Q&A with Jayne Pupek discussion

I was interviewed recently by Valerie Fox at Press1. Here's the link for those of you who might like to read it.

http://www.leafscape.org/press1/v2n2/...

Hi Jayne!
What a fabulous interview! I really enjoyed reading your responses and especially where you describe the difference between writing a novel and poetry. I feel exactly the same way, since I write both, and I could not help chuckling at your descriptions...what a sense of humor! "You still here?" that really cracked me up. Seriously,you are a marvellous writer. I've read some of your poetry and I hope I can order and read the "Tomato Girl," I know I will love it!
Hugs and blessings,
Ami:)

Thank you so much, Ami. If you write both poetry and fiction, then you know exactly the feeling I was describing. Sometimes you just think you'll never be done with those characters!

Jayne-great interview. You were asked thought-provoking questions. Your spirit shows in your answers!

I am so glad to read that you are finishing up more poetry manuscripts. I think perhaps one of the reasons your poetry is so successful is that you are able to visit the dark places, not live in them.

Thank you, Nina. That's a really good point about visiting the dark places, but not living in them. That's deinitely true for me.

Jayne, I appreciate your answer regarding the weather in "Tomato Girl." I was raised in Virginia and then lived away as an adult (married to a soldier) and returned three years ago. Alaska is the only other place I lived where people are as aware of and attached to the changing seasons.
Writing a novel is an amazing feat! I look forward to reading "Tomato Girl," which has recently arrived at the library where I work and for which I am in line.

Thanks, Melissa. I hope you enjoy "Tomato Girl" and that your wait isn't too long. Which part of Virginia was home to you as a child?

Hi Jayne,
I'll read the interview soon. I'm glad to hear you addressed the difference between writing poetry and fiction. I too write both, but find the fiction so much harder to sustain.
There was a note on another post to which I resonate—when I write fiction if I'm reading fiction I begin to feel like I can't do it at all. The voice of the fiction pulls me in and away from my own voice. Poetry is so much more fluid and easier to handle in its smaller snippets. I'm going away to a retreat in October for three weeks to write and hope to work on my fiction. How can I say this, I'm scared!

Julene

Julene, you brough upan excellent point when you mentioned a writing retreat. I am wondering, Jayne, if you are able to do all your writing at home or do you need to go somewhere away from the hustle and bustle?

Oh, Julene, you can do this. Don't be scared. They are only words. Words are not nearly as hard to wrangle as cattle, or small boys for that matter.

I've actually never been on a writing retreat, Nina, but I imagine the quiet would be wonderful. I'm a wife, mother of three, and have a house full of parrots, dogs, and other animals. I'm lucky to use the bathroom and not be disturbed, so I've pretty much learned to write with other things going on around me. Otherwise, I take advantage of mornings when My children are in school. During warm months, I sometimes write outside, which is like a retreat for me because I live in the woods.

I grew up in Arlington -- it is very different now than what it was 40 years ago! I now live in SW Virginia; we are watching Hanna and Ike now ...

We're watching Hanna, too. Our house is in the woods, so wind and rain can take out the power easily. Ike looks like a monster!

I travel a great deal as part of my job, and when I can manage it I add an extra day on. I will often spend that day either in my hotel room, or in the lobby or by the pool with my notebook or laptop.
Jayne, good luck with your power-I am up I95 a bit in DE and we are getting it now-a good excuse for me to stay in and write!

It sounds like you've worked out the perfect way to schedule retreats to write and think. I enjoy writing poetry outside, but usually work on my novel at my desk.

My lights are flickering and my fingers are crossed! I hope the power stays on.

