Fresh Ink is a monthly series of interviews with debut novelists that focuses on the journey to publication. Today we’re starting off the year with Seré Prince Halverson, author of The Underside of Joy, which was published January 12 by Dutton and is forthcoming in 14 other countries.
I first learned about Sere through Sarah Jio‘s blog (another Fresh Ink interviewee) and am now counting down the days till February 23, when she’s in Austin for a book signing. Sere will be the first author I’ve interviewed who I get to meet in real life! (You bet I’ll be taking pictures!)
Length of time from book’s start to pub date: About six years, with many breaks in between.
# of agents you queried before signing: current agent, 12 (in the distant past, 75+ before I found my first agent.)
# of books written before this one: 2.5
# of revisions you went through: Too many to count. I’m all about revision.
We’re lucky that there are so many great resources for writers to learn about publishing these days. That being said, what’s the one aspect of the process you never could have predicted?
The kindness of strangers. People are not only taking the time to read my novel, but to write me, and also spread the word. And don’t even get me started on the writing community! I’ve met so many talented and supportive writers. I even belong to an online group called Book Pregnant, made up of 22 debut authors, and we’re all helping each other through the book-birthing process. It turns out that remembering to breathe is key.
I smiled when I read on your website that you worked 20 years as a freelance copywriter. It seems there are many of us copywriter/novelists out there! How did you choose this career path, and how did it lead you to fiction? Do you feel there are advantages to this mixture of writing backgrounds?
I’ve always loved writing but when I was younger but I lacked the confidence to pursue writing fiction as a career. I majored in Journalism. My dad’s guidance went something like, “The only way you can make a living by writing is in advertising.” So I took a lot of advertising and public relations classes. I got married right after graduation and worked so my first husband could finish his degree. But I soon realized that what I really wanted to do was write fiction. So while I worked and raised kids, I took writing workshops and classes.
Sometimes I wished that I had an unrelated day job, because as different as copywriting and novel writing are, they take up the same brain space. While I showered, or drove, or folded piles of laundry, or whatever, I either thought of headlines and concepts, or character and plot. So when work got busy, my fiction didn’t get its due attention. But when work slowed down, I’d plunge into the novel. Of course I’d want to stay there, but eventually the phone would ring and I’d force myself back into advertising mode and create a tagline or write a website.
In retrospect, I can see a lot of positive aspects. Copywriting taught me to set deadlines for myself. It taught me to never wait on the Muse, because, as Barbara Kingsolver says, “She has a lousy work ethic.” I was a single mom for a lot of years, and working freelance gave me flexibility so I could be around for my kids. I’d take work with me and get stuff done while waiting in the car during basketball or lacrosse practice. Read the rest of this entry »
