Steven Parlato's Blog: Novel Thoughts - Posts Tagged "process"

The following is excerpted from an interview that appeared on Book Addict 24-7's website on 9/6/13. Find the original here: http://bookaddict24-7.com/post/604869...

Book Addict 24-7 Welcomes: Steven Parlato!

Welcome to Interview Fridays!

This week I have Steven Parlato here with me! Steven’s debut, The Namesake, was my second favourite book of 2012 and he’s also a good friend of mine, so it’s an honour having him on the blog! Steven’s interview is insightful and tackles questions that may come to mind while reading his dark and insightful young adult novel.

Enjoy!
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Author Bio

“Steven Parlato is a writer, illustrator and Assistant Professor of English at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut.

An occasional actor, he’s played roles including MacBeth, The Scarecrow and Bambi’s dad, the Great Prince of the Forest.

Steve’s poetry appears in journals including MARGIE, Borderlands, Freshwater, CT River Review and Peregrine. His debut YA manuscript, JUNIOR, winner of the 2011 Tassy Walden Award for New Voices, was released January 18, 2013 by Merit Press as The Namesake.

Recently, Kirkus called the novel a “memorable, disturbing story, carefully wrought.” Represented for fiction by Victoria Marini of Gelfman-Schneider Literary Agency, Steve is at work on his next YA novel.”

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1. The Namesake is a very gutsy novel that challenges its readers to think about the complexity of human relationships. What do you think was the hardest aspect of writing a novel like yours?

“First off, thanks, Dayla, for that wonderful compliment. There were two especially difficult aspects. When I first began The Namesake, I honestly didn’t know where it was headed. Once the direction became clear, I vowed to tell Evan’s story as honestly as possible. Still, I sometimes struggled against the book’s dark path. Putting Evan’s father through the horrors of abuse was no picnic. It was painful to write; occasionally, I felt kind of like I was Evan making discoveries, rather than an author creating stuff, if that makes sense.

It was also difficult to write because of the initial inspiration. My cousin committed suicide at forty-four; his son was seventeen. Soon after, in a writing class, I began the story of a teenager whose father commits suicide. Even though I wasn’t telling my cousin’s story, I felt intense survivor’s guilt, and I second-guessed myself constantly. In the end, I trusted the process, wrote from a place of faith, and the novel actually helped on some level to process that loss.”

2. You already know just how much I loved your debut—but why do you think other readers will love it, too?

“You mean, aside from you having remarkably good taste?

Let’s see…this is a difficult question, because I’m still susceptible to the “don’t toot your own horn” philosophy ingrained in me as a kid. Let’s see, readers will LOVE The Namesake because it’s truthful. I took pains to portray the relationships—and brutal plot aspects—authentically. So I think readers, YA and older, will connect with Evan on that gut-deep level of emotional truth. And it’s not as if it’s necessary to have endured the events portrayed in the novel to relate. We’ve all been hurt, all had our world upended in ways large and small; we’ve all had to forge a path back from loss and betrayal. I believe these emotional links make Evan someone for whom readers will have affection.

Plus, The Namesake has a strong dose of humor. For example, Evan refers to his dad’s final resting place as a “crisper drawer”; a tad disrespectful, but funny. As a reader, I always fall for characters who combat dark circumstance with equally dark humor. And there’s even a hint of a romance between Evan and his best friend, Lex.”

3. Evan, your protagonist, faces some very tough discoveries about his father. How would Evan’s relationship with his father, prior to his death and after his death, reflect on that of contemporary father/son relationships?

“Wow, another awesome question. The relationship between the Evans was extremely challenging—and very natural—to write. I won’t claim much in the way of research, reading sociological studies on the complexities of father/son bonds or anything. However, as a son—and a son’s father—I’m expert on two specific brands of that relationship: the ones I’ve lived.

It wasn’t that difficult imagining myself into the pre-suicide dynamic Evan shared with his dad. That relationship—its emotional distance, Evan’s feelings of inadequacy—I know well from my childhood. I don’t mean to judge my father by some weird emotional barometer, because that’s unfair. But he’s of a generation (pardon my sweeping generalization) that didn’t value fathers bonding emotionally with sons. Sons were meant to be tough, athletic, everything I wasn’t as an artistic, bookish kid. And, enlightened as we think we are, that tough-love-guys-don’t-need-affection attitude still exists. As a father myself, I’ve possibly swung the pendulum too far. I’m emotional with my kids; I apologize; I say, “I love you.” At sixteen, my son’s sort of over it. Hopefully, he’ll succeed in getting the pendulum balanced just right with his own son someday.

The heartbreak of the Galloway father/son relationship post-suicide is that Evan finally comprehends his dad. He comes to understand his lost father on an incredibly deep level, creating the potential for a truly amazing relationship. Of course, it’s too late to use that understanding in a practical way. But maybe, like my son, Evan will apply those lessons with his own son, should he ever have one…What, Evan’s not real? Oh, right.”

4. Did you ever face any surprises of your own while writing The Namesake?

“Writing The Namesake was continually surprising, starting with the topic. And never having written a novel before, I was constantly amazed by the process, the way some seemingly random choice often became a make-or-break detail several chapters later.

I was also blown away by early interest. When a classmate showed my first chapters to a “friend in publishing,” she ended up being senior executive editor at a major NY publishing house, and seemed interested in acquiring the novel. It was a sad surprise when she passed, then left publishing. I was also surprised to learn my first agent had represented Robert Cormier and other YA giants. And I was frankly shocked by my courage to leave that agent when it became clear we’d made a bad match.

