`SUCCESS IS CONNECTING'
Canadian author learned to deal with reviews, find joy in her career
Poison Lilies Katie Tallo Harper
No dogs were harmed in the writing of Dark August, Katie Tallo's debut novel (Harper 2020), nor in its sequel, Poison Lilies (Harper 2022), a mystery thriller, described as “moody and riveting,” by the New York Times. Tallo, who lives in Ottawa, doesn't have many writing rules to which she adheres, but the one she does have is inviolate. “I won't let a dog meet a terrible end in my novels ... Cats — well, that's another story. Cat lovers should avoid Poison Lilies. Don't say I didn't warn you.”
The award-winning screenwriter and director-turned-novelist takes an organized approach to writing the linked but standalone roller-coaster rides that have garnered both critical and popular praise, plotting out her stories in advance using colour-coded cue cards. (“I'm that person.”) In other words, she's not at all like her main character, Augusta “Gus” Monet, who, according to Tallo is “impulsive and reckless and fearless. She often dives in without a plan and embraces the unknown. I heard someone once say that the wildness belongs on the page and not in the writer's daily life. That suits me just fine.”
Tallo talks about writing through a plague, managing her reaction to criticism and how she defines success.
Q How did having been previously published affect the writing process for you in your sophomore effort?
A I was in the middle of writing Poison Lilies when my debut novel, Dark August, came out in the spring of 2020. As the publication date approached and with the pandemic in full swing, I was more than a little distracted. It was all new. I was doing virtual publicity, reading reviews of my novel the first time, and obsessively watching the news as the world seemed to transform overnight. My writing stalled and I ate a lot of chips and watched a lot of Netflix. Then I realized that writing was what I needed more than anything else, so I got back to it. Returning to the fictional world and characters of my novel gave me peace. It was a place to focus my mind and settle my body. Writing, for me, is always the answer. It grounds me. It brings me back to myself. I stopped reading reviews, let go expectations, and just wrote.
I think I'll always bump up against the same doubts, fears and anxieties that most writers encounter ... Is this working? Am I good enough? Should I just give up and eat chips all day? But when I let go the expectations — self-imposed or otherwise — and just start writing, it somehow starts to flow again.
Q Do you pay attention to criticism? What impact do reviews have on you?
A When Dark August was released, it was the first time I'd had a novel come out into the world so, of course, I read the reviews. And I was amazed with how terrific they were — for the most part. But it's the least part that gets in your head. I started to brush off the glowing five-star reviews and chew incessantly on the one-stars. Some didn't like the pacing, some the premise, some the fact that I put a fictional dog in a car on a hot summer day even though I rolled down the fictional window. After a couple of weeks, I stopped reading the reviews because they were bouncing around my head while I wrote. It was good to let go. Letting go seems to be a recurring theme in my writing life. In letting go, I could do my job — which is to write the best novel I can. My job doesn't really go beyond that. The reader takes over once it's out there and I can't control how they respond or feel or what they write in a review.
Q What expectation do you impose on yourself when you sit down to write? How do you determine success?
A I try not to set page or word count expectations for the day as a measure of success. If I did, every day, failure would loom ... Instead, I start off by reminding myself that I'm not writing to impress anyone or to get great reviews or to squeeze out the most amazing sentence or to dive into some magical creative flow. Instead, I let that stuff go, turn my focus to the character, think about who they are, where they are in the story, and then I write. ... Success is some words on the page. Success is connecting. Success is finding joy in what you do.
Q Some writers describe the process of writing in agonizing terms. What's it like for you?
Returning to the fictional world and characters of my novel gave me peace. It was a place to focus my mind and settle my body. Writing, for me, is always the answer. It grounds me. It brings me back to myself. Katie Tallo
A The writing process isn't one way for me. It's not a joyful morning routine of tea and sunlight and inspiration and sometimes it is. Some days it flows, some days it's sticky and slow and messy. Sometimes I hate it and love it at the same time ... I know if I just sit down and do it, something comes. It might be a few lacklustre, hard-fought pages or it might be an entire beautifully realized chapter. I do know that the less I sit down, the less pages appear.
Q Please describe your writing journey thus far using one word.
A Lucky.