AUTHOR HAS VISION
Ottawa director and screenwriter changes gears with debut novel, allowing readers to add their own colour and visuals to her words
A sleeping dog lies at the feet of many notable writers.
Eugene O'Neill had his adored Dalmatian Blemie, Virginia Woolf her cocker spaniel Pinka, Donna Tartt her pug Pongo. P.G. Wodehouse famously loved Pekingese.
Katie Tallo found pleasure in solitude shared with her golden retriever Levi.
The Ottawa author memorialized her late writing companion by giving him a starring role in her edgy thriller, Dark August (HarperCollins), as wing man to protagonist Augusta (Gus) Monet, a young woman whose complicated past and present put her at the centre of a lingering mystery. An award-winning director and screenwriter, Tallo also assigned Eastern Ontario a character role in her critically acclaimed debut — think moody stranger with a tendency to sprout leaves and keep secrets.
Tallo, who won't let the pandemic spoil her first-timer's fun, talks about choices made during the four years it took her to write Dark August — and yes, she's working on a sequel.
Q How did your experience in film inform the novel-writing process?
A I've been writing and directing for video, film and TV for almost three decades so that's shaped who I am and how I approach storytelling. Visuals are still at the heart of my writing process. I picture the light, the set details, the camera angles, the scenes playing out. I act out the dialogue.
The biggest difference is screenplays aren't meant to be read like a novel. They're a blueprint for a director to interpret. A novel feels like a more direct connection from writer to reader.
The reader is the one doing the interpreting. They add the colour, the light and the visuals based on their own unique experiences. I love that because each reader brings a little of themselves to the story …
Q Despite it being a mystery, you took a bit of a slow-burn approach.
A For me the novel is about more ... It's about family, love and returning home. Sounds sweet, right? Not so fast. It's also a dark story riddled with sociopaths, murder, betrayal and decay. To marry the light and the dark, it was important to dig into Augusta's inner world and tragic history. Once the reader understands what drives her, Gus becomes easy to root for.
I think that groundwork also makes the twists and turns to come more intense — like the calm before the storm. I like a story that draws you closer to the edge, then has you hanging on by your fingernails by the end.
Q What did you struggle with?
A It took almost a decade of novel writing to get published. What I struggled with most was momentum. I had a day job, family, dishes, laundry — the usual excuses. I would write in fits and starts, finding myself with time but not momentum.
Novels are a long form of writing that require you to focus on a page at a time while also keeping several hundred in mind. Some days are easy, some are tough, but it's the forward motion that matters most, even if that's just a page a day.
Q Do you write organically or are you a planner?
A I'm a colour-coding, list-making, cue-card-loving planner, but I only love having a plan so I can mess with it. I like to work out the bones of a story — to know what it's about, who did what, when, and how the whole thing ends.
But it's equally important for me to allow that plan to shift, contort and reshape. I try to write with a mindset of exploration. It's like setting out on a journey with a map (in my case, a bulletin board layered with pretty cue cards), while keeping a watchful eye out for intriguing side trips or unexpected detours.
Q How important is inspiration to you?
A For me, inspiration isn't a sudden spark. It comes with sitting down and doing the work. But what tends to inspire my novel writing is the mood or atmosphere that permeates the work.
I'll often look for songs or images that conjure up that atmosphere and I'll try to hold that ambience in my mind as I write. It then permeates everything; the setting, the season, the weather, even the sentence structure.
Q What did you know going in?
A I knew I wanted to write a mystery for my 27-year-old daughter. She eats thrillers for breakfast.
But I didn't expect mystery writing to be like doing math. When you set out to weave an intricate tale with multiple characters and plot lines that span decades, you can't just jump in and see what happens.
I had to track all of the characters' backstories so I could connect them through the decades. I was also blending time periods so I had to create both chronological timelines and story timelines.
I drew maps and family trees and I re-created the evidence wall that Gus constructs on her great grandmother's living room wall.
Q How did American publishers react to the Eastern Ontario setting?
A It didn't matter that it wasn't set in the States. They loved the story and the Eastern Ontario vibe that went along with it.
Dark August is all about returning home and so it felt natural to set the novel in my own hometown of Ottawa, in my neighbourhood of Wellington West, and in the surrounding township.
It's really cool when I hear from local readers who love that a dark thriller is set in their neighbourhood. Seeing Byron Avenue, Island Park Drive,
SuzyQ Doughnuts or the Ottawa Bagelshop in a novel takes it to whole other level for them.
Q How has publishing your novel changed your perception of the process?
A I used to dream of being published. And now I'm like a kid, wide-eyed and giddy. The respect shown to me as a writer, the collaborative spirit at Harper, the support of my agent, friends, family and fellow authors has been incredible.
And even though I launched my first novel during a pandemic, it couldn't have gone better. There were no book tours or author signings or live appearances. It's all been virtual. But I don't know any better so my expectations have been exceeded.
Last year, I didn't even know what an ARC was (it's an advance review copy), then suddenly my novel is an Editors' Choice in the New York Times.