One of the best surprises was realizing the editor who finally bought The Namesake was actually Jackie Mitchard, original Oprah’s Book Club author. One thing that never surprised me was the unflagging belief of my amazing wife, Jan, and our dear friends who encouraged me when I was ready to bail.”

5. After writing such an emotionally stimulating novel that fearlessly showcases some of the more taboo subjects in literature, do you think you will ever tackle anymore serious issues? If so, which ones?

“Though I didn’t plan to be a Fearless Writer of Taboo Literature, I believe in committing to the story. And, yes, other gritty topics are important to me. Mental illness, and the marginalization of the mentally ill, is an issue with personal resonance that often surfaces in my writing, particularly my poetry. So I see myself exploring that topic in fiction. Currently, I’m writing a YA novel with a female protagonist, Teddi Alder. She lives alone with her mother, who grapples with substance abuse, and Teddi’s struggling to understand her own anxiety. Along the way, she uncovers a chilling mystery from her past. It’s definitely shades lighter than The Namesake, but it deals with some serious stuff.

I also have a start on a YA featuring a contemporary teen who discovers a Holocaust connection. And, having lost my mom to pancreatic cancer in 2005, I can see myself writing a book around that topic. Though, really, after John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, maybe there’s no need.”

6. As a father, what is your personal take on Evan’s relationship with his father?

“I’ll risk sounding corny.

Their relationship reminds me to live my relationship with my own kids as authentically as I’m able. Evan’s dad was so profoundly damaged—not just by the abuse, but by the great tragedy of his adult life—that he was unable to experience the treasure of his son. And Evan interpreted his father’s emotional distance as indifference. How could he know it was really fear and pain, an inability to forgive himself? If they’d only been able to break through that armor they wore with one another, they could’ve had an incredible relationship. But the parent/child bond is so complex.

I’m dealing right now with a son who’s growing up and away, testing boundaries to find himself. And I SUCK at it. Every day, I question whether I’m doing anything right. But my kids are great people, and I make sure to tell them that. Maybe not as often as I tell Ben to clean his room, but…sigh.”

7. Would you ever recommend going to the life-changing weekend experience that Evan chooses to go on? If so, what do you think would be the benefits of going? If not, why?

“HA! I love this question!

I don’t recommend going on the encounter Evan attended. That thing was nightmarish! But when I was a Catholic high schooler, I did attend a weekend encounter. It featured some of the very same aspects as Evan’s—the less creepy ones—rooming with a stranger (ugh), inspirational music, prayer, confession, palancas, even that mirror exercise. And it was rumored that “they beat you ‘til you cry.” They didn’t beat us, but it was such an emotionally raw experience, you almost couldn’t help but cry.

I remain faithfully Catholic, and I think there’s a lot to be gained by attending retreat. In our hectic world, it’s an opportunity to be still and explore one’s relationship with God. Truthfully, I believe it can be spiritually enriching, as long as your father’s long-dead boogeyman is not in attendance.”

8. The Namesake may be also read as a cautionary tale that shows us that the past is sometimes better left alone—would you agree with this, or would you suggest another lesson that readers can learn from your debut? Which lesson would that be?

“It’s hard to say.

I certainly have ideas about what I’d like readers to take away, but I’m reluctant to spell out a lesson. Mrs. Solomon-Baxter-Coombs’ caution, “There are worse things than not knowing,” seems to have merit. However, if we could ask Evan, I think he’d say it was worth the pain and trauma to know his father more fully.

There are, of course, wounds that must remain bandaged over, simply to function day-to-day. But I think we sometimes make the mistake of withholding the truth (even from ourselves) out of some misguided effort to protect.”

9. The storyline of The Namesake may also hint that Evan’s growing curiosity regarding his father’s past slowly slips from grief, to insanity. Do you believe that Evan’s character slipped from your hands and followed his own path, or do you think we all need to cross the line between mere curiosity and disturbing fascination when it comes to grieving?

“This is another intense question!

There were many points where Evan slipped from my hands, and I cringed at the keyboard, like a moviegoer yelling at the screen. I wanted, for instance, to warn him away from that hallway where he encountered Father Fran at Holy Family Merciful Wisdom Center. But I couldn’t intrude on his quest. My job, to paraphrase Stephen King, was unearthing the fossil without causing too much damage. It was like Evan’s story already existed, I was responsible for unearthing it, and only he knew how far to go in pursuit of truth and healing.

As far as grief, all bets are off. There simply is no one appropriate way to process it. I think it’s natural to go off the rails in the face of profound loss. Grief is messy, ugly. It can descend out of a cloudless sky. Yesterday was the twelfth anniversary of my cousin’s suicide, and I still haven’t processed it fully. I don’t believe in closure. At some level, every one of us is a member of the walking wounded. Does that sound dire? To me, it’s the opposite: a reminder to greet people with compassion, because we’re all scarred.”

10. Of all the possible rewards you’ve earned for writing this complex debut, which would you say is the greatest—and how did it motivate you to keep writing young adult novels?

“I won’t lie. Praise is awesome, whether it’s from Kirkus, or Publishers Weekly, or from insightful book aficionados like you.

The Namesake is even under consideration for a couple awards; these are phenomenal, pinch-me experiences. Still, in all honesty, if my novel touches one reader who’s endured something similar to Evan’s dad, if my words lend comfort to that individual—making him or her feel less alone—that will be the greatest reward of all.”

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Thanks for stopping by, Steven!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s interview! Check back next week for another awesome interview!

Happy reading!

Dayla F.M.