Jack Remick is a poet, short story writer and
novelist. In 2012, Coffeetown Press published the first two volumes of Jack’s
California Quartet series, The
Deification and Valley Boy. The
final two volumes will be released in 2013: The
Book of Changes and Trio of Lost
Souls. Blood, A Novel was
published by Camel Press, an imprint of Coffeetown Press, in 2011.
Could you tell us a little bit more about
yourself?
I’m a novelist, a poet, a short
story writer, a screenwriter. I’ve been a musician (piano, violin,
composition), a bus driver, a social worker, a university instructor. I speak a
couple of languages other than English. Early on, I traveled a lot but now I
don’t like to get too far from home. Home is the room I write in. I’ve spent a
lot of time in Latin America. It turns out that a lot of my writing focuses on
South American themes and ideas. My latest novel, Gabriela and The Widow features a 19 year old Mexican woman who
takes the hard trip to El Norte where she becomes the caregiver for a 92 year
old widow.
Describe your desk/workspace.
It’s a mess. It is always a mess.
When I finish a novel or book I try to clean up some of the muck, but I look at
each paper and tell myself that I know where it is and if I file it, I lose it. So
I don’t file it. There are stacks of print-outs and copies of finished work. On
the desk there are three computers, two printers, two backup drives (I’m
obsessive about saving files so have never lost a byte…) and a separate flash
drive for storing each project. I guess
you’d call it “creative chaos”. The
value of computers is that everything there is orderly. Everything is defined
and easy to find so I don’t worry about the physical chaos. In this, computers
are salvation. But be sure to keep a couple of external backup drives…you never
know.
Do you have a favorite quote?
“When not writing I get weird.”
What are you currently reading?
In the last few months I’ve been
engrossed in the new erotica that women writers are pumping out. There’s a real
revolution going on there—women taking control of the language, taking control
of their sex lives, rebelling against all the “don’t does” of prim and proper.
I just read “Sex and Death in the American Novel” by Sarah Martinez. I just
read a couple of Madison Montgomery’s erotic novelettes with her sexy
protagonist, Virginia Templeton. On the other side, I’m reading older Don
DeLillo novels such as Falling Man.
There’s a lot to learn from DeLillo. It’s hard to stay current. I also continue
to read in the heavy world of C.S. Peirce, Carl Jung, and Claude Levi-Strauss.
They keep my mind on target—story, myth, how the brain works.
What is the best advice you've
ever received?
Thom Gunn, the poet who wrote My Sad Captains told me once, when I was
imitating every poet who ever went before me, that if I lived in another man’s
universe it would always be smaller than the one I could create myself. That
bit of advice kick started my creative writing mind. I took it to mean that I
should build on the past, stand on the shoulders of giants but not let them
limit who and what I could be.
If you could have coffee with
anyone (living or dead, real or fictional), who would it be and why?
Hmm. I wrote a poem a while ago,
“Chief Architects of the Modern World” that begins:
These are the big guys
The big guys who figured it all out
Figured out what glues one rock to the planet
Figured out why the Milky Way spins
Through time and space leaving no trail
The “Big guys” I refer to are
Archimedes, Newton, and Einstein. So I guess my answer would be Archimedes. He
was so close to understanding integral and differential calculus that if the
Romans hadn’t killed him, Columbus probably would have flown to the New World.
I’d like to talk to Archimedes, to have him tell me what he was thinking.
What are your top three favorite
books and why?
They’re not all novels, if that’s
what you mean but right now I’m thinking a lot about Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood is a seer who reads right into the
heart of civilization. I also spend a lot of time in Claude
Levi-Strauss’s Mythologiques because
a writer needs to have a solid understanding of anthropology and myth. Finally,
Lynn Margulis’s Acquiring Genomes is
a terrific book that helps me see how Life (with a capital L) isn’t defined
solely as human. Very humbling to think that the bacteria in your body have
been there from the beginning.
What was your favorite book as a
child and why?
To be honest with you, I don’t
remember any books from my childhood. Music was my art from the time I was 5. I
played the piano early but I don’t remember learning to read either words or
music. My reading life really didn’t start until I was in high school where I
discovered Albert Camus’s The Stranger and
Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil. Of
course I didn’t understand Camus, Nietzsche or Existentialism until later, but
they were foundation authors for me.
What would you say is your most
interesting writing quirk?
Quirk? Being a writer is quirky in a
culture that worships glitz and media superstars. You think about it—sitting
alone in a room with your only friend a computer and a printer stirring up
worlds of imaginary creatures and making them talk. Yeah. Being a writer is
about as quirky as it gets.
Do you write full-time or
part-time?
My writing consumes my life so I
guess I’ll say full-time. By that I mean my days are structured and organized
around writing. Just about everything I do feeds into the writing. You can’t
spend twenty hours a day at it because you have to eat and shop and even
sometimes talk to other people—my wife insists on having dinner together every
night.
If you could do anything in the
world, what would it be and why?
