Q&A with Tara Ison discussion

Welcome to the world of Alcatraz - not "The Rock" of convicts and action adventure movies, but the world where real families lived - the wives and children of the prison officials, just 100 yards away from the most infamous prison in the country. What was life there like, for a woman, for a young girl? This is the world I explore in my first novel, A Child out of Alcatraz - and I love talking about it. Please, ask away!

Why Alcatraz? Did you get any help from the officials? Great book. Love it.

Dear Gina - first, thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the book!

"Alcatraz" because I was touring the island (great tour, a must-see if you've haven't), and heard a brief reference to the "families" who lived there, and it stuck in my mind. The idea of being a woman, or girl, in this most "masculine," threatening, foreboding place in the country - as Alcatraz was pitched to the public - completely fascinated me. What would it be like to grow up there as a girl? I began planning it as a novel, researching, etc., and never lost that fascination!

Ah, the "officials," and how they helped... This is interesting. While researching/writing the book, I did speak with people who grew up on the island, who were kind enough to share some experiences with me (several have written memoirs, many of which highlight how much fun it was to be a kid on the Island, how it was one big happy family), and was able to meet with some members of the National Park Service, who now oversee Alcatraz - it's one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country. They were very kind and helpful, at that point - I always explained I was writing a fictional story of a fictional family, but that I really wanted to honor the experience. The Alcatraz community is very close, and I was aware I wasn't a "member" of the group. When the novel was published, I asked if it might be made available in the 2 bookstores on the island (bookstores where I obtained much of my research material) - I was told I needed to submit the book, first, to the National Park Service for approval. Word came back: No, we will not stock this book on the island, because it is a novel and we do not stock fiction. Because I am persistent (a million people visit that bookstore every year, I was still hoping...!), I wrote again and stressed this was a serious book, to the degree that almost 1/3rd of the story was, in fact, nonfiction sequences of Alcatraz history. One of the Park Rangers who had been so helpful to me finally told me - off the record - the real reason was because my book had offended the committee and the community. Not because of any information about Alcatraz - the brutality, the suicides, any depiction of the penology - but because of the "family" story, which included adultery, domestic violence and issues of sexuality. I was told the committee "was afraid the book would reflect badly on Alcatraz." Uh...okay. (Later, at a reading, a guy came up to me, told me he'd grown up on the island, and I had barely scratched the surface of the level of family dysfunction...)

But, hey. I wrote the best book I could - and it turned out to be "the book about Alcatraz that Alcatraz didn't want people to read!"

Thank you again for your interest - best regards, Tara Ison

Hi Tara -

I haven't read your book yet, BUT I remember the same reference to "the families" during the Alcatraz Tour. It also touched and stuck with me, but as a side note - obviously didn't resonate nearly as much as it did with you (and thank goodness it did!)

Perhaps the some of the various souvenir stands on and near Pier 39 would be interested - they're not run by the nps (that are trying to maintain a "certain story").

Andrew
(who became acquainted with the writings of C.J. Box at one of the tourist shops inside of Yellowstone)

Great suggestion, Andrew - wish I'd thought of that a few years ago...

At this point, hard copies of the book are disappearing - why I'm so glad it's finally out as an ebook!

Cheers and thanks, Tara

A couple of writing questions, since you teach and I am an aspiring writer. How do you pick your topics? Do you take commercialism into consideration? What are top three mistakes you see most from young writers? Thank you! I enjoyed Alcatraz and look forward to reading The List.

Hi, Dolly - thanks for writing in.

I don't know that I actually choose my topics - it's usually the other way around. I find myself stuck on something - a phrase, an image, a strange fact - that keeps simmering and floating around in my mind. It's very "unbidden" - I'm not consciously looking for something to write about. It's only if and when I can't shake the thing off that I start actively, consciously, "thinking" about what it might mean, if there is a story or character there - and that's when I start scribbling...

I don't take commercialism into consideration, because I have no idea what that term really means! I don't think there are any sure bets on what will "sell" or be "popular" - and if I wrote to that goal, well, I wouldn't be writing in a meaningful way, or what I truly cared about. I do think quite a lot about my reader, however, and what kind of experience he/she might be having while reading the book - is she bored by this? Intrigued? Annoyed? Engaged? Provoked? Confused? If someone is going to invest hours of their life in reading my book, I want them to "get" something out of it. (I only do this during revision, though - that first/rough draft is for me alone, to write whatever and however moves me, to get all of that out onto the page.)

Top three mistakes? Let's see...number one, being too easy on the character! Having a character who isn't wholly, passionately invested in needing something - and so obstacles to that need aren't such a big deal. There's very little conflict that way, not enough tension or momentum. Torture your characters! Number two - being sloppy. Not appreciating the importance of every single word, its rhythm and implications, etc. - this also includes rushing the work, not letting it sit over time and then returning to it with a fresh eye, being too quick to think it's "done." Also related - sloppiness in presentation, not proofreading and so on. If I'm stumbling over typos, it takes me out of the story - there's no reason for that to happen! Number three - thinking "confusion" is a worthy goal. There's always one student in a beginning class who, when everyone in the workshop is confused about something, says "Good, that's what I was going for!" As if confusing your reader is evidence of complexity or superior intellect... In fact, it's the easiest thing to do! It's ambiguity that takes skill, and demands enormous precision and clarity - and that's where revision comes in.

Thanks again - good luck in your own writing! Regards, Tara