end, the fiction begins to take over and form it's own impetus and you lose sight of any initial person you might have had in mind.
Petra:
Will there be a follow up Book to Maris' life?
Maggie:
I hadn't really thought of that. At this stage I've got other books on the cards and probably won't revisit Mari for a while, but perhaps there will be a point in the future where I pick up her story and decide to look at the adult life of this composer. At least I wouldn't have to create a complete backstory!
Petra:
Is there a particular character you always have wanted to write about?
Maggie:
Yes, my grandmother, who was a singer in the Catskills in the forties. I would love to explore that story and the whole Borscht Belt era, which hasn't had too much done on it in a fictional sense. It's a rich time historically, with WW2, the whole entertainment industry, and even the tracing of that all-inclusive hotel holiday rise and fall. There are great celebrities like Eddie Cantor, Tony Curtis, and even Frank Sinatra I could explore. But I'm working on something else first.
Petra:
What are you working on currently?
Maggie:
Black Cow -- a story about a Chief Executive Officer in a large multinational who ends up living off the land in remote Tasmania -- a novel which tackles sustainability, self-sufficiency, and, as always, love and human frailty. I think the book will be a little less intense and a little funnier than Sleep -- sort of a cross between Dilbert and The Good Life.
Petra:
How easy was it to write this book? Do you write in outline format, or do you write each chapter as you go?
Maggie:
It's never easy to write a novel! I tend to do an outline first, and then spend a long time writing about each character -- defining them and creating backstory. And then I write each chapter, not always in order.
Petra:
How do you feel about your publishing choice? Would you recommend it to others, or would you now only use traditional publishers?
Maggie:
BeWrite is actually a traditional publisher, albeit a small, independent one. Yes, I'd highly recommend going with a small publisher over a large house. Small houses are generally faster to market, and they give you a lot more individual attention and support. Also there is much less pressure (and this is really important) over sales -- they generally (and of course there will be exceptions) look at your book as a long term investment, and if you don't sell 5,000 copies in the first 3 months, they won't pulp your book. Big houses will often put enormous pressure on their authors and if you don't make the big sales fast (something which is near impossible for first time novelists), they'll drop you. That said, a small house has much smaller budgets for publicity, and you often won't get an advance, plus sometimes you'll have to tell people who your publisher is -- that doesn't happen when you're with Random House! That kind of name recognition sometimes opens doors. Nevertheless, I think, on balance, a small house is a much better option for an emerging novelist. It doesn't matter who publishes you though, the overall responsibility for promotion is in your own hands. That's something that sometimes comes as a shock for a first time author.
Petra:
Is there anything else you wish to tell your readers that we have not covered?
Maggie:
I'd like to thank you and your readers for taking the time to get to know more about me and my book. I really appreciate your insightful questions! For more information (including a full MP3 reading of chapter 1 done by yours truly with my odd hybrid accent), or to check out the book trailer, people can visit:
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/images/SleepBeforeEvening.htm
Petra:
Thank you for granting me this interview, Maggie, and I wish you continued success with your writing career.
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