March Issue, Volume 11
A Focus On:
Bonnie Stern
Q&A with a cookbook author
by Donna Marrin
At what point in your life did you realize your passion for cooking?
I started cooking when I was very young. My mom was very patient and always did the dishes! She didn’t love cooking, so she always let me cook and was my very patient sous chef.
You’re the author of eleven bestselling cookbooks. What prompted you to write your first book?
I wrote my first cookbook when the food processor was introduced. I knew the distributor because I had my cooking school by then; he asked if I would write a Canadian cookbook to distribute with the machines. It was such an exciting new piece of equipment and I was pleased to do the recipes for it.
Along with writing a column for the National Post, you run a cooking school and a book/dinner club. Where do you find the time to write?
If you love what you do, you find the time.
Once you have an idea for a book, what steps do you take to begin your writing process?
I am lucky that I have had the same publisher for many years, so I’ll take an idea to them and see what they say. It is a process.
How long did it take you to write your book, from concept to finished manuscript?
It takes about a year to find what you want to write about, about a year to write the book and then another year to promote it. So, generally, I produce a book every three or four years.
The most challenging part of the writing process is…
I find it very hard to say it’s finished. I always want to update things or add more recipes. But really, the hardest part is selling it.
What do you love most about writing cookbooks?
I love that my recipes become part of people’s lives and, hopefully, encourage them to cook for others. In a funny way, I feel like I become part of their family. It is very special.
Have you learned any lessons along the way?
I always learn lessons but the problem is, the next time, the challenge comes back a little different and you have to learn another lesson!
Your all-time favourite cookbook is:
I have lots of favourite cookbooks. Many of them are written by experts in their field and they make great reference books—Jacques Pepin, Marcella Hazan, Giuliano Bugialli, Madhur Jaffrey, Julia Child, Nina Simonds and many more.
Who do you admire, and why?
Of course I admire a lot of people, but I think I admire my parents the most. They died thirteen years ago, but they were the most wonderful, kindest people and I miss them so much.
What would we find on your bookshelf right now?
I actually have thousands of cookbooks, but I graduated from U of T in English literature and had planned to be a librarian, so I love to read. I run a very unique book club at my school that brings my love of food and literature together. The authors attend and we all have dinner together. I always read those books ahead and we plan a menu around the book (usually a novel or memoir). Anne Michaels is our guest for April, so I am currently reading The Winter Vault.
What advice would you give to a beginner interested in writing a cookbook?
I would advise them to go to a cookbook store, look to see how many books are there and figure out how theirs would be different—then do it! Follow your passion.
Tell us about your upcoming book and any promo events you have planned…
My last book, Friday Night Dinners, was launched about one-and-a-half years ago and this fall, the paperback is being released. So my promotions will start this fall
Where can I find more information about your cooking classes and book club?
Just visit my website at www.bonniestern.com
Bonnie is a graduate of both University of Toronto and George Brown College. She has studied cooking around the world and for more than 30 years has operated The Bonnie Stern School of Cooking in Toronto. She teaches cooking classes, conducts team-building culinary events and hosts a monthly book and dinner club. She is the author of twelve best-selling cookbooks, including the IACP award-winning Essentials of Home Cooking and most recently, The Best of HeartSmart Cooking, written in conjunction with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Bonnie appears regularly on television and radio and writes a weekly column in the National Post, as well as a monthly column in Readers Digest. For more information, visit www.bonniestern.com.
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February Issue, Volume 10
A Focus On: Elizabeth Elwood
Q&A with a playwright & mystery author
by Donna Marrin
Along with studying and teaching English, you have an extensive background in nearly every area of the arts: years of voice training, operatic training, piano, drama… Were you extremely artistic as a child?
I liked to draw and make up stories. At age three, I took the wheels off my doll pram, turned it on its side, hung a curtain in front, and cut the figures out of my mother’s magazine to make characters to set on my stage—so I must have found theatre fascinating right from my very first visit to the pantomime.
You’ve also performed with a variety of theatre groups and even won an award in 1970 for your acting skills. Next, you took on directing. Which end of the spectrum did you enjoy most?
I enjoyed the years I spent performing, but I’ve always been interested in the overall aspects of a production, so directing and creating new works has been the most rewarding for me.
At what point did you decide to begin writing plays?
I’d done a lot of script-writing for our marionette company, so when my husband suggested that I turn one of my short stories into a play it seemed like a natural progression.
How does playwriting differ from writing a short story or a novel?