I read more of the interview. Like you I find poems more contained and doable in the edges of time through my life. I have 400 pages of what I call creative non fiction. I did a Master class with fiction writer Dorothy Allison, bringing about 50 pages (of what she asked for): the opening, some of the best, some of the worst, and the closing. It did not do it for her, she said it would not even be considered for publication, it had no drama and the style was clipped. She advised some books to read from first person. From her massive experience my book was not really a novel. And it really isn't. I was totally discouraged. I spent from Nov 2002 to Oct 2005 writing these 400 pages and paying an editor to go though it, since I do not have good editor skills.
Then I decided to condense sections into more of a short style. But it is hard to sustain the energy after so many years.
Having my poetry chapbook published was a boom to my writing ego, but after that I did have a kind of post partum depression for a bit. I didn't have a book publication party and that was a mistake. We have to celebrate each accomplishment. Did you have a book party?
I have two full size poetry books I am sending out trying to publish. Those I know are good. I plan to send to Mayapple since they have a open reading period. I'm spending a fortune and trying to sustain my writing energy.
That's my spiel, without whining I hope. Great interview for sure.
Julene

I admire Dorothy Allison's work, especially Bastard out of Carolina. I don't know how she is as a teacher. Maybe you'll come back to the creative nonfiction manuscript; it can help to put something away and return to it later with fresh eyes and renewed vigor.

Mayapple is a wonderful press! I really learned a lot working with Judith. I'm so pleased and proud of Forms of Intercession. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

I didn't do a book party either. I think you have to trust your intincts and do what makes you feel good. Tomato Girl was released on August 26th, and I spent the day working on a review I'd been asked to write of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. A cold beer at the end of my day is usually enough of a party for me. Add some chocolate and I'm over the moon.

I've never had Dorothy as a teacher--but she came to the campus where I teach last year, and the way she spoke to the students was so filled with passion and no-nonsense. I loved her.

I've never met her, but enjoy her fiction and nonfiction. She impresses me as no-nonsense, too.

Thank you, Marina. Yes, the South is a world of its own. I wrote an essay about the role of place in my novel. If you're interested, you can find it here:

http://www.algonquin.com/etcetera/alg...

Hi Jayne,
As a Southerner, I enjoyed both your essay on the role of place in your novel, Tomato Girl, and also the interview where you talk about your home and its influences.

I agree with your assessment of the mannerisms of people in the South. I moved to Colorado two years ago and it suddenly wasn't necessary to greet everyone I came in contact with. In the South, it doesn't matter if you meet your greatest foe on the street, you are cordial and ask after their family. It is indeed a different world in the South and there are aspects that I miss very much.

I wish you much success with your novel and the new one you are currently writing.

I think my husband experienced a sort of culture shock for the first few months he lived here in the South. He blends in now.

When you write from a southern point-of-view, do you wonder how it's received in other regions of the country?

Our Southern manners are not always received well! My parents taught me to respect everyone with "ma'am" or "sir." This upbringing got me in trouble when I worked for a military newspaper in the Midwest.
The newspaper staff answered the phone with a generic, "Good morning, (name of newspaper). How may I help you, sir or ma'am?" I responded to all callers with "yes, sir" or "no ma'am" and "thank you, sir, have a good day" in the course of phone conversations.
I treated folks who walked into the newspaper offices the same way and got chewed out by a lieutenant I didn't know (from the intermountain west, by his accent) who heard me reply to a PFC with "yes, sir." I was not successful in explaining to the lt. that I was simply being polite, not elevating his rank. He said I was "inappropriately subservient."
Ha!

What a funny story, Melissa. That lieutenant definitely doesn't know Southern women. He's lucky to still have his family jewels in the right spot.

I do sometimes wonder how Tomato Girl is received in other regions. I've spent so little time outside of Virginia, and my view of the world is surely skewed by what I know. Small things from other cultures can be jarring. I remember when I first met my husband's family, how taken aback I was by the coarse tone of voice used between family members. They weren't actually mad, but had this edge to their voices that sounded harsh and like bickering to my ears. Even now it sounds like barking to me, because my ears are ussed to a different cadence. You know what I mean, how a Southerner can issue a death threat and make it sound like an invitation to supper.

I'm certain that there must be parts of Tomato Girl that sound absurd to folks who grew up in other parts of the country.

Jayne, Not to readers. I've been in the south but I've never lived there or spent a great deal of time there. I loved Tomato Girl and none of it seemed foreign. However, I've read other "southern" novels and novels coming from multiple world cultures.

Thanks, Lisa. I'm glad to know that the book strikes a balance in terms of place. It's hard to judge objectively when you're the writer.

This was a great interview Jayne. I really liked knowing how you went about the whole process of writing and about your life in the south.

Thanks so much, Staci. I'm glad you enjoyed the interview. It was a good experience for me, too, to think back over the process.