Blog Orgy Tour stop #1: A conversatinterview with Pela Via

This post is part of my Blog Orgy Tour in support of Charactered Pieces, which is currently available from OW Press (or Amazon.com). This post appears simultaneously at Pela Via’s blog.

I’ve known Pela Via only a short time, but when a person becomes part of the pack as quickly as she did, you’re forced to either embrace the new face, or find a different crowd. Luckily, I didn’t have to be forced at all to take to her. Her fiction aside (which is great, by the way) she has a willingness to engage in conversation that is sadly quite rare in the world of fiction writers. Some writers tend to monopolize the spotlight. Pela Via is quite comfortable aiming it.

Caleb J Ross: What the hell took you so long to begin submitting your fiction?

Pela Via: The lit zine world is new to me.  I may have neglected to mention it (or lied), but the first short story I wrote was not that long ago. I love novels – and I love it when a writer knows how and when to trust their own judgment – so I have a thing about only submitting short stories I’m in love with. If I don’t know when my writing works, I doubt others will.  Unless they’re pretending to as they promote their chapbook. ; )

I’m dying to know what inspired the eponymous story “Charactered Pieces.” If there’s no back-story there, tell me which actor you’d like to play you in your bio pic. If you can think of a title for your life story, that too.

CR: Come now, I would pretend that your writing works even if I didn’t have a chapbook to promote (as much as I don’t like using emoticons, there really is no better want to show sarcasm when typing, so ; ) )

I’ll call this answer, “Author Note on Story #1 (Charactered Pieces) In Hopes That You’ll Learn About Me Intellectually and Donate to My Pocket:”

I’m sure there is an interesting origins story to “Charactered Pieces” that I have forgotten over the few years since I wrote it (in college, about 7 years ago). The concept itself was a result of my own fascination with all things morbid,  malformed babies and phone sex lines being just two on the long list. Then, like how most great stories happen, the author crammed two things together and wove a way to make them exist on the same page. I think you’d be surprised to learn just how many stories, mine and other authors’, are formed by forcing two dissimilar elements together.

I’ll still answer the other questions (cause I’m a windbag). Bio pic: I’d go more true-to-life, not out of humility, but because sometimes I get tired of seeing too many beautiful people on screen. Maybe Steve Buscemi. The title: Flaws, No Euphemism.

I’ll jump right into your recently started Troubadour 21 “Black Widow” series. For someone newer to short fiction, how do you feel about the potential for so many strange eyes to be on your work?  Are you thinking in terms of novel-length when writing the series, considering the novel format is what you are most familiar with?

PV: I’m oblivious. And I’ve never been into parties; it’s always about the one-on-one interaction for me.  So, the idea of large amounts of people ever reading my stuff is beyond my comprehension.  If someone is allowing me to write, in some official way, that does it for me. Being an aspiring writer is an obnoxious situation, I think. It already feels silly to spend so much time on something few people understand – any validation just feels like the last small part of a circle.

I’m not thinking novel length for “Black Widow” actually. This series has felt like a recurring accident from the beginning. I’ve loved that about it. But I think I’ll end it before 10k words.

As a little girl, I believed that to truly know someone, you must know their favorite color. How about an example – you love the color of…?  What are your other talents besides writing? How would your life be different if you weren’t a writer?

CR: I love the color of old-men-offices. Maybe that’s more of a scheme. But dark wood tones and rich reds really work for me.

I’ve always considered myself a bit of a visual artist. Growing up, I was the “art guy” in school. It was nice to be good at something. I still dabble, though not with any intentions of profit. If I didn’t write, my time would definitely be devoted to video games and cartoons. Making them, the art side, I’d hope. I don’t play video games anymore, but there was a time when I didn’t just play them, I studied them.

What’s the reaction been to your fiction from people who know the “real” you? Some of your work could be described as erotic fiction, which is a genre that tends to polarize audiences. Especially, I would assume, those audiences who know you as friend and family.

PV: I used a pen name in the beginning so my real-life insecurities wouldn’t muck up my writing, but things have since shifted and I’ve got other problems – it’s a little too easy for me now to write whatever strikes me, and the result is fiction that’s more fearless than most well-adjusted people appreciate, including my loved ones. So, as things are now, more or less out of respect, I don’t show my writing to people who know the “real” me. Although, that whole sentence is flawed, on multiple levels.