The obvious difference is that you’re simply writing dialogue, so there’s no room for description, narration or exposition unless you can slip it into a speech. The other difference is that you have to take a number of practical considerations into account. You have to consider how a set can be used to advance a plot and assist the action. You have to be aware of the time needed for costume or set changes. If it’s a mystery play, you don’t want corpses littering up the stage, so you need to put the murders just before a blackout. You should also be aware of the limitations of the group or performance space that you’re writing for. Set demands, cast size, costume requirements, etc. all affect budgets and can govern whether or not your play will get a production.
Where do you come up with ideas for your plays?
My first play was an extension of my first short story. I was staying on the Sunshine Coast of B.C. when I started writing the play, which is why the setting was changed to an island off the coast. I decided that the story could be retold with additional characters and an And Then There Were None type atmosphere, which would be far more suspenseful than the original plot which was simply an after-the-event discussion in the actress’s apartment. My second play came very much from life. We renovated our house so that we could look after my mother once she was widowed and needed care due to her dementia, and although I added several ‘What ifs?’ to drive the plot, much of the domestic comedy came right out of our own home.
What would you say is your favourite genre?
Mystery for novels and stories, and comedy for plays. Writing a good mystery play is actually very difficult because you are trying to deceive your audience, plus you have a challenge to explain everything fairly without getting bogged down in exposition. Comedy, on the other hand, is fun to write.
How active is the role of the playwright in the actual production of the play?
I imagine it depends on the production and the director. I kept in touch with the director of my first play, but I didn’t go to the theatre unless I was invited because I didn’t want to be a back-seat director. He told me when things weren’t working and I did rewrites to deal with the problems. I directed my second play, so I was able to see for myself what worked and what didn’t. This was a lot easier when it came to addressing problems. I actually enjoyed having a hands-on role in the process, because I was able to craft everything the way I had envisioned it. I think too, because I was dealing with my own words, I was much more ruthless in editing and revising than I would have been if dealing with someone else’s script.
I’ve written my first play. What are my first steps in trying to market it?
Make contact with the companies that perform plays of a similar type and present your script to their play-reading committees. Join a group that looks promising and start lobbying. If all else fails, do some fundraising, mount your own production and get people there who can give you positive endorsements.
What do you love most about writing for the theatre?
Writing dialogue. The fun of all that repartee flying back and forth.
You’ve also written a series of successful mystery novels. What led you to write your first novel?
I first started writing mystery stories when I was ill and the doctor ordered me off singing for some time. The two novels I wrote during that period haven’t been published. I sent the first one to Collins who expressed interest and sent it on to their paperback division, but then they decided against it. By that time I was singing again and producing marionette musicals, so I shelved it and didn’t bother to do anything else with it—although I’m now considering revising both manuscripts with a view to publishing them. However, the work on these drafts during my non-musical period made me realize how much I enjoyed the writing process, so between my other projects, I wrote “To Catch an Actress”. This was the story that Hugh suggested I turn into a play. After I saw how the audiences loved the character of Bertram Beary, I decided to give him a family and write several more stories about him. This is how the first book came about, and why the Beary mysteries became the focus of my narrative writing. The books are very enjoyable to write because they are collections of individual short stories that can be read as separate entities, yet the ongoing stories of the main characters continue throughout the series, so the books contain the elements of the novel too. There are two obvious precedents for this format: Rumpole of the Bailey and Sherlock Holmes, both of whom I enjoy a great deal.
How long did it take you to write your book, from concept to finished manuscript?
The first Beary book was written over several years, since I was busy with family commitments and other projects. The subsequent books each required approximately a year to complete—three months to write, three months to revise and polish, and six months for the editing, proofing and publishing process. In any one of those years, however, I was producing and performing with our marionette company, so my time was still divided.
How long did it take you to get it published?
I never sent the manuscripts to a publisher since I didn’t really take the stories that seriously and I was busy with my other projects. Once again, my husband played a part. He found the iUniverse site on the Internet and suggested we put the stories out ourselves and see what happened. We did, and to my delight, the book was designated Editor’s Choice and received a lot of very nice reviews. This encouraged me to write the second book, which was also well received, so I went on to the third. Our plan was to do three books ourselves, and then if successful, use the track record to try to get a publisher. However, I’m unsure now which route to go, because iUniverse has made the books returnable, and they’ve also presented the books to some of the major chains, so we seem to be getting more support than some of my friends who are with standard publishing houses. Also, my contract is completely open and I own my own copyrights, so where we’ll go from here is a big question mark.
The most challenging part of the writing process is:
Final proofing and editing. It’s slow and tedious, but critically important.
