Interview with Lynne Griffin, part 2

I finished reading Lynne Griffin‘s debut, Life Without Summer weeks ago, and I’m still thinking about it. Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly had to say about the novel, in their starred review.

Griffin’s fiction debut is a spellbinding tale of loss and hard-won redemption. When Tessa Gray’s four-year-old daughter, Abby, is killed by a hit and run driver, there are no witnesses. From first meeting, Tessa distrusts the detective assigned to the case and, with her journalism background and ties to newspapers in nearby Boston, she begins to dig for her own answers to the identity of Abby’s killer. Meanwhile, she vents her grief with Celia, a compassionate but reserved therapist. Celia’s story, with its tragic undertones, unfolds parallel to Tessa’s: Celia has a second marriage, a secretive teenage son and an ex-husband who makes her current family circle impossibly tense. At the office, Celia is practical and pulled together, but her home life buzzes with strife. Outside therapy, Celia’s and Tessa’s narratives remain separate until they shockingly intersect and lead the way to hard-won healing for both. Griffin’s carefully crafted characters ring heartbreakingly true and her finely wrought plot will snare readers from the first page. (Apr.)

Now you know why I’m still thinking about it.

If you missed part 1 of my interview with debut author Lynne Griffin, click HERE, then come back. Today we’ll talk about Lynne’s process and how it differs between her fiction and nonfiction work. We’ll also learn how she found her publisher, what her most memorable piece of writing advice has been and more. Enjoy!

Interview with Lynne Griffin: Part 2

Q: Tell us about your process. Are you a plotter or pantser? Are you an a.m. writer or a night owl? A regular writer or a spurt-writer? When you sit down to write, do you take it scene-by-scene, aim for a particular word count, or just go with the flow?

A: When I’m beginning a novel, I do a lot of “writing in my head”; I contemplate structure, formulate the plot, listen to my characters. Once I’m ready to tackle the first draft, I write scene-to-scene, rarely if ever out of sequence. I’m a methodical writer, in that my process is exactly the same every day. I do my best writing in the morning, starting my day by rereading and editing the pages from the previous day. Once in a groove, I write anywhere from 3 to 6 pages. When I’m actively working on a manuscript, I write six days a week.

For Life Without Summer, I had the benefit of an internal structure. Written in journal format, there was the need to adhere to the calendar. The story plays out over one year, so at certain times I would have to write entries that corresponded with the time of year, which did a lot to propel the story forward. Tessa writes about her first Halloween without Abby. Celia describes the first Christmas trying to juggle her new husband with her ex, her son’s father. With my second novel, I wrote without an outline until I came to the middle of the novel, and then I plotted my way to the end. So I guess I’d say I do a bit of both.

Q: How important is the rewrite in your process? How long did Life without Summer take for you to write, and then edit?

A: I believe the real writing of a novel takes place in the rewrite. It took me fifteen months to write a first draft of Life Without Summer, and six months to revise. I was fortunate to work with a dedicated writers’ group, and my agent provides wonderful editorial insight. I credit them with how quickly the novel evolved.

Q: Was your process for writing fiction different from writing nonfiction? How?

A: Up until recently, I would write my nonfiction in one place and my fiction in another. Writing parenting articles and books was my day job, the work taking shape in a typical office setting. Desk against the wall, nothing proved distracting; no phone call or printer buzzing would interfere with meeting page goals or word limits.

My fiction was written on my laptop. Making a distinction between time for writing work and my creative outlet, I’d park myself in one of three places in my home–a comfortable window seat with double hung glass and cushy pillows, or a chair given to me by my mother stationed overlooking my backyard, or a simple dining room chair parked facing the front yard. Any window would do, I simply needed one to open me up to all the possible directions my characters might choose to travel.

After finishing Life Without Summer, I rearranged my office to face the window and now I write everything from one place.

Q: Tell us about finding your publisher, and working with your editor. (How long did the editorial process take? Was it different from what you’d expected? How many changes did you make? Etc…)

A: I hesitate to tell this story because I know it isn’t typical. I owe everything about the way things unfolded to my savvy agent. She sent a pitch out to a select few editors to generate enthusiasm. After several expressed interest, they received the manuscript. Nine days later, my editor from St. Martin’s Press made a preemptive offer. Her vision for the novel was spot on, right from the start. So by the end of that day, I accepted.

Working with my editor, Hilary Teeman, has been a wonderful experience. Her insight into the characters’ motivations and what I was trying to accomplish with the story were amazing. I was thrilled with her editorial suggestions for deepening the layers of the story and for upping the suspense. I made almost all of her suggested revisions over the course of two months, and once submitted to her, the novel was accepted for publication.

Q: As a debut novelist, how are you promoting your book, and how important has Internet presence been for you?

A: I’m doing almost everything that comes my way; I’m grateful for the requests I’m getting to speak or appear on radio and television. As a debut novelist, I know I have to be creative about connecting with readers, building a fan base. I don’t think there is any one thing that makes a novel take off; I believe it’s the collective effort. As for Internet presence, I’m doing interviews for blogs like yours, guest blogging for places like ReadingGroupGuides.com, and I’m sharing news via my website’s blog.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about writing fiction?

A: Close the door on the marketplace while you write. Writing to trends–trying to guess what readers want–isn’t for me. I feel an obligation to write for the story, to let the characters tell me about their lives. I believe if my story and characters are authentic, the novel will find its audience.

Q: What’s your advice for aspiring authors?

A: Write the best book you can and then accept feedback from trusted readers. Being open to editorial suggestions won’t mean you’ll always take all of them. But reflecting on feedback and then solving your novel’s problems in your own way will deepen and enliven your work, if you let it.

Q: What has surprised you most about this business?

A: How many hats a writer must wear. Creative genius. Guerilla marketer. Riveting speaker. Gracious author. It is so important to hone skill in all of these areas if one is to be successful. Expectations for today’s novelist are high.

Q: What are you reading right now, and what’s on your keeper shelf?

A: Next up, I’m eager to read This Song is You by Arthur Phillips, and The Writing on my Forehead by Nafisa Haji’s. And of course, I’m dying to read your novel, Therese.

[Thank you, Lynne!]

There are so many novels on my keeper shelf. Here are five that come to mind.

Wally Lamb’s, The Hour I First Believed
Margot Livesey’s, Eva Moves the Furniture
Nicole Krauss’s, The History of Love
Jane Hamilton’s, A Map of the World
Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried

Q: Name three things we’d be surprised to know about you.

A:
1. Until I had children, I dabbled in theater arts and sang professionally for a time. It took me until age 40 to realize what I really wanted to be was a writer.
2. I wrote Life Without Summer at the same time I wrote my nonfiction parenting book. I would get up early to write my novel; I’d sit at my dining room table or in my window seat with my laptop until it was time to go to work. And then I would write Negotiation Generation in my office. Thanks to my fabulous agent, Elisabeth Weed, Life Without Summer sold to St. Martin’s Press two weeks after Negotiation Generation hit bookstores.
3. At three separate times in my life I’ve planned trips to Paris, and for reasons beyond my control, I’ve never made it there. Ironically, the first foreign rights to Life Without Summer sold to a publisher in France.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I’m working on another novel about family life. In it I explore the impact secrets have on the closeness family members are able to share. I’ve always been intrigued by the power of truth on healing and the complexities of grief. I imagine all of my fiction will deal with these themes in some way.

Thanks so much, Lynne, for a great interview. Readers, please visit Lynne’s website to learn where you can purchase her novel, Life Without Summer, or visit IndieBound to find a brick-and-mortar bookstore near you. Write on, all.