Interview With Author J. Lee Strickland
Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.
I
grew up in rural northeastern Pennsylvania at a time when the anthracite coal
industry, which was centered there, was transitioning from shaft mining to
open-pit mining or strip mining. As a consequence of this unique timing and
location, I was exposed to great natural beauty and tremendous environmental
devastation at the same time. The appreciation for, and fascination with, rural
life and the natural world appears often in my writing, as well as in my choice
of home here in the southern Adirondacks of upstate New York.
I
started writing pretty much as soon as I started reading. I love to tell the
story that my first real book—a book with chapters, and pages and pages of
words—was Whitefoot the Wood Mouse by Thornton W. Burgess. As soon as I
finished it, I wrote my first story, a story about a mouse who lived in the
woods. I didn’t learn the word “derivative” until much later.
Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?
My story “Roland” is included in the latest anthology from
OWS Ink, titled Mirrors and Thorns, a fantasy
collection inspired by the darker side of fairy tales. I’m very excited about
this anthology. The quality of the writing is excellent; the stories are clever
and engaging, and everyone at OWS Ink is enthusiastic and committed to getting
the book out to a broad readership. It’s been a real pleasure working with
them.
Do you have a favourite character? If so, why?
In my story “Roland,” my favourite character is Iduna. She
was a lot of fun to write. Where Roland is often sullen and brooding, always
thinking the worst, Iduna is a bundle of frenetic energy. She talks nearly
non-stop, filling the world with sound wherever she goes. She’s infectious that
way, and it was an interesting challenge to write her convincingly without
cluttering the text.
What is the hardest part of writing fantasy fiction?
The big challenge is to avoid falling back on the same tired
tropes of fantasy. I love dragons and elves, fairies and magic, and I’ve used
them in my writing, but great fantasy writing makes these elements fresh, new,
and surprising. The other challenge is to avoid making the story just about the
fantasy. All the elements, fantasy and otherwise, must work together in the
service of the story. For example, in my story “The Turning of Pesh Thanat,”
published in Newfound Journal this past Spring, Elini the slave woman saves the
Emperor’s life by literally giving him hers. The magical, physical bond which
unites them becomes a metaphor for the way in which traitorous behavior on the
part of one person can have devastating consequences for both members of a
couple.
What do you enjoy most about writing in the fantasy genre?
Fantasy writing at its best makes explicit that thing which in our
ordinary lives we all tend to ignore: that the universe is a mysterious place,
that all our probing has produced only the barest outline of what the world
truly entails. With fantasy writing, we push the boundaries, illuminate the
dark corners, and through imagination, show the truth of this mystery.
You write in several genres. Do you have a favourite? And if so, why?
I have written across a number of different styles and genres.
Back in the 90’s I published a lot of creative non-fiction pieces centered on
my experiments with simple living, alternative life-styles, and alternative
energy and building techniques. At the same time, I was writing essays on
philosophical and environmental topics, but fiction writing was my first love.
Once I became serious about having my fiction published, that feedback loop
opened the floodgates of creativity for me. I have written a fair amount of
literary fiction, but my imagination seems to gravitate toward fantasy. Even my
most realistic stories often have some hint of fantasy in them: ritual
transubstantiation that produces undesirable results, or an out-of-body
experience with serious physical consequences—the kinds of surprises that lurk
at the borders of the ordinary. These are what fascinate me most.
Do you have a favourite author, or writing inspiration?
If I had to pick just one, I would name John Crowley and his
master work, Little, Big. He is
usually categorized as a fantasy writer, yet he does just what I said earlier
where in his writing, the elements of fantasy work in service to the story. I’m
really excited about the imminent release of his latest, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr. I don’t really have to stop at
one favourite, do I? Ursula LeGuin has been with me since high school, and I
never tire of reading her work. Paul Park’s incredible four-volume Princess of Roumania series blew me
away. I remember getting to the end of the fourth volume, The Hidden World, and immediately starting back at the first for another
read-through. Anne Patchett made fantasy totally believable in State of Wonder, and Elizabeth Gilbert
performed writing miracles in The
Signature of All Things. These authors and works provide both inspiration
and aspiration. I aspire in my own writing to produce such beautifully
conceived and deeply affecting work.
What advice would you give beginning writers?
Write
as much as you can, as often as you can. The more you write, the better you
will become as a writer. Meet other writers. Join a group. Expose your writing
to criticism and act on the feedback. Grow a thick skin, and remember that
pleasing yourself is easy; pleasing others is hard. Make writing the thing you
do in spite of everything else. Submit your work for publication. There is no
greater inspiration for a writer than to have a stranger in some editorial
office say, “I like what you wrote, and I’m going to give others the chance to
read it.”
What’s your next project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal?
I’m working on a post-apocalyptic fantasy novel set in the Catskill
and Adirondack Mountains, eastern Mohawk Valley, and Albany area of New York. Ninety
percent of the population has been lost in the war and subsequent years of
nuclear winter. Albany has been reduced to a radioactive heap of rubble and
declared an exclusion zone by the territorial authorities. Its residents are a
mix of the dregs of society, the outcasts, and intrepid urban homesteaders who
envision a new future for cities, no longer parasites on the land but self-reliant
contributors to a peaceful, cooperative community. Along with the clash between
idealism and reality, other old divisions rise up in new disguises, as people
struggle with what it means to be human. I’d like to hold on to my secrets for
a little while yet, but I will say that in the book, the consequences of global
war manifest themselves in some surprising ways!
Mirror & Thorns can be found at:
About the Author
J. Lee Strickland is a freelance writer living in upstate New York. In addition to fiction, he has written on the subjects of rural living, modern homesteading and voluntary simplicity. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Atticus Review, Scarlet Leaf Review, Workers Write!, Pure Slush, Mad Scientist Journal, Newfound Journal, Jenny, and others. He is a member of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and served as a judge for the 2015 and 2016 storySouth Million Writers Awards. He is at work on a collection of connected short stories vaguely similar in format to the long-defunct American television series 'Naked City' but without the salacious title.