Preference: novel writing or playwriting?
Whichever I’m doing at the time.
Lessons you’ve learned along the way…
Get several critiques and look for the common threads in all of them. Be true to yourself. Don’t try to please everyone or you’ll end up with something so bland it doesn’t interest anyone. Work hard and keep visible.
Who or what is your greatest inspiration?
I am constantly inspired by what I see or read, by people around me, or by places I visit. So many engaging stories. So much talent. It would be impossible to single out any one person or thing.
What’s on your bookshelf right now?
Classic writers like Austen, Thackeray, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, Trollope, The Brontes, etc. Mystery writers like P.D. James, Reginald Hill, Elizabeth George, Dorothy Sayers, Minette Waters, Robert Barnard, Laurie King, John Mortimer, Anne Perry, Barbara Cleverly, Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, Martha Grimes, Conan Doyle, Peter Robinson, Charles Todd, Josephine Tey, William Deverell, Daniel Craig. Novelists like Robertson Davies, Margaret Atwood, Daphne du Maurier, John Fowles.
What advice would you give to beginning writers?
Read a lot. Make notes every time you see something interesting or get an idea for a story. Write about what you know.
Where can I purchase your books?
Amazon, iUniverse, Barnes & Noble, or the standard Internet sites. The books are in the Chapters system, so even if the books aren’t in a particular store, they can be ordered through any of the stores. All my books are available as E-books as well.
What’s up next?
I’m working on The Agatha Principle and Other Mystery Stories, which is the fourth Beary mystery book. However, I have a Christmas show to mount in 2010, plus a new play (Shadow of Murder) to direct in 2011, so the next book probably won’t be out until the fall of that year.
Where can I find out more information about your upcoming plays?
On my website (www.elihuentertainment.com) or on the sites for the Scarborough Theatre Guild and the Huronia Players.
ELIZABETH ELWOOD: Born in England, Elizabeth emigrated to Canada in 1957. She graduated from West Van High and went on to get a degree in English at U.B.C., where she also trained in the Opera Workshop. After graduation, she worked as an English/Drama teacher, sang in the Vancouver Opera Chorus and performed roles with Lower Mainland musical and theatre groups. In 1992, with husband, Hugh, Elizabeth formed Elwoodettes Marionettes. Since then, she has created twenty marionette musicals for the company. Her first play for live actors, Casting for Murder, was produced in the year 2000, and will be going into its fifth production next season with the Scarborough Theatre Guild. Elizabeth’s comedy, Renovations, premiered at the Bernie Legge Theatre in August, 2004, and is also scheduled to have its Ontario premiere in 2010. She has published three books of mystery stories based on her varied experiences in theatre, travel, politics and education. A third play, Shadow of Murder, is scheduled to premiere in June, 2011.
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December/January Issue, Volume 8/9
A Focus On: Barbara Kyle
Q&A with an author & writing instructor
by Donna Marrin
You studied classical theatre at the National Theatre School of Canada and enjoyed a long career on TV and stage. What made you decide to change hats to launch a writing career?
Yes, I loved being an actor. But then I hit the age of forty. For female actors, that’s when the roles start to disappear. The roles are actually better – the characters are more complex– but there are far fewer of them. I’d seen this happen to women actor friends, seen their careers start to spiral downwards and knew it was just a matter of time for me, so I made a radical decision to simply start a different career. I started to write fiction. Trouble is, I didn’t have a clue of how to go about it. It’s true that I did have the advantage of twenty years of acting experience, of working with scripts and that had given mea sense of dramatic structure; in a way, that’s in my bones. But acting is an interpretive art, whereas writing is pure creation, and consequently I had no real idea of how to be in control of the elements of story structure. So I had to learn the hard way, as every new writer does, by trial and error. In other words: write, and rewrite, and rewrite and rewrite. There is no other way to master the craft.
Your first book was an historical romance called, A Dangerous Temptation. What prompted you to write it?
Actually, it wasn’t a genre romance, although I understand how you would think so with the cover it was given by the publisher. It’s an historical adventure, almost more like a thriller, with a great love story too. The original title was Heresy; I wrote it in the early 1990s and what prompted me was the infamous case of the fatwa– the death sentence – that certain Islamic leaders demanded against author Salman Rushdie back then. The Western world was appalled at that reaction of religious extremism, but I couldn’t help think that a mere four hundred years ago, European Christians burned thousands of innocent victims at the stake in exactly the same rage of religious extremism.
