Doing an interview with Sage was the greatest fun I’d had in weeks!
Before calling to talk with her, I was feeling very nervous, my usual shy and retiring self, wondering why anyone would be interested in me. But no sooner did we get on the line than she put me at ease and I found I had no trouble holding forth on various writerly topics. The next time I glanced at the clock, our half-hour had flown by. Have a listen and tell me what you think!
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Anesa,
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I listened to the Sage Adderley interview this afternoon. It left me with a number of impressions.
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There was the original short story, of course, giving life to Miriam. The other dramatist personae, it seems, were further developed in Our Orbit, and firmly too, giving believable and ample scope for the circumstances in which they now find themselves. Good fiction is always close to reality if the characters are strong enough making their eventual destination often foregone. Readers do like security when looking for a good read and may view shock and awe, of which we see too much these days, as mere histrionics and disposable.
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It was interesting to hear how the interview became less of a Q & A session and more of an honest disclosure of your own analyses, and doubts sometimes, of your journey toward the status you now enjoy as a published novelist and helped to establish your brand image. It can’t have been easy to draw that fine line between self-deprecation and self-regard but you did it admirably; instinctively I thought. I take nothing away from Sage, though, as she is clearly an experienced interviewer and gave you lots of space.
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In all it was a success and I’m sure that others will join me in wishing you well for the future and your eventual appearance on television, (a major network perhaps?) which we believe you richly deserve.
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Trying to be constructive as always,
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All the best,
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Fred.
Your kind and thoughtful words are much appreciated, as always, Fred. You’ve seen through the temptations of self-absorption in the interview context with great clarity!
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It’s rare in my experience that one is encouraged to hold forth on topics near & dear to oneself but of dubious interest to any possible listener. I must admit, the opportunity quite went to my head. Without even noticing, I rattled on about my “process” and so forth until half an hour had passed in the proverbial twinkling!
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If only OUR ORBIT were selling hand over fist on Amazon, or winning major prizes with a few USD attached, then listeners might be even more intrigued to hear how I did it! Until then, I take comfort that, with no TV interviews scheduled so far, I don’t need to fret about new hairstyles or even a face lift! Surely they give professional advice on all of that beforehand, at the station?
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Just teasing, of course. In actual fact, it was terrific to do a BlogTalk interview with Sage. And icing on the cake to get a comment from the inimitable Fred Webster. Visit Fred here: http://www.fredwebster.co.uk/ Or on Twitter: @FredWebster10
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XoXoXo
I enjoy this interview, particularly your thoughts on studying in an MFA program and finding a writing group. I remember sitting with you once and complaining about the responses of healthy people to disability writing often having a similar nature and little useful information to guide revision. You told me something similar to what you say in this interview about age skewing colleagues’ perspectives. You followed with a sweet compliment that you didn’t find that in my feedback as I have an old soul. I often wish I were still well enough to continue to exchange writing with you to provide and receive criticism. Thank you for sharing this interview and for all you post to this website!
Amanda–! I’m so happy to hear from you. Many thanks for stopping by and sharing thoughts with me. I’ve actually gotten a bit nostalgic about the MFA program recently. There were disappointments, but I did enjoy the sense of community–not an ideal community, but nonetheless a group of people and activities that I was glad to be part of. Turns out, that’s not so easy to come by in my life!
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I’ve seen your updates and have been thinking of you. WIll try to do a better job of keeping in touch. Very best wishes to you and your family– XoXoXo
MFA time is a great time to do your art and have other like artists to bounce things off of and get informed critical feedback. Interesting thinking about the difference of critiquing something written as opposed to visual art – the time investment can be so much more intimate. It would be like sending a painting home on approval letting someone look at it for a month, say. I know from reading your stories that they linger after the reading is over.