Do you write for a living or do you have a day job?
At the moment, neither. Among the possible solutions to remedy this, I am looking into ways to support myself by doing what I love.
Looking at the fiction you’ve written to date, what kind of themes or elements does your work explore?
The easiest answer would be to say that it’s changed over time. But over time I’ve seen certain trends appear. While not always true, my silly main characters tend to be males, while my serious protags are usually females. My characters tend to explore emotional issues without talking about them directly.
And I have a fascination with dialogue. Years ago I learned that one of the secrets of writing great dialogue is to make sure that the character never says what the reader expects them to. And over the years I have spent more time crafting dialogue than all other parts of my stories combined. I’ve even developed my own quasi-screenplay style of storytelling, where I tell the story using nothing but dialogue (no attribution, no narration, no exposition).
What other creative pleasures, other than writing, do you pursue?
I grew up with two parents who were remarkable singers—both could have performed on Broadway if they’d had the chance—and my love of music, and singing, started before I learned to walk. But all of my musical experience has been informal. At several points in my life I have tried to remedy this by learning a musical instrument. Piano, clarinet, guitar and bagpipes have all, for a staggering variety of reasons, fallen by the wayside. However, for the last year or so I’ve been casually teaching myself the harmonica. I have no aspirations to be a great player, but the ability to carry an instrument wherever I go can be great therapy.
Do you listen to music while you write? What are your favourite albums/songs to write to? What are you listening to now?
Never. I get too into the music. If it’s music I like I’ll wind up singing along, when I should be writing. Instead, I’ll put something on TV that I have no interest in, so I have some background noise, but nothing that will command my attention.
Do you have a favourite place to write? If so where is it?
I do. Unfortunately, it has long since lapsed into non-existence. It was the Wag’s restaurant down the street from my college dorm. A turkey melt, an endless glass of iced tea, and waitresses who were cute enough to be distracting without being too distracting—I could sometimes write for ten hours in a single sitting.
Chinese Whisperings invites you to kick back with your favourite beverage and Take Five with Canadian born, London based writer Jasmine Gallant, author of Not My Name.
The Red Book, Audio Trailer
