Q. Why did you choose Marcelle Heath to invite to participate in this project?
I read works of fiction at least twice, no matter what kind they are. The first time, I try to admire as a reader. The second time, I try to figure out how the story works. I don’t expect both of those reads to be equally good. Sometimes I’m surprised by which one is more enjoyable. But with Marcelle’s stories, I can count on being satisfied both times.
Marcelle holds the reins of her stories as I imagine a champion equestrian would those of her horses. Never too tight, with an overwhelming narrative presence. Never too loose, with loss of direction. She is always there in a capacity that is just right, ensuring that everything does what it is intended to do – whether a story is twenty words, or two thousand. Marcelle’s tales are always enjoyable, and her command is always a pleasure to witness.
Q. How did this story come about?
When I was eight years old, I went to the front door to get the mail and found this copy of Newsweek. Inside was a 26 page special report on the mass suicide/murder of 918 people in Jonestown, Guyana. It included witness accounts and photographs. While most of the circumstances leading up to what happened sailed over my second grade head, I was horrified and fascinated by what I could understand. Cults have interested me ever since.
I wrote the last section of this story, thinking it was self-contained. But it wouldn’t let me move on, and it wasn’t a starting point for what came next. I often write stories out of order, but this is the only one I’ve ever written fully backwards.
Q. Why is fiction necessary for you?
The everyday events of life have always been strange, wonderful, random and incomprehensible. Many of us come to a better understanding of them through careful study and distillation – reading and writing. Fiction, both in practice and absorption, helps us make sense of the world, and of each other. Without that yearning for comprehension and its occasional fulfillment, everything would eventually grind to a halt.
Q. What song(s) would you pair with this story?
While I worked on The Year Away, I listened to songs that were released in 1977 and 1978. Usually I don’t have rituals like that, but those two years were fantastic for pop music. I kept the playlist, and I still listen to it sometimes. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Steely Dan’s Aja, Rod Stewart’s “Do You Think I’m Sexy,” Donna Summer’s “Last Dance.” There’s even music from DEVO, Talking Heads, Blondie, Patti Smith, and the Clash.
(Who swept the music awards those years? Barry Manilow.)
“Come Sail Away” by Styx was released in July 1977, the summer after Julia graduated from high school, four months before the story starts. As South Park pointed out a few years ago, the song is overdone and ridiculous. But to a seventeen year old girl in western New York State in 1977 with no future? It could have been profound. Imagining that helped me understand Julia a lot more.