I set my novel at the court of Henry VIII and it features Honor Larke, a (fictional) ward of (the real) Sir Thomas More. More was a brilliant scholar and a loving father, but as chancellor of England, he banned books and burned men. The story turns on Honor’s conflict with her once-beloved guardian, Sir Thomas, as she works to save his victims from the stake. Penguin USA published the book in 1994 under their Onyx imprint, but not before insisting on a title change. “No one will know what ‘heresy’ means,” they said (which made me think that the dumbing-down of our culture had hit a knuckle-dragging low.) They published my big-themed historical epic as A Dangerous Temptation with a sweet, romance-type cover. They also bought the sequel, set during the brutal Wyatt rebellion against Queen Mary, and published it the following year as A Dangerous Devotion with equally sweet cover art. So those books never found their real audience. They pretty much died.
But here’s the wonderful ending to that tale. Or perhaps I should say the beginning. Back in 1994, the editor at Penguin who’d bought that first book was Audrey LaFehr. A lovely and clever woman with a passion for books, Audrey told my agent that it was “the best historical novel she had ever read.” But in those days, she had little power in the company, so it was marketed incorrectly and died. Fast forward thirteen years to 2007, when I got an email out of the blue from Audrey who is now Editorial Director at Kensington Publishing, New York. She said that she’d just pulled the 1994 edition off her shelf, reread it and fell in love with the story all over again and wanted to publish it – “properly” this time. So Audrey bought the book again, and its sequel again, and published the first in 2008 as THE QUEEN’S LADY in a gorgeous trade edition with an eye-catching cover. The sequel, THE KING’S DAUGHTER, came out in March 2009 to great reviews. Both books have sold wonderfully well. I couldn’t be happier.
Would your books be referred to as historical novels? What types of resources do you use and how much research do you have to do before you actually sit down to begin writing?
A writer friend of mine recently dubbed my books “historical suspense,” a designation that I quite like. As for research, I did a great deal of it for the first two books. I spent a month in England visiting all the necessary sites and just soaking up the history. I did just as much research for my contemporary thrillers too, because they dealt with issues I absolutely had to get right – from biotechnology, to space-based projects of the American Air Force, to European gypsies in World War II. I always find that immersing myself in the research yields great ideas for story and characters. I always write an extensive story outline, which I call a “storyline” – I spend several months on the storyline – and I do that concurrent with the research. The storyline sends me to the research to finds things out and the research then sparks ideas for the storyline, and thus I progress back and forth, step by step.
How long did it take you to write your first book, from concept to finished manuscript?
About three years for the first book. Eighteen months for the sequel, because I was under contract to deliver the manuscript in that amount of time. Then, three years again for my first thriller, Beyond Recall, because the genre was utterly new to me. Then, one year each for the next two thrillers, again because I was under contract to deliver them. Now, with my Kensington contract, one year for each of two novels that follow The King’s Daughter.
Since then, you’ve published three more historical suspense novels, A Dangerous Devotion, The Queen’s Lady and The King’s Daughter, which is in its 3rd printing. You’ve also published three thrillers under the pen-name, Stephen Kyle, Beyond Recall, After Shock and The Experiment. Why the switch in genres?
When my first two books (A Dangerous Temptation and A Dangerous Devotion, which morphed thirteen years later into The Queen’s Lady and The King’s Daughter, as I explained above) didn’t sell well because the covers were pure “romance” and they were marketed incorrectly, I decided to write thrillers and to write them under a male pseudonym (Stephen Kyle). My thinking was that the publisher couldn’t put flowers on the cover! I wrote Beyond Recall, which was published in 2000 by Warner Books, who did a tremendous job of promoting it. They contracted me for two more thrillers, After Shock and The Experiment.
You’ve also written a screenplay. Tell us more about it.
It’s called Saving Dinah. I was hired to write it for Keys Affinity Films. It’s about a family whose border collie, Dinah, is stolen, and their search for her takes them into the underground hell of puppy mills and research laboratories and eventually, a brutal dog fighting ring. The producer has found it a challenge to raise production financing in this economy, but a Hollywood director is attached to the project and we have hopes that the film will go into production.
Do you favour one genre over another?
I’m under contract with my publisher to deliver two more novels in my Tudor series, so I right now I love historicals.
How do you come up with your ideas?
For me, it always starts with an issue. In The Queen’s Lady it was religious extremism. In The King’s Daughter, divided loyalties in a rebellion. In Beyond Recall, our god-like powers with biotechnology. Once I’m bitten by the issue, then I can start to develop a situation and create characters who would have the most at stake in it.
