stablished in 2018, TBR [to be read] is a semi-regular, invitation-only interview series with authors of newly released/forthcoming, interesting books.
A poetry professor at a small college in
Asheville, NC, Asa Flowers comes home one stormy evening to find his wife
Betsy, inexplicably distraught. As the evening goes on, the couple end up in a
heated argument that sends him to sleep out in their garage apartment for the
first time in twenty-five years of marriage. The next morning, he wakes to blue
sky and an altered world.
Which character did you most enjoy
creating? Why? And which character gave you the most trouble, and why?
They’re one in the same for me. Wendy is the
college girlfriend of Mitchell, the son of Asa, who is the main character. She
was one of the most difficult to write because she and I come from very
different backgrounds and have dramatically different beliefs. She’s conservative and very religious, the
daughter of a minister of a small Pentecostal church. However as I spent time
with her I discovered how sensitive and compassionate and wise she was. She
surprised me a lot over the course of writing and the more time I spent with
her and the more I got to know her, the more fond I became of her.
Tell us a bit about the highs and lows of
your book’s road to publication.
I worked on The Marriage Bed off and on
for over a decade, writing several drafts between working on two YA novels. My
agent at the time never felt my revisions were good enough to send out to
publishers. Finally, much to my
hesitation, I had to tell my agent that I had no choice but to look for another
agent. That was a hard decision, but it
was a very amicable parting. I was
grateful to her for all she’d done for me over the years, including selling two
novels. And we’re still friends. I found another agent who believed in the
novel and after a few months she found a wonderful home for The Marriage Bed
at Blair, a small but mighty publisher out of North Carolina. I could not be
happier. As long and as hard as I had to work on The Marriage Bed, I’m
so glad I didn’t give up.
What’s your favorite piece of writing
advice?
Lower your standards.
Thirty years ago, I was in a fiction workshop
taught by the writer Allan Gurganus.
Another student in the workshop had asked what to do about writer’s
block and Allan said, “Lower your standards.” As a writer, I was critical of my
writing, hard on myself often to the point of paralysis. So the idea of
lowering my standards, of settling for something less (for the moment anyway),
of escorting the editor out of the room and leaving the writer to his own
devices, was liberating.
What surprised you in the writing of this
book?
That I finished it.
How did you find the title of your book?
I asked a trusted writer friend if she might
think of one. She went to bed thinking
about it. The next morning it came to
her.
*****
READ MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR: www.tommyhays.com
ORDER THIS BOOK FOR YOUR TBR STACK: www.malaprops.com