David Athey, a Midwesterner by birth, now teaches English and oversees the literary journal at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Athey has published poems, reviews, and short stories in numerous journals, including The Iowa Review, Oxford Magazine, and Harvard Review, and holds an MFA from Hamline University. He and his wife live in Palm Beach, Florida.
Time to crow: What new book or project do you have coming out?
Danny Gospel, a novel.
How did you come up with this story?
I began with a character, based on a real person, who happened to be the strangest guy I'd ever met. I followed him around in my imagination for eighteen years, and he became the most soulful and inspiring person in my life. Danny Gospel is sort of like Don Quixote, a dreamer of impossible dreams, and sort of like Dante, a pilgrim stumbling toward ultimate Love.
Every novelist has a journey. What has yours been like?
I worked on Danny Gospel for more than a third of my life. We're sort of like Siamese twins, attached at the heart. We hung out in Minnesota for a while, then in Iowa, then in Florida. It's amazing how a literary character can become a lifetime traveling companion…. At this point, we're brothers. There must be such a thing as "literary blood" that is shared between author and character.
Do you ever bang your head against the wall from the dreaded writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
Whenever I read a great piece of writing, I feel inspired to attempt a great piece of writing. That's all it takes for me. A few good words from a master, and I feel the urge to create likewise, in my own way.
Novelists sometimes dig themselves into a hole over implausible plots, flat characters, or a host of other problems. What's the most difficult part of writing for you (or was when you first started on your novel journey)?
I tend to write fiction very slowly. I start and stop, always readjusting the words and rhythms. I'm very fortunate if I can write one good page a day. It takes all of my concentration, usually the clichéd cup of coffee, and prayer.
Where do you write: In a cave, a coffeehouse, or a cozy attic nook?
I tend to write in public, which is a bit awkward because I read out loud as I go, in a sort of chanting mutter. Coffeehouses and diners are good places for me, and so are gardens and churches. It's rare for me to write in the same place for more than a week or so, except last summer I was able to write in my backyard every day for a month. That was very productive. But we sold our house… so that cave you mentioned sounds appealing.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I'm a professor, so I'm busy during the school year with a thousand obligations. I rarely write when classes are in session, but I write every day during the breaks. And summer is bliss, even though writing can be hell.
Some authors report writing five to ten thousand words a day. Do scenes flow freely from your veins, or do you have to tweeze each word out?
God bless those writers who can get their graces so easily. I have to take Literary Heaven by force. Occasionally I have a miraculous outpouring of words, but even then it's only a few hundred. Writing for me is like wrestling a six-winged angel. It's not much of a match, and I only survive by mercy.
Briefly take us through your process of writing a novel—from conception to revision.
I'm working on a paper called "How to Write a Novel in Eighteen Short Years: Eighteen Lessons for Aspiring Novelists." Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. It's going to take a while to explain.
What are a few of your favorite books (not written by you) and why are they favorites?
The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor, The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, the novels of Walker Percy, Orthodoxy by Chesterton, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Dillard, The Divine Comedy by Dante, Dakota by Norris, Staggerford by Hassler, The Power and the Glory by Greene. These are a few of my favorites because they reveal glimpses of what it means to be created in the image of a loving but utterly mysterious and uncontrollable God. And this is done with beautiful sentences.
What's the best writing advice you've heard?
"Write for the ages."
Do you have any parting words of advice?
Danny Gospel, a novel.How did you come up with this story?
I began with a character, based on a real person, who happened to be the strangest guy I'd ever met. I followed him around in my imagination for eighteen years, and he became the most soulful and inspiring person in my life. Danny Gospel is sort of like Don Quixote, a dreamer of impossible dreams, and sort of like Dante, a pilgrim stumbling toward ultimate Love.
Every novelist has a journey. What has yours been like?
I worked on Danny Gospel for more than a third of my life. We're sort of like Siamese twins, attached at the heart. We hung out in Minnesota for a while, then in Iowa, then in Florida. It's amazing how a literary character can become a lifetime traveling companion…. At this point, we're brothers. There must be such a thing as "literary blood" that is shared between author and character.
Do you ever bang your head against the wall from the dreaded writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
Whenever I read a great piece of writing, I feel inspired to attempt a great piece of writing. That's all it takes for me. A few good words from a master, and I feel the urge to create likewise, in my own way.
Novelists sometimes dig themselves into a hole over implausible plots, flat characters, or a host of other problems. What's the most difficult part of writing for you (or was when you first started on your novel journey)?
I tend to write fiction very slowly. I start and stop, always readjusting the words and rhythms. I'm very fortunate if I can write one good page a day. It takes all of my concentration, usually the clichéd cup of coffee, and prayer.
Where do you write: In a cave, a coffeehouse, or a cozy attic nook?
I tend to write in public, which is a bit awkward because I read out loud as I go, in a sort of chanting mutter. Coffeehouses and diners are good places for me, and so are gardens and churches. It's rare for me to write in the same place for more than a week or so, except last summer I was able to write in my backyard every day for a month. That was very productive. But we sold our house… so that cave you mentioned sounds appealing.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I'm a professor, so I'm busy during the school year with a thousand obligations. I rarely write when classes are in session, but I write every day during the breaks. And summer is bliss, even though writing can be hell.
Some authors report writing five to ten thousand words a day. Do scenes flow freely from your veins, or do you have to tweeze each word out?
God bless those writers who can get their graces so easily. I have to take Literary Heaven by force. Occasionally I have a miraculous outpouring of words, but even then it's only a few hundred. Writing for me is like wrestling a six-winged angel. It's not much of a match, and I only survive by mercy.
Briefly take us through your process of writing a novel—from conception to revision.
I'm working on a paper called "How to Write a Novel in Eighteen Short Years: Eighteen Lessons for Aspiring Novelists." Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. It's going to take a while to explain.
What are a few of your favorite books (not written by you) and why are they favorites?
The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor, The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, the novels of Walker Percy, Orthodoxy by Chesterton, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Dillard, The Divine Comedy by Dante, Dakota by Norris, Staggerford by Hassler, The Power and the Glory by Greene. These are a few of my favorites because they reveal glimpses of what it means to be created in the image of a loving but utterly mysterious and uncontrollable God. And this is done with beautiful sentences.
What's the best writing advice you've heard?
"Write for the ages."
Do you have any parting words of advice?
"Write for the ages."
"I tend to write fiction very slowly. I start and stop, always readjusting the words and rhythms."
ReplyDeleteYes! No wonder I was not at all surprised by your favorite books and authors.
Thank you for loving language, caring about cadence, reading your words aloud, and writing for the ages. This interview made my day.
You wrote: I'm working on a paper called "How to Write a Novel in Eighteen Short Years: Eighteen Lessons for Aspiring Novelists." Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. It's going to take a while to explain.
ReplyDeleteThat is hilarious, but very convicting too. I have wondered if I write too fast. I wonder how my stories would deepen if I'd spend more time on them.
Danny Gospel is a wonderful novel. I absolutely loved it, David. Quirky, well-written and poignant. Great, great work.
ReplyDeleteDanny Gospel is an incredibly moving novel. David Athey's workmanship in this is first rate. There really are only two other books of it's kind for me -- books that can genuinely move me to laughter or to tears. This is a great book.
ReplyDeleteI am a genealogist and would love to converse with Mr. Athey.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we are cousins (far removed as you are young and I am old LOL)
Jude1776@aol.com
Judy Athey Fugate WV