Q: What was the inspiration for the novel Half?
A: In 2013 I published a short story that won a couple awards (Cecilia Joyce Johnson Award from the Key West Seminar and the Kinder Award from Pleiades magazine. Because of this enthusiastic response, I decided to “grow” the story into a novel. The inspiration for the story came from my own life. My brother and I were always close. Siblings share so much–biology and environment. We were even closer than most because of our father’s strange, mysterious death when we were seven and nine. At first the narrators were a girl and boy a year and a half apart, like us. Then I decided to take the idea of platonic intimacy to its logical extreme, so I changed the narrators to identical twins.
Q: How did you capture a child’s voice so vividly?
A: When I was five years old I promised myself two things: I would always remember what it felt like to be five years old. And five would always be my favorite number. I try hard to keep those promises. When we’re children we have so little control over our lives. That can be terrifying. I want readers to remember that.
Q: What led you to have the two girls speak in the same voice? It’s such a bold decision.
A: I chose the “we” voice because it was the only way I could show how extreme their closeness was. It was difficult to maintain, especially when they start coupling with others. But I enjoyed the puzzle of keeping the girls connected in mind and heart even when they are not in the same physical space.
Q: What was your process for choosing your characters’ names?
A: They have variations on the names of gods for two reasons. Moose gives his girls names that will remind them of their fate, of what he intends them to be. Also, I want readers to entertain the possibility that these characters actually are mythical beings, as well as humans. You can read the book two ways–on a magical/mythical level or a realistic one.
Q: Your use of objects–e.g. lightning, guns, whiskey, guitars, diamond studs, Mary Janes–provide a vivid portrait of the twins’ lives. Do these objects show up in your first drafts, or do you add them in your revisions?
A: As a poet, I always loved using objects. When I was 20, doing my junior semester abroad in Paris, I worked for the French poet Anne-Marie Albiach. She read my poems and said, “They’re so American. There are so many things in them. Back then I interpreted her words as criticism, but now I’m proud of my objects.
In my drafts, I often have objects that appear only once. In my revisions, I try to figure out which objects are the most meaningful emotionally and I keep those and repeat them with variation throughout the book to take advantage of the emotion they carry.
Q: How did writing this novel compare to writing your memoir?
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A: It’s a relief to return to fiction. Not just because no one can complain about the way I portray them, but because readers and critics tend to treat fiction with more respect. People don’t call it therapeutic. They call it art.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about your writing?
A: It’s hard to pick just one. From Jack Driscoll: Love your characters. Let them screw up, but be a compassionate god. From Benjamin Percy: Get into the scene as late as you can. Get out of it as soon as you can. Also: No dialogue without action. From Brett Anthony Johnston: Give your character a tangible desire. Don’t say, for instance, that he wants to be a good actor. Say that he wants to win an Academy Award. From Pam Houston: Be specific. Don’t say you had to finish all the food on your plate. Tell us what was on the plate. From Mary Karr: Physical details are always better than abstractios. From Nick Flynn: Never name an emotion. From Joan Didion: To learn about voice and style, copy the work of a writer you admire in longhand. I could go on, but I’m afraid I’ve already tried to squeeze a whole MFA into one paragraph. Just kidding. Kind of.
Q: Anything you’d like to add?
A: As I write this, we are all in some level of isolation. It’s tough. Being a writer means we have to spend a lot of time alone. That’s tough too. My advice is to pick a writing buddy, another writer you text or e-mail on a regular basis to check that you’re getting the work done and that you don’t feel so alone. The fabulous Leigh Camacho Rourks (author of Moon Trees and Other Orphans has been my writing buddy since we graduated from our MFA together. If there’s one thing I learned from writing about these two entwined characters, it’s that w don’t want to “go it alone.”