10 Questions with Legendary Writer Kathe Koja (@KatheKoja)
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Kathe Koja
author of
Bastards' Paradise
I distinctly recall purchasing a paperback copy of SKIN from Waldenbooks when I was in high school. Kathe Koja is big-time.
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| Author photo: Copyright Rick Lieder |
1.How did you get into
writing and why do you write?
I’ve been a writer since I was a very small child: since I
knew what a story was.
2.What do you like
best (or least) about writing?
It’s very serious, very nourishing play: the initial blossom
of the idea, the research, “feathering the nest” as Anthony Lane once called
it: and the patient, wild, daily work at the desk . . . I love it.
I used to detest going through copyedits until I worked with
a brilliant copyeditor, Paul Witcover. Then I learned to love that part of the
process, too. So now it’s all good.
3.What is your writing
process? IE do you outline? Do you stick to a daily word or page count, write 7
days a week, etc?
I don’t outline, ever – the way I work requires discovery as
I go along, and the freedom to throw stuff away, make hairpin turns, follow the
story. Which doesn’t suggest that outlining isn’t a valid or useful process, it
just doesn’t work for me. (I did try it once: disaster.)
I’m religious about working every day, every morning, once
I’ve begun a project – the energy and momentum, the feel of the story, all of
that is buttressed and enhanced by sitting down in the same place at the same
time, picking up the thread where the last day left it, and going on.
4.Who are some other
writers you read and admire, regardless of whether they are commercially
“successful?”
A few of my great loves are Emily Brontë, Emily Dickinson,
Christopher Marlowe . . . I learned a ton from Shirley Jackson. Angela Carter
is wonderfully sly. Anthony Burgess’ wordplay is a continuing revelation.
And a new writer whose work I adore is Maryse Mejier: her
collection Heartbreaker comes out
next year.
5.Should the question
mark in the above question be inside or outside the quotes?
Inside.
6.What’s your stance
on the Oxford Comma?
Long may it function!
7.What is your book The
Bastards’ Paradise about and how did it come to fruition?
The Bastards’ Paradise
is the final book in the trilogy that includes Under the Poppy and The
Mercury Waltz, the lifelong story of Istvan and Rupert, comrades and lovers
and performers, whose puppet plays lead them through glittering high society
and down some very dark roads, but always together.
I never dreamed I would write a trilogy, but the story of these
men kept expanding and flowering as I wrote, along with the stories of their
friends and enemies . . . It’s been an amazing pleasure and a total labor of
love to bring these fin de siècle
gentlemen of the road to life.
8.What’s your current
writing project?
I just finished a new YA novel, The Ballrooms of Mars. I’m in the research phase for a novel about
Christopher Marlowe. And I’ve adapted Stoker’s Dracula for my ensemble, nerve,
for January performance.
9.What are you
currently reading?
At this moment, The
Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe, edited by Patrick Cheney, and a
friend’s screenplay for a thriller film.
10.Who or what
inspires your writing?
It sounds simple, but – life. And people. The endlessly
fascinating, terrible, passionate rock tumbler combination of the two.
Please also include
where people can read your published stories, buy your book, etc.
The Bastards’ Paradise
and The Mercury Waltz are
available here: http://www.roadswell.com/kathe-koja.html
Signed copies of my books are available here: http://www.kathekoja.com/blog/buy-books/
And my books are available in print and ebook editions
online from the usual retail sources like Amazon, B&N, Apple iBooks
etc.
Thank you, Kathe, for sharing your experience and insight into the writing life. Please feel free to visit with us in the future in order to share new books.
There you have it, gang. Insight and wisdom from a serious writer. Be sure to visit Kathe's website and purchase a signed copy of one of her books, or look her up wherever books are sold.
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