Today I am pleased to present to you all the ninth in a series of Author Interviews. Recently I sat down with the skittish and neurotic James Tenedero and our conversation went something like this:
James: Nothing
particularly noteworthy, but I do tend to write in short bursts of time and
effort. I’m a compulsive
perfectionist (which, as most aspiring authors can attest, is not necessarily a
good thing), so I’m congenitally incapable of moving past whatever passage or
chapter I’m working on until it’s ‘just right.’ I’ll write for a couple of
hours, take a break to clear my head, do some work on a completely different
topic, and then come back. This cycle repeats itself ad nauseum over
the course of the day, month and year, until I have a reasonably clear final
product.
Paul: If someone had the power to step into
your creative mind what would they see?
James: Swirling
eddies of moderately coherent thoughts, interspersed with rare lucid insights
into the human condition! A few years ago I remember reading about how the New
York Metropolitan Transportation Authority would dump its derelict subway cars
into the Atlantic to create artificial reefs. As pretentious as it sounds, I quite
like that as a metaphor for my creative process: a basic, solid structure
around which all sorts of interesting bits of life eventually coalesce. It
takes a lot of time, the right environment, and a bit of luck, but hopefully
the end result is something genuinely beautiful.
Paul: Do you have a favorite character in
each of your series, aside from the lead? If so, which one and why?
James: I enjoyed
writing Henry Boylton, who is a secondary character in The
Consistency of Parchment. When I first conceived of him, it was really
as a one-dimensional caricature: the bumbling, absent-minded professor profoundly
lacking in social graces. As the story advanced though, I felt compelled to add
some nuance to his personality and to the situations he would face (and how he
would respond to them). I suppose he’s my favorite character because the degree
of depth and non-obviousness that I eventually incorporated into him carried
over into the book as a whole, and made the story that much more realistic.
Paul: How do you find the time to
write?
James: There’s a line from the David Mamet movie ‘Heist’ that I
think pretty accurately captures my approach to finding time to write. The
quote goes something like “I imagined someone smarter than myself. Then I tried
to think, ‘What would he do?’” That
pretty much sums it up for me: trying to imagine a more dedicated, smarter
writer and then emulating his or her work ethic to the best of my ability. Thinking this way usually shames me sufficiently to
drive me back to my work.
Paul: What is one thing you hope I do
not tell the readers?
James: Only one thing? That I fit the stereotype of
the neurotic, skittish, self-deprecating writer to a veritable ‘T.’ And on a
related note, that I have an abiding fondness for trashy pop-culture books,
movies, and music, which I keep hidden behind a thin façade of world-weariness
and references to obscure literary works. Underneath it all though, I’m still
just an aspiring author hoping to find a receptive audience for his books. Come
to think of it, you can mention that last part to your readers if you like.
Paul: Do you plot your stories or do
you just get an idea and run with it?
James: I start
with a very broad outline of the plot, but this tends to evolve as I begin
writing. I’ve found that no matter how intricately I try to sketch out the
details beforehand, it’s not until the actual writing begins in earnest that I
get an idea of what the story is really about. A bit of plotting gets the
process going, but once the narrative is in motion I try to let myself be
guided to wherever it most naturally seems to want to go.
Paul: Do you do a lot of editing or
do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
James: Even though I do feel (perhaps naively) that
my writing gets better with each story I write, no matter how pleased I am with
the overall product I still do quite a bit of editing afterwards. I’m a big
believer in the desk drawer approach: finish writing the manuscript, put the
document in your drawer for a few weeks, then re-read it with a fresh
perspective. You’ll invariably find snippets of dialogue that could be tweaked,
descriptions of setting that should be tightened, and plot points that ought to
be clarified. And this revision work can be done anywhere the urge strikes: I
finished editing my latest book during an overnight layover in the departures
lounge of the Houston airport.
Paul: Do you have to do much research
for your stories?
James: Generally no, but of course it depends on the
story in question. Thinking again of my most recent novel, the background
research involved was fairly substantial, and entailed delving into the history
of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. I value a degree of realism in my
books; the story has to ring true in a basic sense. Once that foundation is in
place though, I try to give myself the freedom to explore. It’s a tricky
balance, but one that I’m always cognizant of as a writer.
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James: The book
is titled The Consistency of Parchment. Nominally,
it’s a story about two people – Cal and Kendra – and the chance encounter that
leads them to a journey across Europe in search of the mysterious contents of a
safe deposit box. More broadly speaking, with this book I examine the theme of
historical embeddedness – specifically, the way that our personal and societal
histories often serve as unconscious influences on personality. I’ve tried to
tell a tale that combines extensive character development with a well-paced
narrative thrust. Hopefully I’ll have appealed to readers who are partial to
both literary fiction and adventure.
Paul: What inspired you to write this book?
James: I spent a
semester in Budapest, Hungary during my graduate studies in 2003. This of
course was several years after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Still,
I was amazed to see the extent to which the vestiges of this past had been
removed from public view: you’d be hard-pressed to find Soviet-era monuments or
even any signs in Cyrillic script in the city. I started to think about the
consequences (both social and personal) of so completely erasing these traces
of history – and indeed if it was even possible to do so. This was the first
impetus for the book, and from that starting point I developed a set of characters
and circumstances anchored to this overarching theme.
Paul: How much marketing do you do
for your published works or for your ‘brand’?
James: Quite a bit, actually. I maintain an active
Twitter feed, Facebook page, and writing-related blog. As a self-published
author, I know that the success of my work is almost wholly contingent on the
job I do in promoting it, so it behooves me to put as much effort into selling
the book as I did in writing it. I’m definitely still learning, and this kind
of self-promotion doesn’t come naturally to me, but I’m enjoying this process
as well!
Paul: What do you do when you’re not
writing? Do you have any hobbies or party tricks?
James: No party tricks that I can think of, sadly. I’m
in the final stages my PhD at McGill University, so the dissertation keeps me
fairly busy when I’m not concentrating on my (other) writing. Apart from that,
I travel quite a bit, both for business and for pleasure. It’s trite to say so,
but I’m probably most happy on those occasions when inspiration strikes and I’m
punching away on my next book.
Paul: That was excellent, James. I wish you every success for the future.
James' Blog: JamesTenedero
James on Twitter: @jamestenedero
James on Facebook: James Tenedero
James' latest book: The Consistency of Parchment (Amazon)
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