“Erotic fiction” does get thrown around a lot in describing my shorter pieces, but I don’t always see the connection. I’ve only written one piece of erotica and it’s never been read, probably never will be. Sex is an invaluable tool in fiction, but it’s not about the sex. It’s about people and connections, which for me distinguishes it from erotica. Then again, people read into fiction what they want. I love hearing interpretations from others – it’s often much more scandalous than I expect.

What are your long-term ambitions? Would you like to teach? How would you respond to bestseller/celebrity status?

CR: I’ve thought about teaching. I almost went right into an MFA after college. I didn’t for two reasons: 1) fear, and 2) insecurities about what I knew. I had just learned about writing, and I didn’t feel comfortable with jumping into teaching other people about it. I wanted to get some life-experience first. I’m doing that. Maybe a mid-life crisis will push me to the front of the class. Regarding celebrity, the humble answer is to say I’d go J.D Salinger or Cormac McCarthy and shy away from it. Which, honestly, I would probably do. But I’d share a few drinks with tabloid fodder first.

So, I am going to try to write a Pela Via-esque flash fiction piece to cap this conversatinterview. Any pointers? What is a Pela Via-esque story?

PV: I cannot wait to read what you come up with. That will indulge a number of my weaknesses.

Ideally, a PV-esque story would expose some idea or moment or feeling or body part that’s never been seen before. It would be sexy.  It would provide a thing, however small, that people are hungry for.  Something I’m hungry for.

As I’ve threatened before, Caleb, if you do PV-esque better than me, you’ll live to regret it. ; )

Has fatherhood softened your artistic edge? How do you feel about the term literary snob?

Many people dislike using emoticons, myself generally included, but let’s talk this out. In your adoration for meta-fiction, I could see you welcoming (in theory) some well-placed, emotionally-charged symbols. Would it help if the graphics were designed with a bit of style, less like the faces of a pain scale?

[off the record: reading over my bleeding-heart emoticon petition, I think I might be drunk. I’m, at best, one wine glass away from take-my-keyboard drunk. so, if you’re not into my appeal for emoticons as a hot topic, we can delete it. Or, you could always get drunk right back and answer with something equally ridiculous.]

CJR: [Would you believe I have no alcohol in the house right now? Usually there is at least a little something. So, no drunk-typing for me today. Booooo.]

Fatherhood has pushed me to try harder for any artistic edge I have. The assumption is that parenthood would force someone to calm down, but I want to prove that I can still produce something worthy of awe, even with kid in-tow. Maybe because of kid in-tow. When given only ten spare minutes a day, a real writer will write. I use about eight of those minutes, so I guess I’m almost a real writer.

About the term, ‘literary snob,’ I think it is fitting to a certain group of people. I hope that’s not me. I don’t hide my love of capital-L Literature, but I’m quite comfortable with the more accessible stories and writing styles as well. If I ever come across as a literary snob, punch me.

I’ve never thought of emoticons as a meta device. But yeah, I guess they are. It would take quite a bit for me to try seriously to explore them in a story-length piece, but I’ll file that concept away. Maybe something will come of it. Maybe a Pela Via-esque emoticon story…

Any serious dreams of becoming a professional writer? If so, what would you do for a live reading event to keep the crowd from realizing they are essentially paying to watch someone read out loud (I’ve dreaded this possibility for a long time).

PV: I am serious about being a professional writer; it’s my time-line that’s the whimsical part. I’ll be happy to have a novel published by age 50. There are too many variables to expect otherwise.

See, I don’t know how I’d ever do a live reading. I think my comfort level among new people belies my introverted side; I can’t stand a spotlight, even if I’ve solicited it somehow. I’ll get very still and very quiet until the focus moves to someone else. Any readings I’m ever obliged to do, I’ll be a good sport about it and make an appearance, but I’d rather stand naked for forty minutes than speak.

What is your favorite story in Charactered Pieces? Do your readers typically favor those stories you love most? Or do people ever mysteriously cling to things you don’t consider your best work? Have you convinced your mother-in-law the cover is not a penis?

CJR: The title story has been with me the longest and holds some nostalgic college memories for me. For that reason, probably that story. “A Chinese Gemini” is my first successful non-fiction piece, and I hope to do more of that; I’m proud of that starting block. “Refill” is personal, so I love that one. Damn, I love them all. Readers, so far, seem to like these as well. Usually, I can pick out the stories that will resonate most with readers.

