Janet Fiiiiitch!
I was really sick at work today, and it happened to be the day when I was in big dog camp and all the dogs wanted to jump up and punch me in my queasy little tummy… Then I came home and promptly got rid of my $5 turkey sandwich and scared the bejesus out of my cat… And this is after a weekend where I was so anxious about my boyfriend because of how sick he was. So all in all, I wasn’t in a fantastic mood, and if I have the same sickness as the boyfriend did, I’ll have to call off of work for the next few days… Which I can’t do because I can’t afford it, and we don’t have enough people to cover someone calling in sick.
So… I felt like crap.
Then I logged onto myspace, and found that my favorite author, one Janet Fitch, had responded to my message! YAY! She takes so much time out of her life to respond to her fans, it amazes me. She even writes whole blog posts responding to people’s questions, and they’re extremely helpful (especially for those of you who are aspiring writers/storytellers/artists, or even successful writers/storytellers/artists). If you’d like to take a look, you can find her myspace at www.myspace.com/paintitblackbook.
Seriously, she defined my life for a few years with the book White Oleander… Not that I was a foster child shuffled around from home to home, but that I used that book as my bible. We are the Wands, and we hung our gods from trees. It probably wasn’t the healthiest thing for a typical angsty middle-child to do, but it certainly fed my creative soul. I found her next book, Paint it Black, while I was on a long train ride, and finished it before I reached my destination. I shelled out the twenty some dollars without hesitation (odd, because I’m a total cheapskate and I usually wait for books to come out in paperback, and then I wait for it to go on the bargain shelf) and was very very very happy with my purchase :D. If you haven’t read either, I suggest you run over to your local library or bookstore immediately. And don’t watch the movie White Oleander before you read the book. The book is so much better it’ll melt your face with it’s awesomeness. So here’s the “interview.” I hope you enjoy it! (Oooh, does this mean I’m a real blogger now? XD)
What makes you happy?
When I’m writing and the angels sing. When it just comes, like a jazz riff, where you’re not playing the horn, something’s playing you.
Sitting by a stream
Having a really great conversation with someone who’s firing on all eight cylinders
When you’re feeling sad or stressed out, what do you do? How do you deal with it?
Sad, I use the feeling. Listen to music, read poetry, sing.
Stressed out, I try to laugh. Try to think, you’re taking yourself too damn seriously. You’re not in Iraq in 130 degree heat with no electricity. This is nothing.
When you were a child/young thing, what was your dream?
I wanted to be a horse. Growing up to be a human being seemed absolutely atrocious. I also wanted to be invisible so I could spy on everybody.
How about now, is it the same?
No, the human thing has caught up with me. But I’m still a spy.
What do you believe in?
The true over the beautiful.
Do you have a quote that inspires you, that you keep coming back to? Like a line from a song or a book?
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
(blogger’s note: In case it vibes with you too, this poem is by TS Eliot, who is very famous and probably has a whole shelf to himself at Barnes and Nobles.)
Thank you, thank you thank you, Janet, for sharing your time and thoughts with me and this lonely corner of the web.
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