Please tell us where we can find your books.
My historical novels are pretty well everywhere right now. The mass market paperback edition of The Queen’s Lady just came out. In Canada, Indigo and Chapters are giving it a big push and in the U.S., it’s in all the big chain bookstores such as Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc. Most have also restocked The King’s Daughter. Best of all for sales, The Queen’s Lady is in Costco and Wal-Mart stores across the country, a stupendous thing since they are the biggest sellers of books and carry only a few titles per month. And, of course, one can also order the books from online sellers like amazon.com.
The most challenging part of the writing process is…
Having faith that the story will all come together – that’s the hardest thing at the very outset, when I sit down to write the storyline. But really, for me, the most challenging thing is writing a book in just one year, which is what my publishing contract demands. To accomplish that I have to cut back on “having a life,” and even then, I always long for more time to do another rewrite.
What do you love most about being a writer?
All of it. I get to spend my days with fascinating people – my characters. I get to create a story that excites and moves people about what I see as the joys and tragedies of the human condition. What’s not to like?
Lessons you’ve learned along the way…
Lesson 1: Take the time to write an extensive, narrative storyline. I mean months. The storyline is where the heavy lifting of creation takes place. It’s where the writer makes the most important strategic decisions about characters and plot. Lesson 2: Every problem in one’s writing can be solved by going back to examine the characters. What would this character really do, given their goal and obstacles?
Who do you admire and why?
Among the classic authors, Jane Austen, for her humanity and humour. I could reread Emma and Pride and Prejudice forever. Among contemporary authors: John LeCarré for his wisdom and astonishing craft. A.S. Byatt for her mesmerizing novel, Possession. Ian McEwan for his masterpiece, Atonement. Most of Joanna Trollope’s razor-sharp novels. And I admire many writers of narrative non-fiction – I believe they’re often way ahead of novelists in showing us what’s important about how to be human. Some of my favourites in this field are Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, Jamie Zeppa’s Beyond The Sky and the Earth, Dava Sobel’s Longitude, and Tania Aebi’s Maiden Voyage. And right now, I’m rereading James Clavell’s epic novel Shogun and marvelling all over again at its narrative drive and vitality and the thrilling scope of Clavell’s depiction of the live-or-die political and social currents in 16th century Japan.
What would we find on your bookshelf right now?
I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and loved it. As I mentioned above, I’m now rereading James Clavell’s Shogun. Lined up in a neat pile on my bedside table, waiting for me, are The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt, The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street, and The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig.
You also teach some spectacular writing workshops. Tell us what students can look forward to learning.
I like your word “spectacular” – thanks. I’ve had tremendous response from the people who have attended my workshops and seminars and courses. I enjoy getting across to new writers the thrill of understanding story structure, of creating an empathetic protagonist, of writing dynamic dialogue, and mastering POV (point-of-view). That last one, POV, is tricky. I’ll be presenting a workshop on it at the Ontario Writers’ Conference in May.
What advice would you give to beginning writers?
The same advice that I recall my agent once gave to beginning writers: “Be willing to work your ass off.”
What’s up next on your agenda?
I’ve just sent my publisher the manuscript for book number three in my Tudor-era “Thornleigh” series, so it will be coming out in August 2010. It’s called The Queen’s Captive, and features the twenty-year-old Princess Elizabeth from the day she was imprisoned in the Tower of London by her half-sister, Queen Mary, to the day of her triumphant coronation five years later. Now, I’m writing the storyline for book four in this series. The working title is The King’s Gold. I have to complete it within the next ten months, so I’m pretty well chained to my desk. No complaints, though; being immersed in the struggles and hopes of my characters is where I like to be. However, I’ll be taking off a couple of weeks in May to accompany my husband on a business trip he’s making to Italy. Umbria in springtime – that will be a lovely break.
BARBARA KYLE is the author of the Tudor era novels The Queen’s Lady (2008) and The King’s Daughter (2009) which have sold internationally. Publishers Weekly praised the latter for its “complex, fast-paced plot mixing history with vibrant characters.” Her next novel in this series, The Queen’s Captive, will be published by Kensington Books in August 2010. Previously, Barbara won acclaim for her contemporary novels Beyond Recall (a Literary Guild Selection), After Shock and The Experiment under her pen name ‘Stephen Kyle’. Before becoming an author, Barbara enjoyed a twenty-year acting career on stage, TV and film in Canada and the U.S. She and her husband live for six months of every year aboard their sailboat, a 46-foot ketch, on Lake Ontario. Visit Barbara Kyle’s website at www.barbarakyle.com to learn more about Barbara, or www.learn.utoronto.ca for more information about her upcoming “Boot Camp for Writers.”
