Ask the Author: Marcy Dermansky
Answered Questions (14)
Marcy Dermansky
This is such a good question. I think there is basically a part of me in all of my characters. I know I prefer to write fiction because I can hide behind the story. Say, "this is not my story, this did not happen to me."
But similarities are certainly there, some right on the surface. Like, I love to swim. I have cats. I love turkey sandwiches.
But similarities are certainly there, some right on the surface. Like, I love to swim. I have cats. I love turkey sandwiches.
Marcy Dermansky
John,
I think you might have answered this question for me.
I love to write open endings. I think this can be maddening, but I want the stories to continue past the page. In my first novel Twins, Chloe shoots a basket and the novel ends when it is suspended in the air.
I have answers to so many of the open questions that are not answered in my novel -- what happens next.
Spolier, I know the basket goes in -- even if I didn't write that on the page. I think that does point to the crazy hopefulness of the future. Just like you said.
Thanks for asking this question. And here is a teaser, I might even be working on a sequel of a novel to remain unnamed.
Marcy
I think you might have answered this question for me.
I love to write open endings. I think this can be maddening, but I want the stories to continue past the page. In my first novel Twins, Chloe shoots a basket and the novel ends when it is suspended in the air.
I have answers to so many of the open questions that are not answered in my novel -- what happens next.
Spolier, I know the basket goes in -- even if I didn't write that on the page. I think that does point to the crazy hopefulness of the future. Just like you said.
Thanks for asking this question. And here is a teaser, I might even be working on a sequel of a novel to remain unnamed.
Marcy
Marcy Dermansky
I am a writer that doesn't outline. So, I am constantly surprised by what my characters do. I love this. The surprise is why I love to write. Even with a question like this, I don't know the answer until I start typing.
I started Very Nice because I wanted to write about a student/teacher relationship.
Hurricane Girl started with the idea of what happens if you lose your house to a hurricane.
The Red Car was a way to process my own divorce but I didn't know that until I started writing. I thought, initially, that I writing a Haruki Murakami novel.
Writers often talk about how much they hate writing. I get that. But for the most part, I love writing when I do it -- and that's why I do it.
I started Very Nice because I wanted to write about a student/teacher relationship.
Hurricane Girl started with the idea of what happens if you lose your house to a hurricane.
The Red Car was a way to process my own divorce but I didn't know that until I started writing. I thought, initially, that I writing a Haruki Murakami novel.
Writers often talk about how much they hate writing. I get that. But for the most part, I love writing when I do it -- and that's why I do it.
Marcy Dermansky
Did you really create a puzzle?!?!? Hi Guy. Somehow, I managed not to see any of these questions asked to me by readers. I feel so rude. I would have loved to have seen this puzzle.
Marcy Dermansky
Thank you. Plot! Some writers say they don't believe in plot, but how can you have a novel without one. I recently opened the file of what be my next novel. I read the last scene I had written, had spent a long time writing. It was twenty pages, set in a restaurant, and I realized all of these characters were basically talking. Nothing else. The plot had not been advanced. It was all very clever. I cut it.
I always know that I am lost when my characters just sit around talking. I mean, of course, I love dialogue. But I want and needs things to happen and when I don't know what that is, I walk away from the computer and come back and hopefully it will come to me. It's always really fun when it does come.
I always know that I am lost when my characters just sit around talking. I mean, of course, I love dialogue. But I want and needs things to happen and when I don't know what that is, I walk away from the computer and come back and hopefully it will come to me. It's always really fun when it does come.
Marcy Dermansky
I am so glad you like my open endings. I know there are some readers who can find this infuriating. What I love about them, I think, is the possibility. WIth so many of my novels, I have a very clear idea of what happens next but I cut away. Here's a spoiler. In my first novel, Twins, Chloe makes the basket.
Lets say I told the reader she made the basket. Maybe it's satisfying, or maybe it's flat. I don't want that flatness. It's like never ending the story. It's also a way to create a happy and sad ending at the same time.
Lets say I told the reader she made the basket. Maybe it's satisfying, or maybe it's flat. I don't want that flatness. It's like never ending the story. It's also a way to create a happy and sad ending at the same time.
Marcy Dermansky
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Marcy Dermansky
Poor Ludivine. It is terrible what happens to her, isn't it? I wrote Bad Marie before I had a child and also before I had cats. I just imagined her breaking her teeth on the can of catfood -- though I have heard of cats eating their dead owner's bodies.
Marcy Dermansky
Occasionally I read comments from disappointed readers about how Marcy Dermansky wrote a "beach read" -- and it is a disappointment after my other novels. Or conversely, readers will say, this is the perfect "beach read." And then, "beach read" is a complement. It is funny how the phrase can cut both ways.
