Briefly tell us about your book.
My Dark Vanessa opens in fall 2017, when 32-year-old Vanessa Wye learns that her high school English teacher, Jacob Strane, has been accused of sexual abuse by another former student. For Vanessa, this accusation is devastating because she also had a relationship with this teacher, beginning when she was 15. But in her eyes, it wasn’t abuse. She believes very strongly that it was love. The novel then moves back and forth in time between 2017 and the early aughts, showing the reader how this relationship started–and how it went on for many years–as well as the present day fallout of the accusation.
What was the research process like for the book?
I worked on My Dark Vanessa for a very long time, and a lot of the writing process took place in academic creative writing programs. So I was always taking workshops and literature courses, researching the craft of fiction writing, and trying to figure out the ongoing conversation my work could contribute to. As a PhD student, I was especially focused on research, studying critical trauma theory and narratives of sexual violence and adolescent girlhood to help support my argument that the novel I was writing fit into a larger cultural context. But sometimes the research process was really organic. I’d be watching a TV show or listening to a song and something would strike me, whether it be a turn of phrase, a relationship dynamic, or a lyric I’d never paid attention to before–and Vanessa would suddenly take over my brain and I’d get a new insight into her.
How does it feel to hold your book in your hands?
It’s of course thrilling and surreal to hold the book as an actual, physical object. It’s the culmination of so many years of work and uncertainty. I also find it weirdly reassuring to pick it up and reread a scene or two, especially in the lead-up to publication because this is the point where the book is starting to do its own thing separate from me. And that’s good! That’s what should happen. But it’s comforting to be able to revisit certain scenes and remember it’s the same book I wrote, that it’s still mine.
What’s some great advice you’ve received that has helped you as a writer?
As a writer, the best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten is to treat your writing like it’s the most important thing in your life. This approach isn’t right for everyone, and it’s definitely easier said than done–finding time and energy to write is always an issue, especially if you’re working full-time, or are struggling financially, or have dependents to care for–but for me, prioritizing my writing above everything else gave me so much confidence. It gave me ambition. It allowed me to feel like an artist, even if I was unknown and unsure if my writing would ever find an audience.
What’s your daily writing routine like and what are you working on at the moment?
When I’m deep into a project, I’ll spend the whole day writing, usually four hours in the morning, then a mid-day break, and then another four or five hours in the evening. That was the schedule I kept for the last couple years I worked on My Dark Vanessa, and the intensity of it was exhilarating. I can’t wait to get back to that point with my next book, which I am working on now but in bits and pieces. I’m just trying to get down every idea I have, even if I’m not yet sure how they’re all going to fit together.
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