Ask the Author: Patty Somlo
Answered Questions (6)
Patty Somlo
I usually let myself write bad things for a bit. Sometimes, I'll take a break from writing and spend time in nature, which usually helps me get my creative juices flowing again.
Patty Somlo
Writing is the best thing about being a writer. So much about the writing life is difficult. Being able to escape from the “real world” into a world you create with your words makes up for the inevitable rejections and lack of money, attention and fame which most writers experience.
Patty Somlo
My first piece of advice to aspiring writers is to maintain a regular writing practice, rather than waiting for some inspiration to hit. Secondly, I would advise focusing on short pieces, rather than initially diving into writing a book. Next, I would say that revising is as important, if not more important, than writing first drafts. Learning to improve writing will eventually lead to publishable work.
Patty Somlo
Because I have two more books coming out in the next year, a memoir and another short story collection, I am involved with various aspects of the work needed to get those books ready for publication. I am also writing new short stories and essays and trying to decide which of several partially written projects, including two novels and another memoir, I want to devote myself to next.
Patty Somlo
I am frequently inspired to write a better outcome to what I see happening in the world. The news of war, terrorism, inequality, violence and corruption can seem terribly grim. I write about these issues as a way to both make myself feel better and show that there can be another way, that people of different cultures or faiths or races don’t have to be pitted against one another and that we can do something about the seemingly intractable problems that we face. I am also continually inspired to write by the wonderful work of so many other writers.
Patty Somlo
My most recent book, The First to Disappear, is a short story collection which was completed over a period of time. I had written a little over a third of the stories when I realized that they were all connected. Not only did they deal with some of the most important issues of our time, such as terrorism, climate change, immigration and refugees fleeing war, but each story shed light on the global connectedness of our world. I decided that I wanted to put a book-length collection together with these global ties being a central theme, focusing on both human connections with other people around the world, as well as our deep dependence on the natural world. So, I wrote additional stories that would focus on these concerns.
This book, like my previous short story collection, From Here to There and Other Stories, is inspired by real events which I fictionalize, often using the technique of magical realism to look more deeply into issues. The globalization of everything from jobs and trade to terrorism, communication, disease, and effects of the changing climate on weather, food production, and animal and plant life, has shaken up the world we once knew, and people are still struggling to catch up. I believe writers have a responsibility to address the complex, important issues of our time in their work and that fiction has a key role to play.
This book, like my previous short story collection, From Here to There and Other Stories, is inspired by real events which I fictionalize, often using the technique of magical realism to look more deeply into issues. The globalization of everything from jobs and trade to terrorism, communication, disease, and effects of the changing climate on weather, food production, and animal and plant life, has shaken up the world we once knew, and people are still struggling to catch up. I believe writers have a responsibility to address the complex, important issues of our time in their work and that fiction has a key role to play.
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