The Next Big Thing

Recently two wonderful and talented ladies, RAE BRYANT (The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals, fiction collection) and LEAH UMANSKY (Domestic Uncertainties, poetry) asked Lisa Marie Basile(Triste) to contribute to The Next Big Thing, a blog-series of questions and answers. Lisa then asked me. Usually I skip right over chain mails but this I just couldn’t pass up.

What is your working title of your book (or story)?

I have a book coming out with Patasola Press called, Origin of.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Origin of stemmed from the work I did in graduate school. It wasn’t until I was living in Spain: away from my family, my home, barely speaking English and trying to find myself in my new life that I actually felt ready to finish it.
    The first part of the book found its inspiration from Sappho/art/love affairs and stalking museum visitors. The other parts came from my 5 year stint in Spain.
    Although written in different life stages, I think it has still managed to maintain its “origin.” A lot of it focuses on past and memory, for example. I think the newness/abstractness of it comes from the feeling of loneliness and discomfort I was feeling those first 2 years in Spain. I wanted to be brutally honest and convey both in the language and the images that sense of isolation and homesickness.

What genre does your book fall under?

Poetry.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters, in a movie rendition?

Chloe Sevigny- The I; or any of the girls in sex/drug scenes
Rolf Lassgard- The Father
Jessica Lang- Mom(she really does look like my mom too)
Gorid Mollá- The Spanish man
Michael Pitt- The everpresent male character. (He can play the French men, the bad men, the good men….really any is fine by me).

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

“…Two torsos/without limbs/attached to prove/what the arms suggest.”

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Origin of  will be released by Patasola Press, a press with a short history and a big future. Lisa Marie Basile, is a wonderful writer/editor. I’m happy to be working with her on my first full-length book.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It took me about 1 year to write the first draft, turn it in, get a grade, then 2 years shoved in a drawer and 4 months to rewrite most of it. Total time = about 4 years.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I was really blown away by Anne Carson’s translations of Sappho. My infatuation with Sappho transpires a lot in the first part of the book and really became the main source of inspiration for the book as a whole. The revisions I did about 2 years later, however, were also influential. I owe my (editor) friend Patrick in Barcelona a huge thank you. Even though he can be a real asshole(endearing) he has a great eye. He pushed me when I needed it most.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I was naked when I wrote it?



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I’ve tagged Ana Božičević, Carter Edwards and Peter Bogart Johnson for the next round.