Ask the Author: Ross Breithaupt
Answered Questions (4)
Ross Breithaupt
Stay the course!
Ross Breithaupt
I go for a long walk, and let my thoughts wander. Then I sit down at my laptop and move my fingers over the keys.
Ross Breithaupt
I am working on the bones of a story: I know my protagonist (Leila... Rory's niece in fact) and the setting (pre-pandemic Toronto) and I know that Leila is obsessed with the underground utilities that gird the city. It's still coming into focus. I don't yet know what Leila's quest is exactly, nor how to raise the stakes.
Ross Breithaupt
The seeds for Midland were sown decades ago when I was twelve years old, when my mother told me that a young man from our church had killed himself. My initial reaction was not the sadness or confusion that you might expect, but a kind of fascination – especially when Mom told me that he had always seemed a charming and happy fellow, and that he’d held the door for her at church just the Sunday before. The thing is we never talked about that young man again, nor was the family ever mentioned in the community prayers at our church.
During my teens I was sometimes haunted by this event, but only rarely after that. Then, ten years ago, I took a leave from teaching to undergo major surgery, and I found myself coming around to that family again. I imagined a much younger brother – I called him Rory – whose family has protected him from the truth of his brother’s death such that he’s never had to grapple with it. I had a clear image of him in an orange tent, writing a letter by flashlight to his long-dead brother. That’s when I knew I had to tell Rory’s story.
During my teens I was sometimes haunted by this event, but only rarely after that. Then, ten years ago, I took a leave from teaching to undergo major surgery, and I found myself coming around to that family again. I imagined a much younger brother – I called him Rory – whose family has protected him from the truth of his brother’s death such that he’s never had to grapple with it. I had a clear image of him in an orange tent, writing a letter by flashlight to his long-dead brother. That’s when I knew I had to tell Rory’s story.
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