Here is the thing: I write about the things that I know. I write about the things that I love. One of the things that I love the most is swimming. Swimming in an outdoor pool or better yet, the ocean.
And so a great deal of the plot of Very Nice takes place at a beautiful swimming pool at a beautiful home in Connecticut. Sometimes, the characters even venture out to the beach. The novel takes place over the course of the summer -- this gave the book a fast and contained structure.
And because the book takes place poolside and in the summer, it has been marketed as a beach read. I think this is fine. After I do my laps, I love to read, sitting by the pool. Same for the beach. I love to read at the beach, though it is also important to me that I swim first, dive through waves, take a walk on the beach, feel my toes in the sand. The summer is a great time to read.
It is also great to read sitting in front of a fireplace and I hope that when winter comes along, people will still want to read my book -- and maybe long for summer and swimming outside.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I did not sit down to write a beach read. I sat down to write and I was grateful that I thought of a story at all -- and Rachel, Zahid, Becca, Khloe, and Jonathan, became voices in my head; I followed their lead. I only wish I could figure out a marketing plan when I wrote a novel. I know that it is impossible to please every one and yet sometimes that is all that I want to do.
Here is the thing: I write about the things that I know. I write about the things that I love. One of the things that I love the most is swimming. Swimming in an outdoor pool or better yet, the ocean.
And so a great deal of the plot of Very Nice takes place at a beautiful swimming pool at a beautiful home in Connecticut. Sometimes, the characters even venture out to the beach. The novel takes place over the course of the summer -- this gave the book a fast and contained structure.
And because the book takes place poolside and in the summer, it has been marketed as a beach read. I think this is fine. After I do my laps, I love to read, sitting by the pool. Same for the beach. I love to read at the beach, though it is also important to me that I swim first, dive through waves, take a walk on the beach, feel my toes in the sand. The summer is a great time to read.
It is also great to read sitting in front of a fireplace and I hope that when winter comes along, people will still want to read my book -- and maybe long for summer and swimming outside.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I did not sit down to write a beach read. I sat down to write and I was grateful that I thought of a story at all -- and Rachel, Zahid, Becca, Khloe, and Jonathan, became voices in my head; I followed their lead. I only wish I could figure out a marketing plan when I wrote a novel. I know that it is impossible to please every one and yet sometimes that is all that I want to do.
Marcy Dermansky
Ruth! Did you know how much I love receiving praise? I truly do and sometimes, I read lots of not so nice Goodread reviews just because I cherish the good ones. Thank you so much! I am so happy that you loved Very Nice and so happy that you told me! Please feel free to ask me a question any time.
Marcy Dermansky
Writers are sometimes discouraged from reading their reader reviews. This is a site for readers, after all, and sometimes an author can get her feelings hurt. Still I love knowing what people think about The Red Car. Thank you for the kind words -- and yes, I am working on a new novel. But that is all I can say write now because whenever I talk about a book while I am writing it, the story sounds slightly ridiculous.
Marcy Dermansky
I love that you picked up this whim and loved it! Thank you. And thank you, again. I am so sorry it took me so long to reply. I didn't realize I had pending questions.
Marcy Dermansky
Sometimes, when I get truly pissed off at myself for not writing, I feel finally inspired to write.
That is the plain truth. I rarely feel inspired, rarely catch an idea as if it is coming straight from a rainbow, but when I am actually writing, I realize how much I love doing it. The inspiration comes only when I am in the process of doing it, when the write word comes, the right idea, a new character, a line of dialogue. Even answering this question, I realize that I love to write. I wish I did it more. I don't think anyone should wait for inspiration.
That is the plain truth. I rarely feel inspired, rarely catch an idea as if it is coming straight from a rainbow, but when I am actually writing, I realize how much I love doing it. The inspiration comes only when I am in the process of doing it, when the write word comes, the right idea, a new character, a line of dialogue. Even answering this question, I realize that I love to write. I wish I did it more. I don't think anyone should wait for inspiration.
Marcy Dermansky
I have two different methods. One is having an assigned writing time. I turn off the Internet and remain in my chair for the amount of time I predetermine and usually that works. I start typing.
My other method is to wait until I feel really terrible. Let a month pass, or longer, and then, eventually, I begin again because it is the only way to stop feeling terrible. I do not recommend this method.
My other method is to wait until I feel really terrible. Let a month pass, or longer, and then, eventually, I begin again because it is the only way to stop feeling terrible. I do not recommend this method.
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