The lovely Angela Slatter is yet another of the 9 writers to give us some insight into the mish-mash that was the 24-hour book.
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1. What made you decide to be involved with the Willow Pattern project?
(a) I was asked!
(b) It was something totally new and intriguing.
(c) It was a great challenge to see if I could pull together a story in such a short time - and there wasn’t really any room to fail.
(d) We were going to see the finished product at the end of 24hrs - which was a treat when normally your book is a year or so in production!
2. Did you have any prior relationship with any of the authors? And was this an additional factor in taking on the challenge?
I’ve known Rjurik Davidson and Chris Currie for a while, but the other authors only by reputation. It was great to know we weren’t suffering alone, and we came together at regular intervals to touch base and make sure we were all on track, so that was a pretty good support system.
3. I've always found that beginning a story with a mystery was very effective, ever since seeing Citizen Kane, and a supernatural detective is even more enticing. Had you decided upon the mystery theme, detective character or any other elements before beginning the 24 hours?
I had decided to use the character of Verity Fassbinder, who I’d used in a previous story, “Brisneyland by Night”, because she was fully formed in my mind, as was her Brisbane - with the super tight deadline I didn’t feel that I would be able to convincingly get my head around a new character. Generally I spend a lot of time with characters in my head before they make it onto the page, so it was useful to use Verity. I also had maybe three plot points in the back of my mind as standbys if my subconscious didn’t play nice when we started.
4. How did your role having the first chapter effect your writing?
You know, I don’t think I thought about it too much - we’d agreed on recurring elements in the story (SLQ, the vase, the librarian), and I just knew I was writing something early in the piece, well before the flood hit. But I wanted to give hints of what was to come, to give a sense of foreboding, a sense that the city wasn’t quite right. That’s the main angle I was thinking about.
5. You have a background in fantasy and there were some fantastical elements in Willow Pattern, your chapter especially with a supernatural theme and establishing the roaming sands. Would you have liked to have seen this fantasy side developed more in your chapter and the book as a whole?
Not really - I think the true value of Willow Pattern is its diversity, each of us telling different stories that are connected at particular points, but have their own life, their own narrative arcs. It’s quite a unique sort of a mosaic, with each story-tile reflecting its author.
6. What were some of the more fantastical ideas that didn't quite make it into the book?
I don’t know! I think all of mine went into the story I told.
7. Last year you also published your novel with Lisa L Hannett, Midnight and Moonshine. How did the collaborations differ between the two projects?
Lisa is my best friend as well as my writing partner and when we write together we’re aiming for a seamless third voice - one that doesn’t sound like Angela or Lisa when we’re writing alone, but that sounds like a voice that could be either of us. That sort of work means a lot of drafts and a lot of editing to smooth things over. Willow Patterns was always a project that allowed the individual voices to remain in place and obviously; the collaboration pretty much amounted to selecting those few recurring elements I’ve mentioned earlier.
8. You reference a few of the other authors' works in your chapter. Was this planned or discussed beforehand? And did I miss some, or are the other women left out?
I actually referenced everyone’s work, either in title or a line from their best known words. I didn’t discuss it, I just liked the idea of putting a little nod to my fellow authors in there, just to make it even more unique.
9. From the data there was quite a gap between 7 and 9pm where it seems like not much took place. Obviously this wasn't the case, can you take us through what happened?
Good God, that’s a year ago! I suspect that was when a dinner break was called and we were all wailing “My God, what have we done?” I think I was probably a slower starter than say either Krissy or Rjurik. It took me a while to hit my stride - and I was also editing as I went, so that when I came to the end I was able to give the editors something that was as clean and solid as it could be.
10. Did you learn anything about your writing or process during the 24 hour book or from looking at the data afterwards?
I learned that I can write a lot really fast and it’s not necessarily all brown and hideous! If anything, I think I’m now a faster writer and don’t worry too much about the first draft being “brain vomit”, because the editing process is the place where you tidy things up. I’d say what I took away from the project was a mantra of “Write fast, edit slow”. It won’t work for everyone, but it does for me.
11. Simon Groth has
said that for another project to arise the challenge would have to be
something new and different, would you be interested in being involved
again? And do you have any ideas that may fit the unique criteria?
Mmmm, no. Alas. Unless it’s something like a street reads kind of an event. Or maybe a story scavenger hunt, where you need to follow where the end of one story tells you to go in order to get the next instalment of life fiction writing!
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