Ask the Author: Julie Demboski
Answered Questions (5)
Julie Demboski
She opened up the box from her publisher, which contained copies of her first published novel. Her name was misspelled.
Julie Demboski
Good question, that elicits a confession: I am a book hoarder. And I still buy. I have had, and carried from one continent to another, books for forty years and more, my shelves are packed and books are in stacks on the floor, and many/ some are unread. I keep the ones I love, and that I will re-read at some point or loan or give to others, and give away what I've fallen out of love with. Having lots of unread books is a treat for me, because when I'm ready to start a new one, I browse and something intriguing jumps out--it's like getting a present every time, something I'd bought with anticipation and half the time have forgotten about. I even have a particular shelf where I line up the potential picks, the 'next in line' choices. So I'll be choosing from those this summer--unless I choose something else. I like to read several books at once, a biography, a non-fiction or history (I'm a fool for real-life shipwrecks and lost-at-sea stories--and in this category I include astrology and mythology/ cultural history books), and one or two works of fiction (I am especially fond of Scandinavian crime fiction, science fiction, and dip into both classic and modern literary fiction, and I love short stories, a neglected Art form, I think). What am I eyeballing for summer? Here's a short list: Neil Gaiman's 'Norse Mythology', Richard Yates' 'Disturbing the Peace', Antonia Fraser's 'Marie Antoinette', Dedman and Newell's 'Empty Mansions', Hilary Mantel's 'Bringing Up the Bodies', Tom Perotta's 'The Abstinence Teacher', Dan Simmons' 'Black Hills', Patricia Highsmith (I read everything by her I can find) 'The Glass Cell', and I may re-read Cheever's Collected Stories (a perennial favorite), as well as re-reading Sasportas and Greene's 'Dynamics of the Unconscious'. I'll read those, if I don't get distracted by something else. So what about you, kind questioner, what will you be reading?
Julie Demboski
Someone asked me this question, though when I went to answer, it had disappeared--but I liked the idea of mysteries in our lives, those things we'll probably never have answers to, and the way they relate to our storytelling, especially the stories we tell ourselves. What came to mind for me was something I ran across while looking through a genealogy written by my grandmother. She had written out what she knew about her ancestors--they were Dutch, settled in Kansas--and one note caught my eye. It was about her uncle; it read: (his name and birth date, 31 years old at the time of death), died 1 January 1901, hit by a train'. New Year's Day! And a new century! I always picture New Year's as crisp and cold and very sunny--and I wondered what this man had been doing that he found himself on the railroad tracks, killed on the very first day of a new year. He lived with his brother, my great-grandfather, and his family, so in a way he was untethered, not bound by a wife and children, and maybe not feeling he truly had a place in the community. Or was he a man with problems, a gambler or drinker or one whose proclivities could bring the world down around his head? Did his brother shelter him willingly, were they close, did his sister-in-law care for him, did the children love their uncle, or were they all holding their breath, waiting for some darkness or restlessness to surface? A thousand scenarios ran through my mind. Did he die in the wee frosty hours, in darkness, drunk or fleeing something or a victim, knocked out and placed on the tracks? Was he hopping the train in broad daylight, done with trying to live a conventional life, looking for escape to the West or far North or South to Mexico? Will I outfit him as hero or ne'er-do-well, as a free spirit or a broken man, in my own mind? There are so many possibilities, and no one left to ask, now, about the reality. But I do wonder.
Julie Demboski
I had to think about this a bit, as I realized that most stories involving couples are told from one or the other POV--and so show less of an objective relationship and more of one shrouded in romantic perceptions--which automatically distort the view the reader receives. I'm not anti-romance, but I am anti- anything that removes a relationship from the world in which it exists--that's part of the reason so many people suffer with unreal expectations as to what a relationship can and should supply. So, now that I've sucked all the fun out of this, I'll tell you who (eventually) came to mind: Quoyle and Wavey of Annie Proulx's 'The Shipping News'. I like them because their relationship wasn't a romantic tangle of each individual looking for a magical 'Other', but a connection that happens almost against their will, as each battered individual finds comfort and shelter in the other. Their interaction lifts them up, but without removing them from who they are, where they are, and without placing a dazzling sheen over their perceptions. Do I dislike romance? Not at all--but I do think it acts as a poison when it's the primary lens through which we choose to see another. And thank you, whoever you are, for the question :)
Julie Demboski
Setting your own schedule. The solitude. Being dependent only on yourself. And of course, those can be the worst things about being a writer, too.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more