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November Issue, Volume 7
A Focus On: Allyson Latta
Q&A with a literary editor and memoir writing instructor
by Donna Marrin
You have edited an impressive list of acclaimed books. Can you name a few?
It’s a great privilege – a joy, really – to feel I’ve made a contribution as a freelance editor to books that have topped the bestseller lists or garnered literary prizes. I’ve worked with some incredibly talented Canadian authors, and am pleased to have played a small editorial role in bringing to readers novels such as Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes, Austin Clarke’s The Polished Hoe, Richard B. Wright’s Clara Callan, and Lewis De Soto’s A Blade of Grass. I edited three of the last four winners of the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. And a book I copyedited by first-time novelist Annabel Lyon, The Golden Mean, is currently shortlisted for all the top Canadian lit awards, so my fingers are crossed for her! I’ve worked with many wonderful authors over the past thirteen years – too many to name.
Can you pinpoint particular characteristics in the storytelling abilities of these authors that made their books so successful?
An original and authentic and consistent authorial voice. Believable characters and motivations. Care and clarity in the writing. Sensory details. Compelling storytelling. Insights about life that resonate with the reader. A good writer draws the reader in from the crucial opening paragraphs and carries him or her on a journey to a worthwhile destination, with surprising, insightful or entertaining – preferably all three! – stops along the way.
What drew you to memoir writing over any other genre?
I have edited a great deal of literary fiction and non-fiction, but my fascination with memoir – whether or not it’s for publication – grew out of a passion for genealogy that seized me about six years ago. That was followed quickly by a frustration with the lack of detail available about my ancestors’ lives. I found myself wishing that at least some of them had written about their experiences in journal or memoir form. And of course the logical next thought was, “Well, how much have I written down and what will people know about me in years to come?” Around the same time, I was also moved by the pleasure a friend’s father’s memoir gave his four adult children and his grandchildren, and thought to myself: “Everyone can, and should, do this.” My mother’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s brought home to me that memory is fleeting, and that the time to write things down is now.
Did you keep a diary as a child?
Only sporadically, sad to say. My earliest began when I was thirteen and continued irregularly until I was about fifteen. I wrote some fiction back then, and poetry, and thought that much more fun than writing about my own little life. That period was, however, a difficult and pivotal time for my family, so I’m very glad to have that diary now, however spotty. I’ve also travelled quite a bit over the years, and usually keep detailed journals of those experiences. And I kept other sorts of records here and there. For example, through my late teens and early twenties I jotted down point-form notes on wall calendars, detailing my everyday activities. And during university I kept copies of all the long letters I wrote to family members. I did the same when I was living in Kumamoto, Japan, for three years: I was far more motivated to write for others than for myself, so I kept copies of my correspondence with family and friends back in Canada. Some of my experiences found their way into freelance pieces I wrote for Canadian newspapers.
I’m always impressed by the one or two students in any given workshop who tell me they’ve kept a journal for decades. What an amazing resource for their writing. And that great thing is, it’s never too late to begin one.
Why do you think memoir writing is important?
We’re all natural storytellers, and it makes me sad to think how many stories are lost because people don’t write them down. I believe memoirists should write first and foremost for themselves, to honour their own experiences and those of loved ones, to explore the patterns in their lives. Beyond that, for many, the goal is to leave a legacy for children or grandchildren, because they realize that no one else can tell their stories the way they can. Also, it can be therapeutic: studies have shown that writing about negative personal experiences can improve psychological and physical health (there’s an interview with Dr. James Pennebaker on my blog about this). It’s also a fabulous creative outlet, and it exercises the mind. And certainly as an armchair genealogist I can see the longer-term value in memoir writing. Best of all, you need very little equipment: just a pen and paper – or a tape recorder or video camera – and your memories.
One of the most challenging aspects of memoir writing is …
An issue that concerns many of my students is whether to, or how to, include details that may upset others they are writing about. The fact is, every writer has to decide on this for him- or herself. Write your truth. Don’t ever write vindictively. When it comes time to edit, ultimately your decisions will be influenced by your purpose in writing, your intended audience, and also, of course, the nature of your relationship with the person written about. I recommend that writers try not to agonize over this too early, and that in early drafts they write honestly and fully about others (while keeping the content confidential). Changes or cuts can be made to later drafts.
