Author Interview ~ Geoffrey Wood

Geoffrey Wood has been working in both coffee and theater for nearly twentyyears ---acting and directing, roasting and sipping. He holds a BFA inTheater from the University of Memphis, an MA in Theater from the Universityof New Mexico, and has worked in theater professionally, educationally andliturgically for the last fifteen years. Leaper is his first novel, but heloves it just the same. Geoffrey lives in the Cooper/Young neighborhood ofMemphis which he calls home.

What book or project is coming out or has come out that you’d like to tell us about?

My first novel releases June 19th, 2007, with WaterBrook Press a subsidiary of Random House. Leaper: The Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero follows three days in the life of a coffee shop barista who one day develops a superpower --if he focuses intently on a glare, say, from his watch, and thinks of a place who truly desires to be, he transports across space without the use of time. He leaps. Good news? Well, super-things don't work out as super-smoothly as one might believe.

Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract, how you heard and what went through your head.

I've worked in theater all my life: writing, acting, adapting, directing. But a few years ago I decided to try my hand at novels. I took six months off from the world and wrote two books, one of which I sold at a conference to WaterBrook. (I went to that conference for just such a purpose and had researched who would be there and their book lines.) The initial meeting was positive and my editor contacted me about a month later with the offer. Neurotic thoughts typically go through my head so mine has been a journey of doing the next step but remaining wary of all that could go amiss.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

Often.

No, frequently.

No, daily, final answer.

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication?

I have been blessed. WaterBrook has been wonderful, my editor's a dream. I often wonder what more I should do for them --I guess I write the books. But they've taken care of me very well.

What’s the best advice you’ve heard on writing/publication?

Work on a project as daily as possible, spend the hours each day and trust that those hours are progress even if there aren't many pages in hand at the close of a day. If you do that, for two, three, four days, the next will be breakthrough, almost always.

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve heard?

Write for yourself. (I enjoy writing, I can be indulgent in my vision, but ultimately I'm hoping to engage others, that's the fun part, so audience cannot be obliterated from consideration.)

Is there a particularly difficult set back that you’ve gone through in your writing career you are willing to share?

I'm hoping just to have a writing career so I'll let you know if and when I pull that off.

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

As I Lay Dying by Faulkner. Mystery and Manners by Flannery O'Connor. The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why?

I wrote a short piece --more memory than short story-- about my grandmother. I like that one.

Take us through your process of writing a novel briefly—from conception to revision.

John Irving once said something to the effect that he will never begin to write until he's fully imagined. I like that guy. I usually take months scribbling on napkins, notepads, walls, arms and letting things stew. When I've got enough napkins I'll start to outline the book. Then I keep taking notes, blah, blah --till one day they start talking to me. At that point I write down what they tell me.

Then I over-write. I write everything they tell me and then I write what I see them do, then I make them tell me more. Once I have enough material then I go back and read it, try to shape it, make it better. That's all for draft one. Then my editor and I wrangle happily from there.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

I would like to write three novels in the style I'm working now, hopefully improving that style with each effort. The I'd like to try something different, maybe something more southern. (I'm from Memphis.)

Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

I quit thinking about quitting back when a dear friend told me, "Look, you're not ever going to not do this 'creating things' in some capacity. So stop worrying about it and do whatever you have to do."

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

Re-writes are hardest for me because I primarily hear my characters. When I hear them one way, it's hard for me to hear it differently, regardless of how needful the re-write may be. I think my favorite part is the imagining.

How much marketing/publicity do you do? Any advice in this area?

I have done what I can locally, and have not done as much as I probably should otherwise. However, I have no idea nor advice what else I could do myself. The folks at Random House have done much and I'm trusting things to them.

Have you received a particularly memorable reader response?

I just read the in-book-cover endorsements the other day. Somebody used the word "romp" I'm a big fan of that word. Somebody else called the dialogue "delicious." I liked that guy.