Comments (2) The winner of my book giveaway is Kristin from Dragondreamer’s Lair. She gets a signed copy of Yellowcake by Ann Cummins. Congratulations!
I will be doing another signed book giveaway and author interview in January, with poet Nicole Walker who blogs at Nikwalk. I’m planning to make this a monthly feature, so stay tuned.
For the past fifteen years I have had the pleasure of knowing novelist Ann Cummins, who currently splits her time between Flagstaff, Arizona and Oakland, California. She is a professor of creative writing at Northern Arizona University, an award-winning fiction writer, and author of Yellowcake, a novel about two families living on the Navajo reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, and the impact of yellow cake uranium mining.
I’ve been wanting to feature Ann on this blog for quite some time, for a variety of reasons. First of all, I deeply admire her writing. I have always loved her short fiction, but Yellowcake is so engrossing and the characters so complex that it is easily one of my favorite novels, and the kind of writing I aspire to. Also, Ann has a been a genuine friend and mentor over the years, truly supportive of my writing and of all new and upcoming writers.
In honor of November’s National Novel Writing Month Ann was generous enough to answer some questions via email about her writing process. At the end of the interview I will provide information on how you can win a free, signed copy of her novel Yellowcake.
Here is the interview:
Q. During National Novel Writing Month, participants write a novel in 30 days. How do you feel about this event and the idea of people writing a novel in such a short period of time?
A. National Novel Writing Month is a great idea for energizing writers. I’m currently teaching a senior seminar in fiction writing, and at least 8 of the students are banking pages daily toward that final goal of a novel’s ending. The experience is terrific for building writing communities. The 8 meet at a coffee shop and pound their laptops in unison. I guess they’re writing in the veteran café tradition of Tennessee Williams and Carson McCullers (how those two did it without laptops, I don’t know). It’s also great for procrastinators and worriers who labor over words and phrases (I’m talking about myself). One month doesn’t leave much time for dilly-dallying.
Q. How long did it take you to write Yellowcake and what was that process like?
Ten years altogether, though I didn’t know it would be a novel until I was about 5 years into it.
I started with character in Yellowcake, as I have in most of my stories, but I knew I’d have to settle on a plot sooner or later. The plot most organic to the characters, the one that united all of them, was the true story of the dramas governing the uranium industry in the southwest. I didn’t want to go there. I’m skeptical of polemical fiction. But I believe a politic governs all writing, even so-called a-political writing. Fiction doesn’t work, though, when the message handicaps character. So I worried about it. But, I felt like I was on pretty solid ground as the novel took shape because my own beliefs about uranium mining began to wobble. Through my characters, I could explore the doubt about and fear of uranium mining, as well as the cold-conviction that the new industry is safe and better than mining fossil fuels. If it comes to a vote, I’ll probably still vote against resurrecting the industry in this country, but some of my characters would not vote that way, and I think they’ve got the right.
3. What advice do you have for beginning writers?
Don’t give up. Let the writing break your heart every day. Mastery is an illusion. You might get better technically, but the imagination is impish and will trick you into writing drivel even when you think you’re beyond all that. It will also lead you to the sublime.
Here are some links where you can find out more about Ann Cummins and her fiction:
http://www.redroom.com/author/ann-cummins
https://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780547053578-1
Win a signed copy of Ann’s novel!
All you have to do is comment on this post and recommend a favorite novel.
Next Thursday, December 9, I will choose one winner at random from the comments.
Nanowrimo was a bust for me this year, which is fine. I’ve been working on trying to get an academic book contract, and finally made some progress in that area. After speaking again with an editor I worked with this summer, I have been in the process of revising my book proposal and writing a sample chapter. Needless to say, everything else went on the back burner. My chapter deadline is this Friday, after which I plan to pull out and dust off my novel from last year, which needs quite a bit of revising. I consider this my consolation prize for not writing a novel this year. For all of you who complete Nanowrimo, congratulations!
I’m also in the process of writing up an interview with novelist Ann Cummins, and will be doing a giveaway of her novel Yellowcake. So stay tuned!
I was thinking today about how much I am motivated and inspired by reading about and watching videos about writers and teachers. After reading an article about a revolutionary and hard-working teacher that I am assigning for class today, I was inspired enough that I plowed through an enormous stack of grading.
Sometimes, I get inspiration in unexpected places. An episode of Mad Men might inspire a lesson for my class the next day (on messages in the media, not adultery, lol). A movie might inspire me to write a novel. Inspiration is a tricky thing. I am usually not inspired so much by specific ideas as I am by excellence itself. Seeing a great movie makes me want to tell a great story, even if I’m using a different medium.
Where do you turn to for inspiration, and what inspires you?
It’s NaNoWriMo time again!
Crazy person that I am, I’ve decided that not only am I going to be a participant and try to write 50,000 words in 30 days, but I’ve also decided to create The Writing Buddy Newsletter.
This daily newsletter will bring you tips and inspiration for writing, revising, and connecting with other writers.
Subscribe now for free!
Winter 2008 Issue of Thin Air Magazine
"Pork Belly Futures"
Winner of the 2008
Northern Arizona
Playwriting Showcase
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