Ask the Author: Jeffrey Smith
Answered Questions (8)
Jeffrey Smith
My favorite fictional couple isn't really a couple, per se, but their relationship is an important part of the novel. T.S. Garp and his mother, Jenny Fields, in the John Irving novel The World According to Garp have an unusual mother-son relationship. This is in part because Jenny Fields is no ordinary mother. She is a woman not just before her time (a forward thinking feminist) but also a woman out of time. Though to the world she becomes a feminist icon, to Garp she is an overbearing mother, one who cares more about her causes than she does about her own son. It is Garp's relationship with Jenny that drives the story of Garp's life, and by extension the novel.
Jeffrey Smith
Hi Louise!
Thanks for getting in touch. My co-writer, Russell Hill, lived in Eveleth for many years, and some of his relatives still live there.
I was born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, and until I began working on this project I had never heard of the Mesabi Range. The people there, their history and contribution to American industry and labor, are too unknown to most Americans. I hope to change that.
I'd love to hear more about your grandfather. The second novel in this trilogy tells the story of the first strike, in 1906, that led to the blackballing of many Finnish miners and laborers on the Range. It is currently in production with an expected publication date of next year.
Again, thanks for getting in touch.
Best,
Jeffrey
Thanks for getting in touch. My co-writer, Russell Hill, lived in Eveleth for many years, and some of his relatives still live there.
I was born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, and until I began working on this project I had never heard of the Mesabi Range. The people there, their history and contribution to American industry and labor, are too unknown to most Americans. I hope to change that.
I'd love to hear more about your grandfather. The second novel in this trilogy tells the story of the first strike, in 1906, that led to the blackballing of many Finnish miners and laborers on the Range. It is currently in production with an expected publication date of next year.
Again, thanks for getting in touch.
Best,
Jeffrey
Jeffrey Smith
Hi Kathleen,
So glad you found the book, and I hope you enjoy it. You can sign up at Goodreads to win one of five signed copies. The book is also available at Amazon, B&N, or your local independent book store, or you can order signed copies at mesabiproject.com/store. Thanks again for contacting me!
-JLS
So glad you found the book, and I hope you enjoy it. You can sign up at Goodreads to win one of five signed copies. The book is also available at Amazon, B&N, or your local independent book store, or you can order signed copies at mesabiproject.com/store. Thanks again for contacting me!
-JLS
Jeffrey Smith
The original idea for Mesabi Pioneers came to my co-writer, Russell Hill, nearly fifty years ago. Russell wanted to tell the story of the men and women from all over Europe and Scandinavia who moved to the remote, pine covered forest of northern Minnesota to dig from the ground the iron ore that would propel America to a global industrial leader in the 20th century.
Russell died before he was able to complete his novel, and in 2011, after his death, I took over the project. Russell had an outline, and had written a few pages, but not much else. The more I researched the Mesabi Range, and the people who lived there, the more I became fascinated with both the history of the place and the history of the community and culture that the men and women there built. A culture that still exists to this day.
Russell died before he was able to complete his novel, and in 2011, after his death, I took over the project. Russell had an outline, and had written a few pages, but not much else. The more I researched the Mesabi Range, and the people who lived there, the more I became fascinated with both the history of the place and the history of the community and culture that the men and women there built. A culture that still exists to this day.
Jeffrey Smith
Inspiration comes from the work itself. If I were to stand around and wait for inspiration to strike, I'd be standing still forever. Waiting for inspiration is like waiting to finish a 100 mile run. If you sit down you'll never get to the finish line. You have to keep moving forward. Inspiration comes when you move, not when you're standing still.
Jeffrey Smith
Book two in the Mesabi trilogy, coming sometime in 2016.
Jeffrey Smith
Write every day. And then rewrite it. Don't be afraid to put words on paper. I wrote on a blackboard over my desk when I started Mesabi Pioneers: "enjoy the process." That's what writing is: a process. It's like building a house. You start with all these loose pieces of wood and, using a plan, you build a foundation, then put up some rough walls, then a roof, then close off the outer walls, and soon enough your building rooms and putting up doors and before you know it you've moved in. But you can't move in until you've gone through the process of building the house.
Jeffrey Smith
When I write I get to lose myself in a world of my own creation. Even in the real world of northern Minnesota in the 1890s, I have to build the place. I get to build houses and build furniture. I can add trees and lakes where I need them. It's like being in control of a small village. Except I'm not really in control. When I get involved in the story I don't feel like I'm writing it anymore, but that I am simply a vessel through which the story gets told. When that moment comes, it's a glorious feeling.
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