About the Author:
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| Author's Amazon Page |
My fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in literary magazines, including Embark, Hotel Amerika, and Bayou, and an essay of mine was selected for the Notable Essays list in Best American Essays 2011. I’m also a creative writing residency fellow of the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.
I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and then studied philosophy and classics at Brigham Young University. My graduate studies included a Fulbright Fellowship year at the University of Hamburg in Germany and degrees in cultural history from the University of Chicago and in public policy from The George Washington University. I currently divide my time between Washington, D.C., and Knoxville, TN.
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Interview with Therese Doucet
What inspires you to write?
I’m always torn between, on the one hand, wanting to use writing as a way to escape into an imaginary world that’s more glamorous, beautiful, exciting, interesting, adventurous, and romantic than the real world -- and on the other hand, wanting to use fictional characters and situations as a way of reflecting on my own questions about human psychology and moral choices. So I’m inspired by music, art, dance, fashion, fairy tales, architecture, and scenes from nature, but also by philosophy and real-life situations where people face difficult choices.How did you come up with the idea for your current story?
I had a really intense dream about a lover in the darkness, and the whole novel emerged from trying to build a story around the feeling of the dream.Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?
Yes! I wrote another magical realist historical novel set in Normandy in the mid-1850s (the Second Empire period of Napolean III), which wove in themes of mermaids, ondines, and sea-goddesses. I also wrote a fairly scandalous novel (also with some magical realism) about the life of Judas Iscariot, in which Judas is the hero and Jesus is the villain. That one could probably qualify me for a fatwa! Both could use a lot of revision, but who knows, maybe they’ll emerge from the drawer one day ...Tell us about your writing process.
My favorite time to write is in the wee hours of the morning, from 3 to 8 am, when it’s quiet and the rest of the world is sleeping and there’s nothing else really to do, and I have fewer distractions. There absolutely has to be a pot of coffee to get it started. But I have to wake up naturally when my body is ready, without an alarm. I’m not creative without enough sleep, but I often wake up that early anyway, which seems to be something I inherited genetically from my grandma. I write long-hand because I feel more free that way to mess up, to cross things out and write notes on the side of the pages and draw lines to connect where things should go. Then I type up the manuscript and edit as I type.Before I get started, I outline the heck out of things and sometimes also write up character sketches to get to know my imaginary people before I have them start talking to each other and reacting to things. I give them back stories and secrets, physical traits and tics, longings, flaws, tastes, habits, hobbies, and so on. Of course no matter how carefully I plan things, the characters still tend to spring surprises on me, and that’s often the funnest part of writing.
What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?
I would suggest starting out by doing one of those 30-day novel-writing challenges, like NaNoWriMo. The fact that you’re just aiming for a certain word count every day frees you up to feel like it’s okay if you write crap to begin with, so you write a lot. And then even if you end up with something you’re never going to get published, it makes you realize that it’s not the impossible-seeming huge task you thought it was -- getting those words out is something you can do. So then you’re less intimidated, and you have a sense of how much time it takes to write a given number of words, and when you set out to write future novels, you can budget out your time, knowing that if you write a certain number of words day after day, eventually you’ll end up with a novel-sized thing. I think you have to practice with writing a few bad novels before you start to improve -- anecdotally it seems like most authors have written at least a couple of novels before they produce one that’s publishable. So, expect the first few novels to suck, but keep looking for ways to improve, asking for feedback, taking classes, reading books about the craft of writing, and bit by bit you will almost certainly get better at it with each one you finish.How do you spend your free time? Do you have a favorite place to go and unwind?
I work an office day job, and I literally spend a lot of the day at work fantasizing about that moment when I can get home from the office, grab a plate of snacks and a book, light some candles, and then immerse myself in a book for a couple of hours, cozy on the couch under a blanket. On average I get to do that 3-5 nights a week. I also just love spending time with my daughter, who is twelve, having dinner and reading or watching a movie together. Or when I’m not with her, going out with friends to our favorite book-themed cocktail night. And occasionally I go out dancing at goth-industrial themed clubs, or to music shows. I love to dance and love gothic aesthetics!Can you share with us something off your bucket list?
I get frequent bouts of wanderlust and read a fair number of travel books. I’d love to spend a year being a nomad on a shoestring and seeing the world, hiking, camping, exploring forests and museums, castles, beaches, and museums.What do you have in store next for your readers?
I’m working on another magical realist historical novel set in Paris during the Belle Epoche art nouveau period (1890-1910), possibly featuring composers, artists, jewelry makers, witches, ghosts, and figures from Arthurian legends...
About the Book:
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| Check out the Book on Amazon |
A lover in and of the darkness ...
Violaine, a devotee of books and learning, finds herself sold by her father to a mysterious nobleman to become his companion. Fearing herself at the mercy of a monster, Violaine instead succumbs to the seductive spell of her magical new home, and the love of a man she has never seen, who comes to her only in the darkness of night.
The Château de Boisaulne is a place of many mysteries, but also a refuge for children of the Enlightenment in a time when Europe still languishes under the repressive chains of monarchy and superstition. But modern thought meets ancient lore, as the castle borders the forest lair of the roi des aulnes, an ogre said to be the ancestor of Violaine’s unseen lover...or are they one and the same?
