THE LITBLOG CO-OP: Interview with Elizabeth Crane

The following is an interview with Elizabeth Crane, author of The Messenger is Hot and All This Heavenly Glory. Much more information can be gleamed from her website and blog, www.elizabethcrane.com.

Dan:

Hello Elizabeth, thank you very much for taking some time from your schedule to respond to some questions today.

Elizabeth:

No problem. Or as my dad always says, "Not to mention."

Dan:

When Ed Champion told you he preferred to mash potatoes by hand, and not with a masher, how surprised were you?

Elizabeth:

I didn't understand until reading the blog posts that both of us probably use the same simple hand tool to mash. Unless Ed's in there with his bare hands pounding on them. In which case, I'm very surprised, and somewhat unsettled.

Dan:

Do you think you would have handled the success that you have had recently in the same fashion had it occurred say 15 years ago or so?

Elizabeth:

No way. It would without a doubt have gone straight to my head. Plus if you think I'm chatty now, back then I had no censor at all, and I would have been likely to say things no one ever needs to know.

Dan:

The paperback version of The Messenger is Hot has a nice, Conversation with the Author piece in the back. You made the comment that you had always wanted to do something that you’d feel good about sending into the high school newsletter. Looking back, was writing the last resort for you in terms of the arts? Did you focus on acting, or singing, or other arenas before committing to writing?

Elizabeth:

I've been writing steadily in one form or another since I was in third grade, along with various misguided forays into the performing arts. I just didn't think I was good enough to pursue it as a career until six or seven years ago. And I was right. And - man, seeing the newsletter now is every bit as satisfying as I imagined.

Dan:

There seems to be a fascination with movies through your work – the story Something Shiny, the filmmaker section of All This Heavenly Glory, not to mention your having worked in a video store – how much do movies, and other popular culture both help and hinder your writing, if at all?

Elizabeth:

In college, I was seriously considering going into film, and along with sixteen other careers I still want to try, I am loving these short short films these days. Anyway, I don't think of my interest in pop culture as a hindrance at all. It's been a huge part of most of our childhoods for the last fifty years or so, and for me to overlook the importance of that in my own life, anyway, would be a mistake. Say what you will, but I'd be nowhere if it weren't for Lucy and the Partridge Family. Also - I love me some Harper's and New Yorkers and that thar highfalutin' litracher, but I love me some Skating With Celebrities too, and frankly, mixing it up a bit keeps my head from exploding with all the thinking.

Dan:

You seemingly choose to write some fairly autobiographical material. You have also developed a very specific voice for your writing. Do these facts cross over at all? Is the somewhat tangent driven, parenthetical, elliptical style that so many of your characters favor the way you come across in conversation?

Elizabeth:

Huh. Yes, there is undeniably a strong autobiographical element to this book, and the voice is perhaps a bit similar to my own, but more like my voice when I write a letter. I don't so much talk quite like that - but I would say I think like that. But if you explode it out and exaggerate it about a hundred times. Which is one part of what makes it fiction. Along with the making stuff up.

Dan:

Many of the stories from The Messenger is Hot were previously published in literary journals. Are you a big reader of such journals? What would some of your favorites be, and why?

Elizabeth:

I do read them from time to time, often it's a random assortment depending on who they're publishing. I love the Paris Review, and Other Voices!

Dan:

What was some of the best advice you received from your editor, Reagan Arthur, during the editing process of the two books to date?

Elizabeth:

The awesome Reagan Arthur helped so much in the way of putting the stories in an order that made sense, but for me she's been more of a cheerleader than an advice-giver, in that she believes in the work that's already on the page. A lot of our work together is simply about tightening things up and making them more readable, which I admittedly don't make easy for people, at times.

Dan:

All This Heavenly Glory. Do you view it as a novel, a novel in stories, a story collection with the same character(s), or simply as a work of fiction?

Elizabeth:

First and foremost, fiction. Then, a story collection about the same character.

Dan:

Your short story Privacy and Coffee has some comparisons between New York and Chicago and how they affect the psyche of the main character. You have also moved from New York to Chicago and based on output and success, it certainly seems to have been beneficial. Do you believe the move helped lead to what has happened with your career, or was it more coincidence that it happened at the same time?