Tough question because it’s a big
wide world full of all kinds of challenges. Right now the practical thing would
be to find a way to think books into existence without having to write them on
a machine.
What is the craziest thing you
ever did? This could be as a writer or any other time in your life.
A few years ago I sold everything I
owned and ran off to South America for a year. I traveled with a Chilean ex-pat,
Ramon Barrientos. We lived “off the land” so to speak because Ramon was a
super-psychopathic con-man. He taught me a lot about lying and cheating and
using people and all of that comes into my work. Without Ramon and that year in
a time of violence, my writing would, more than likely, be pretty bland.
Did you feel like a celebrity
when you held your first published book?
No. Not at all. My first book was an
experimental novel called The Stolen
House. It was published by Pig Iron Press in the early days of the small press
revolution. We wanted to be as subversive as possible in the process of
building what was called the “counter-culture” so celebrity was the farthest
thing from my mind. Revolution and redefinition of art and writing were the
goals. We didn’t succeed in wiping out popular culture but Pig Iron Press still
lives. For several years, I wrote a fifty page novella every three months for
Pig Iron.
If you could have a star on
Hollywood Blvd, who would you want to have your star by? This can be an actual
star on Hollywood Blvd. or someone you just admire.
I don’t know if Hampton Fancher, who
wrote the screenplay for Bladerunner,
has a star there, but if he does, I’d like to share space with him. In fact, I
wouldn’t mind just breathing the air Fancher breathes for a while because some
of that genius has to be in the breathing.
Is there anything in your life
you wish you could do over and why?
No. I am the result of all my
mistakes. Here I am. I know I can’t rewrite my past, but I can use all of my
misdirections to create fiction that has some meaning. I think the quest for
meaning is the deepest human drive. In the end, you want to be more than just
meat and bone. You want to have a legacy. I think that’s why we have children.
Writers have books.
Who has been your biggest
support or inspiration?
Support: My wife. Without her, I
couldn’t do what I do. She’s a world class quilter—you can see her work at http://helenremick.com –who understands
obsession, compulsion, and the drive to perfection. We co-exist in a world of
art and artists.
Inspiration: M.C. Escher, the man
who taught us to see backwards—all those woodcuts were made in mirror image.
Christine de Pisan, a poet working to find a place in a man’s world. Jack
Moodey, a poet. I once asked Moodey if he’d ever written an epic. His answer:
“Six lines or eight?” If that’s not a treatise on art, I don’t know what is. I
can’t forget Natalie Goldberg and Robert J Ray. Natalie opens doors to the
gifts of the unconscious and shows you it’s good to go deep. Bob Ray is a
genius who understands the structure of story in ways no one else ever has.
From these people, I derive not just inspiration, but a gentle quieting of the
noise in the world. In the quiet, you find truth.
Could you share about any
current writing projects?
I’m deep into The California Quartet right
now. Two novels, The Deification and Valley
Boy are already out. I’m working with my publisher on the next two—The Book of Changes and Trio of Lost Souls. I like to work on
multiple pieces so I’m also writing the back story for a novel with the working
title Prisons of Desire. I know
nothing about it yet, and the characters aren’t talking to me.
What would be the best way for
readers to contact you?
In addition, Bob Ray and I run http://bobandjackswritingblog.com.
This blog holds everything I know about writing. It’s there for the taking if
anyone wants to sample it. The latest posts are “Writing Tips for the Commited
Novelist” and “ Story Development.” Bob Ray is a successful mystery novelist
who knows all the secrets and is willing to share them.
Where can people find your books?
My publisher is Coffetown Press. All
my novels are up on amazon.com as well as Barnes & Noble. There’s also a
list of e-books on Smashwords.
Is there anything else you'd
like to share?
The World of Ink Network is
touring my contemporary women’s literary novel, Gabriela and The Widow published by
Coffeetown Press throughout January and February 2013.
About the Book:
Through the intimate bond of a companion and
benefactor, Gabriela reconciles the painful experiences of her youth as she is
reshaped by the Widow, La Viuda. Together, day after day, night after night, La
Viuda immerses Gabriela in lists, boxes, places, times, objects, photos, and
stories, captivating and life-changing stories. It seems Gabriela is not
just hired to cook and clean; she has been chosen to curate La Viuda’s mementos
while taking care of the old woman’s failing health. “As you grow thick, I
grow thin,” says the widow, portending the secret of immortality that will
overtake both women.
ISBN: 978-1-60381-147-7
Publication Date: January 15, 2013
Places available for sale:
Gabriela and The Widow
is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com. After January 15, 2013,
it will also be available in multiple eBook and 6x9 trade paperback editions on
BN.com, the European Amazons and Amazon Japan.
Wholesale orders can be placed through
info@coffeetownpress.com Baker & Taylor or Ingram. Libraries can
also purchase books through Follett Library Resources or Midwest Library
Service.
Follow Jack Remick at
Twitter: @jackremick
