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Eliot Treichel

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.eliottreichel.com/

Twitter

eliottreichel

Genre

Young Adult, Short Stories, Fiction

Member Since

June 2012

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Eliot Treichel is the author of the YA novel A Series of Small Maneuvers, which received the Oregon Book Award's Readers' Choice Award and the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Reading the West Award. His story collection, Close Is Fine, received the Wisconsin Library Association Literary Award. His other work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Canoe & Kayak, Narrative, Beloit Fiction Journal, CutBank, and Passages North. He thinks running up hills is fun, sandwiches are better with potato chips, and that no one should go to bed without a cookie. Originally from Wisconsin, he now lives in the PNW.

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I was impressed with the way you gave Emma's character so much emotional restraint dealing with crisis, and it's so important to the story. Did you start already knowing who she was, or did Emma's character evolve as you wrote?

Eliot Treichel Emma's character definitely evolved over the course of writing the book. For one, she was much younger in the first draft. And I didn't really underst…moreEmma's character definitely evolved over the course of writing the book. For one, she was much younger in the first draft. And I didn't really understand who she was or how she fit in with her family, and it was a struggle to find her voice, to tune into the right frequency so that I could actually hear her, and not me. Setting much of the story on a river trip helped me with her character since paddling has always been such a big part of my life. In STEERING THE CRAFT, Ursula Le Guin talks about how fiction involves the sinking of self in character-self. She says you have to share control with your creation. Having the river stuff in the book gave me something to hang onto, and it allowed me trust where Emma wanted to take the other parts of the story. For me, characters aren't really pre-constructed. They're revealed over multiple drafts. What are they going to lie about? What do they regret? What have they lost? I think you only get to know these things about a person--whether in real life, or in fiction--after you spend a fair amount of time with them. (less)

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I've always thought it was a beautiful idea that creators and their works are informed by the creators and works that they've engaged with and enjoyed (or hated). Do you agree with that idea? Also, what other writers or creators would you say have inspired you in your writing?

Eliot Treichel Great question, Chris. I do agree with that idea. I think in some ways what you're talking about is the idea of intertextuality, or intertext--the ide…moreGreat question, Chris. I do agree with that idea. I think in some ways what you're talking about is the idea of intertextuality, or intertext--the idea that all texts are made up of other texts, whether intentionally or not. I guess I've heard a few writers say that they can't read other people's work when they're in the middle of a project, because those other writers will have too much of an influence. I don't subscribe to that, and I think my writing process goes much better--and my writing comes out much better--when I'm reading and interacting with as many other works as possible. I've already mentioned in another answer some of the books that influenced me while working on A SERIES OF SMALL MANEUVERS, but I'll add two more: BLUEPRINTS FOR BETTER GIRLS by Elissa Schappell, and THE CRADLE by Patrick Somerville. Some other influences include the movies BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, and BUCK. With my first book, CLOSE IS FINE, there was a lot of Wilco and Neil Young, but with this book music played less of a role. Another big influence on SMALL MANEUVERS was the landscape around Paisley, Oregon, where I wrote the first real draft of the novel. The area is often referred to as the Oregon Outback. It's land that's been informed by millions of years of history, and I couldn't help but be informed by it as well.(less)

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Eliot Treichel’s books

Average rating: 4.14 · 216 ratings · 99 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Series of Small Maneuvers 4.12 avg rating — 139 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Close Is Fine 4.18 avg rating — 77 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	[Close Is Fine] [By: Treichel, Eliot] [November, 2012] by Eliot Treichel (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Eliot Treichel's Blog

Putting Her on the River: How A Series of Small Maneuvers Came to Be

I.

We came upon the family at one of the switchbacks. This was on the trail down to Page Springs in the Grand Canyon. The four of them—what appeared to be a mom, dad, and pair of girls—were tucked against a rock wall, catching what little shade there was. The awkward vibe that we’d interrupted a private moment hung in the air. The girls, maybe ages six and ten, were clearly sisters. Same blonde hai Read more of this blog post »

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Published on February 04, 2016 18:10 • Tags: family, grief, kayaking, rivers, ya

Quotes by Eliot Treichel (?)

“he thought the word river should also be a verb. He thought it should mean to move or act as a river. There was the verb rive, which meant to wrench open, or split off, or tear apart, but that didn’t work for him. Rivers could tear apart the earth and split off pieces of rock, of course, but my dad didn’t just mean those qualities. To river was to act with grace, to bend, to flow. A balance between power and gentleness, depth and shallows. It was to dance. To catch the light of the sun.”
― Eliot Treichel, A Series of Small Maneuvers

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