We all know what happened to James Frey when people discovered that portions of his memoir were untrue. Is it considered unethical to embellish a memoir with fictionalized elements? How much is too much?
There’s a marked difference between using fictional techniques, such as voice, characters, setting and dialogue, to tell a true story effectively, and actually writing fiction. Embellishment in memoir, whether obvious during reading or discovered later, ultimately destroys a writer’s credibility; and without credibility, a memoirist has nothing. Readers don’t like to be fibbed to. In memoir, you can only write what you remember (faulty though memories may be), and dialogue of course must be reconstructed. But aside from this, “emotional truth” – the truth as you felt it – should prevail. Just an aside, but a pet peeve of mine is authors condensing time so that events seem to have happened closer together than they did. This has become an accepted approach in memoir, but I feel it bends the truth.
How can I write honestly about my life without feeling as if I’m betraying the people involved?
There’s no point in writing memoir unless you intend to write honestly, but by its nature the writing process is selective, and there are a number of ways to work around upsetting people. There’s plenty of time in later drafts – when you’re revising and cutting – to trim scenes, or to change names or details about individuals to protect them, or you. The emotional truth of your story is more important than these minor details. Another strategy is to focus in your writing more on your own feelings than on the behaviour of the other person. This in fact is the “truth” of your experience, how you felt, and no one can argue with that. Another is to be fair and generous enough to try to see and write about both sides of a relationship or situation (for example, what might have been troubling a sibling who treated you badly?). Your readers will relate to you better if you do.
Must I get permission from these people before I publish what I’ve written?
This is a personal decision. Getting permission is not required, and in addition, it can be problematic. How, for example, are you going to respond if they say no? How much are you willing to change your story of your life to please, or to avoid offending, others? Before showing your work to anyone, decide how you will respond to their reaction, and how far you’re willing to go to keep that person happy. If you aren’t prepared to change anything you’ve written anyway, there isn’t much point in showing anyone in advance, unless it gives you peace of mind to do so.
How you handle this will depend on the importance of the particular details to your story, and on your personality, and on your relationship with the person in question. You may not feel concerned about upsetting an old high school teacher, for example, but be loath to offend your granny – or vice versa! Keep in mind, too, that it’s almost impossible to predict reactions; some writers find that the scenes they expected to be controversial aren’t, and that ones they thought innocent rile some people up. In the end, you have to go with your gut.
What defines good memoir writing?
Honesty and vulnerability in the narrator. As with fiction, an authentic voice. A story that is told in an original way. Strong writing full of sensory details. A tale that carries the reader along and allows him to feel part of the writer’s experiences, and also calls to mind resonating experiences in his own life.
Do you have an all-time favourite memoir?
Oh, I couldn’t name just one! Only two common denominators tie memoirs together: they are true, and they are written in the first person. Aside from that, anything goes, which makes it difficult to compare one to another. How can one compare Marina Nemat’s Prisoner of Tehran, Blanche and Allison Howard’s A Memoir of Friendship, Catherine Gildiner’s After the Falls, William Leith’s Bits of Me Are Falling Apart, and Ian Brown’s The Boy in the Moon? I did editorial work on all of these very different books, each excellent in its own way. A few others I would recommend, however, include Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking, Joyce Maynard’s At Home in the World, Anne Coleman’s I’ll Tell You a Secret, Nigel Slater’s Toast, Julian Barnes’s Nothing To Be Frightened Of, Alexandra Fuller’s Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle … and any travel memoir at all by Pico Iyer! I’m still trying to decide what I think of Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which was fascinating but occasionally too self-consciously experimental for its own good (though he is a talent, there’s no question).
Who do you admire, and why?
My younger brother Blair, who passed away three and a half years ago. He was born with congenital kidney disease and spent much of his life in and out of hospital, undergoing two kidney transplants by age twenty, as well as other surgeries. He was smart and funny and insatiably curious – an intellectual sponge. He was also very, very brave. He died at forty, but not before completing an honours degree at Queen’s University (part-time, because of his disabilities, but graduating top of his class), creating an online magazine (with my brother Darren), and publishing one book, as well as writing and producing plays, and a couple of short films, and writing short fiction, poetry, essays, a screenplay, and, shortly before his death, a score for a rock opera. He wasn’t one to let a little thing like no formal musical training stand in his way. His zest for life and learning and writing, despite debilitating physical setbacks, were – and still are – an inspiration to me. Outside of my family, I admire my students who persevere in completing some form of life writing, whether they publish or self-publish a book, or get a short story accepted by a magazine, or start a blog – or even distribute their memoir to family members in a simple binder! It’s the fact that they achieved their goal that’s important. I’ve taught writers ranging in age from twenties to eighties, and one of my online participants published her first memoir at the age of 90!