I think my in-law knows the cover isn’t a penis now. Though, the poster I’ve created for this Blog Orgy Tour might make some questions resurface.

Do you like cigars? Wine? Both? What’s your stereotype writer’s vice?

PV: I LOVE wine. Cigars – I’m intrigued by them, and I like the scent, but I’ll just say that I’ve never successfully smoked anything. I’m better at embarrassing myself in tearful coughing fits. You’ll have to let me know when cigar-brownies are developed.

My stereotypical vice is caffeine. The single best thing about Oregon (outside of Portland) is the absurd amount of espresso stands – espresso because they don’t even bother with coffee. It’s so good. I’m technically in a healthy, gym-and-supplements phase, and on a break from caffeine, but I don’t know… I think I just talked myself into going to get some…  I am weak.

I’m surprised you mentioned “Refill” as an example of a story that’s personal to you. That story is written with a notably distant narrator as part of its appeal, I think, so this is interesting news. I expected you to name The Camp as one closest to your heart – that story is unnerving in its intimacy with the narrator, and it’s terribly heartbreaking. Is there something to that? Were you less attached personally to The Camp and therefore willing to approach it with unyielding closeness? Is that narrator not you? Are you ever your protagonist in your fiction?

Are your designs, including the book’s cover, done as paintings first?

CJR: Good observation. I’d never thought about it, but yeah, I’d agree that the detachment from certain stories allows an intimacy that might be otherwise unattainable. With “Refill,” I definitely wanted to talk about depression from a distant perspective, to sort of show how isolating depression can be. The Bill or Bob character would be me in that story. I’m sure I weave myself into the protagonists in some with every story. The only conscious examples of this would be with non-fiction, the piece “A Chinese Gemini” for example.

The Charactered Pieces cover was done with pastels on paper first, scanned, and then assembled. I had never approached a cover (or anything else) quite like this. The elements of the cover were all drawn separately (the stomach, then the foot, then the bellybutton, then the breasts). I was allowed a freedom to assemble and break-apart as the design warranted, that would not have been possible had I drawn the entire image at once.

What’s next for Pela Via? You’re doing Write Club this year? How do you feel about that?

PV: I’m so fond of Write Club, it’s ridiculous. I nearly passed on it, which would have been sad. I worried that if the time commitment didn’t kill me, I’d learn how to write like this handful of people, but not necessarily classically better – but I realized quickly how that concern was flawed. Good writing is a universal thing, and these people are Good Writers. I intend to surround myself with their talent as long they’ll have me. Since they’re incidentally nice people, the structured vibe of encouragement is underscored by an almost familial bond. It’s very sweet.

Next for PV – I’ll start a new novel to coincide with Write Club 2010, finish the Black Widow series, do something new with my blog, hopefully do some stuff with Outsider Writers Collective, read some novels, and if there’s time, which there won’t be, I’ll try to get some short stories published.

How about you, what’s next for Caleb J Ross?

I have a novella I’m in talks with some people about publishing. I’ve been told that of all the things I’ve written, this novella could be what stakes my claim to a bit of the literary landscape. If things work out, you’ll be one of the first to know. Other than that, I’ve got a few other novels I’m hoping to polish, one of which will be my offering for WC2010. Then there’s AWP in April.

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And now, as promised, my Pela Via-esque flash fiction piece (featuring emoticons!)

EMOTICON He communicates by emoticon. I can’t express what these thoughts make me feel, he says. She doesn’t see it that way. She calls him uncommunicative. He’d tell her she’s just not receiving right, but all that comes out is : | His neutral expression reminds her of a blinking cursor |  | | ||| |  | awaiting input, a spaceholder for impending | | ||| | | | emotion. His full cheeks the (parenthetical wrap) around colon : eyes and a bored, backslash  \ mouth. She tries to coax nuances from him, massaging his earlobe, letting her fingers navigate the subtle ripples of his stomach. He might as well be dead. She imagines this for a moment, her face falling to her own version of a blinking |  |  | | |||| | |  | cursor. You did it, didn’t you? he says. Did what? Imagined I was dead. Just for a moment. I swear. The seed has been planted. The moment won’t end. Believe me; It hasn’t for me. : | How long have you imagined me dead? She says. That day you seized outside the 7-11, and the clerk called an ambulance, and I was stuck in Cheboygan. Since then. : | The seed was planted, he says. You’ll always be a little dead. : | You too : ) : )