Elizabeth:

I didn't move to Chicago to get successful, of course, I moved here for a number of reasons, many of which are touched on in the story "Jesse Jackson, He Lives in Chicago," at the end because I felt really connected to this place for reasons that aren't entirely explicable. But I can say without hesitation that it can be very, very hard for an artist to make it in NY, not the least of why is that rent is ridiculous, and once rent became afforable, it took a lot of pressure off the rest of my life to where I could feel free to write, as opposed to constantly worrying about money and success. I feel strongly that the word success needs to be defined individually, but in NY that's just not the case. see: success, n. 1. making lots and lots and lots of money and possibly also being very very famous and thin.

Dan:

Teaching. I know you’re teaching writing these days at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Do you enjoy it more than when you were a pre-school teacher? Are there any similarities between the two?

Elizabeth:

Not too similar, no. My grown up students already know how to use their inside voices. Both are extremely enjoyable, although there's a high burnout factor teaching preschool. It requires an extraordinary amount of energy (which I perpetually lack), for not much money. Teaching creative writing is extremely rewarding - I get so jazzed reading the student writing, and I love when they get excited about writers they hadn't read before.

Dan:

You received the Chicago Public Library 21st Century Award in 2003. Do you do many appearances or readings at libraries? If so, how do they compare generally to those in bookstores?

Elizabeth:

Not too many library readings, no - I've read at the CPL once or twice, that's about it. I'm not sure there's a huge difference, although now that I think about it the response was a bit more quiet, probably because they were in a library!

Dan:

Do you enjoy doing readings and bookstore appearances?

Elizabeth:

You know, I do, very much, but every time I have one scheduled, the day of I always think I don't, and why do I have to do this, I'm not a performer, and then I go read and the response is always so enthusiastic that it's pretty awesome to get such immediate feedback - naturally as a writer, we don't get much of that at home. Plus, every now and again I get to read at a place like the Metro (hip rock venue in Chicago) in front of a few hundred people and with my name on the marquee, which goes a long way in satisfying my rock star fantasies.

Dan:

What exactly are your mini-books?

Elizabeth:

I've only done one, but the good people at featherproof books (www.featherproof.com) print up stories in a tiny little book format that you can print out at home.

Dan:

You have a very nice author website – easy to maneuver and informative about your work and events, etc. You also have a blog on your site – and one not necessarily about your writing, or even writing in general. Do you find the blog at all imposing – the idea of getting some content up every day or so – or do you find just jotting down whatever you’re thinking about helps you get working on your fiction?

Elizabeth:

Strangely, I think I've written more fiction since I started blogging than I had the year before. I've always said that anything that gets you going is good. I was looking for a forum to write about stuff I don't always write about in fiction, random stuff that amuses or interests me. As much as anything the blog has turned out to be an amazing way to connect with people. I might not have that many readers at this point, but I have several new friends, and some awesome relatives I didn't know I even had!

Dan:

Many authors seem to have a stock photo used on book jackets for years and over many books. You, on the other hand, have had a different photo for each book (Side note – a fairly sizable subgroup of those that I’ve shared ATHG with have noted a similarity between that photo of you, and Liz Phair). Any particular reason, or you just felt like a change?

Elizabeth:

I wasn't happy with the photo on the first book, mostly because I just thought it didn't look like me and I was trying to be too authory. But also, people don't look the same year after year. Weird about the Liz Phair thing - Tod Goldberg feels strongly that Dave Pirner and I have never been spotted together.

Dan:

Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp?

Elizabeth:

Gene Wilder kicks Johnny Depp's ass down the stairs. And I'm a big fan of Depp, generally.

Dan:

Lastly, if you were a character in “Fahrenheit 451,” what work(s) would you memorize for posterity?

Elizabeth:

Posterity would be screwed if it relied on me to memorize anything longer than my SSN. See also: failed acting career.

Dan:

Thanks again Elizabeth, and I hope you’ve been enjoying your LBC experience!

Elizabeth:

You’re welcome.

Comments

Shit. I'm never going to live this down. :)

To clarify, I really thought there was a POTATO MASHER MACHINE! The tool I have been using all along, that was kindly given to me by an ex-gf, is a POTATO MASHER! Which I thought was "mashing by hand."

Regardless of all this, great interview, Dan!

Posted by: ed | Feb 02, 2006 at 08:03 AM