What’s on your bookshelf right now?
I have eight overflowing bookshelves in my home – just ask my husband, who is constantly begging me to prune them back. But on my to-read list is Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family, and Claire Holden Rothman’s The Heart Specialist. And I just treated myself to the purchase of a collection of Alice Munro’s best stories.
Can you recommend any books or other educational resources of interest to aspiring memoir writers?
To my mind one of the best authors on writing is William Zinsser, who has also penned a couple of excellent books about memoir (and one audiobook, How to Write a Memoir). He wrote Writing About Your Life, which I assigned this fall in my University of Toronto online course, and also edited Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir, based on a series of lectures by memoirists on memoir. Judith Barrington is also well worth reading; her book is titled Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art. Another I always recommend is Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, which is part memoir, part “toolbox” of valuable writing tips. A great collection of short memoirs is The Vintage Book of Canadian Memoirs, edited by George Fetherling.
You are also a teacher. Tell me about your memoir writing workshops and what your students can look forward to learning.
In 2004 I developed an online course in memoir writing for Ryerson University, and from there I branched out to lead workshops for libraries, writers’ groups and literary festivals. I currently teach an online course for University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies: “Memories into Story.” I’m also running an online workshop on dialogue writing, which has been lots of fun. Since my students range from those who are writing for themselves and/or family to those who hope to publish, I focus on elements common to both: I encourage them to share their stories, and suggest techniques they can use to trigger memories and organize their writing. I also provide tips on editing and finding markets for short memoirs. I want them to leave my workshops with some momentum – with a few vignettes/stories in a binder, lots of ideas, and the sense that “I can do this!”
Where can I find information about your upcoming workshops?
At www.daysroadwriters.blogspot.com, click the link in the sidebar for “Upcoming Workshops.” I’m hoping to launch a proper website early in 2010, but meanwhile on this site there are my interviews with authors and others, and additional resources for memoir writers.
Any advice for aspiring memoir writers?
Be confident that your stories have value and will interest others. If you aren’t confident that you have something to say, how can you expect to persuade readers to come along with you for the ride?
Be flexible. There’s no right or wrong way to write memoir, and your writing may take you places you didn’t anticipate. Allow yourself to be surprised. And remember: you can write more than one memoir!
Read a selection of memoirs, both short and long, and be analytical. What do you like? What do you not like? How did the author achieve the effects you liked? Emulate the style (though of course not the content!) of writers you admire, at least until you establish your own style. And freewrite regularly: set aside short, regular writing periods at least two or three times a week for writing practice; these sessions will help jog your memory too. Join a critique group, or start one of your own. Set yourself a goal: enter a writing contest, or submit a short memoir to The Globe and Mail’s “Facts and Arguments” section. There’s nothing like a deadline to get you motivated.
What’s up next on your agenda?
I’m thrilled to have been asked to lead a two-week life-writing workshop in February 2010, at Los Parronales Writers’ Retreat in Santiago, Chile (http://daysroadwritersworkshops.googlepages.com/losparronalesflyer). And I’m hosting novelist/memoirist Beth Powning as a guest in the Fall and Winter sessions of my U of T online course. As far as editing goes, I’m not at liberty to reveal what I’m working on until the titles have been catalogued, but I can say that upcoming projects include a novel and a young-adult novel, both by award-winning authors, and a fascinating memoir by a first-time author.
ALLYSON LATTA is an independent literary editor who teaches memoir writing for the University of Toronto’s Creative Writing Program (School of Continuing Studies), as well as privately. With degrees in journalism and psychology, she has worked as a newspaper reporter, freelance features writer, magazine editor (trade, literary, and business), film reviewer, and university media relations consultant. During three years in Japan, she taught college-level ESL and wrote about Japanese culture for Canadian newspapers. Among the books Allyson has edited are nominees for the Man Booker International Prize, and winners of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. She has worked with numerous acclaimed authors in Canada, as well as in the Caribbean through the University of the West Indies Press. Allyson developed and began teaching her first online course on memoir writing for Ryerson University in 2004, and from there moved on to offer workshops for libraries, writers’ organizations and literary festivals. In February 2010 she will be editor-in-residence for a two-week life writing workshop at Los Parronales Writers’ Retreat in Santiago, Chile. Visit her site, www.daysroadwriters.blogspot.com, for her series of interviews with authors and others in the realm of memoir writing.