{"id":4564,"date":"2011-05-03T19:59:46","date_gmt":"2011-05-03T19:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.buffyholt.com\/blog\/?p=4564"},"modified":"2013-10-01T04:21:43","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T04:21:43","slug":"the-girl-who-would-speak-for-the-dead-by-paul-elwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.buffyholt.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/03\/the-girl-who-would-speak-for-the-dead-by-paul-elwork\/","title":{"rendered":"the girl who would speak for the dead. by paul elwork."},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently had the pleasure of being introduced to author Paul Elwork whose debut novel The Girl Who Would Speak For the Dead<\/a> (Amy Einhorn Books\/Penguin Group) was released in March. The title and cover are good and gothic and more than enough to pull you in – but it’s the story that keeps you there. I’ll post a review as soon as I have time to do it justice. In the meanwhile, Paul has very kindly agreed to do a little Q&A for the blog. But first, a little about The Girl Who…<\/p>\n

\"\" In 1925, at her family’s suburban Philadelphia estate, 13-year-old Emily Stewart tricks her gullible schoolmates into thinking that she can speak to the dead. But her game begins to seem like cruel deceptions when adults who have suffered the loss of loved ones start consulting her as a spirit medium. The Girl Who Would Speak For the Dead<\/a> interweaves Emily’s experiences with those of several generations of family and friends devastated by tragic loss, and paints an unforgettable portrait of individuals traumatized by death and unhinged by grief. <\/em><\/p>\n

Q. It seems like the paranormal is the publishing world\u2019s Holy Grail at the moment. Were you at all conscious of this when you first began writing The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I started the book, years ago, there were certainly successful novels about the paranormal, but they weren\u2019t the publishing rage they are at the moment\u2014so definitely not in that sense. The other thing is that while my novel is built on a paranormal notion\u2014communicating with the dead\u2014nothing supernatural takes place in its pages. The Stewart twins in the book are pretending to contact the dead, as the Fox sisters did in the 19th century. I tried to fill the book with personal and historical ghosts for my characters, but no actual ones are rattling around in there.<\/p>\n

Q. One reviewer described The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead as a \u201ccompelling tale of people coping with loss, and vulnerable to suggestion.\u201d What are some of the other themes explored by the novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the novel has as much to do with people\u2019s complicity as believers as it does with vulnerability to suggestion. Every one of us, even flinty skeptics like myself, navigate the world mostly through belief, since we can verify so little for certain. In the same way, I think people often choose what they believe, consciously and subconsciously (midconsciously?). The believers in my novel aren\u2019t simply dupes; they bring complex psychological and emotional histories to their encounter with the twins\u2019 spirit-knocking game.<\/p>\n

Q. I\u2019ve always been fascinated by the story of the Cottingley Fairies, where two young cousins in the North of England perpetrated a hoax that even fooled Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Where did the idea for The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead come from? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I find the Cottingley story fascinating, too. Conan Doyle was also a big believer in Spiritualism, the belief system predicated on communicating with the dead, started by the Fox sisters of upstate New York in 1847. These girls pretended to contact the dead through phantom noises called \u201cspirit rapping\u201d; the sounds were actually made by cracking joints in their toes and ankles. Their performances spread beyond their hometown of Hydesville and ultimately lead them to tour abroad. Years later, one of the sisters\u2014destitute and alcoholic in the decades following the sisters\u2019 international success\u2014got up on a stage in New York and made a confession, complete with a demonstration of how the trick was done. The true believers in the audience rejected the confession\u2014they thought she had been coerced and\/or bribed.<\/p>\n

I took this basic story arc and premise, recast all of the players, kept things on a smaller, neighborhood stage, placed my story in the 1920s to follow World War I, and fictionalized everything.<\/p>\n

Q. The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead was first released as a shorter work under the title The Tea House. How did the current version come about? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I contacted suspense writer M. J. Rose about using her AuthorBuzz service to help promote The Tea House (released by a small press, Casperian Books, in 2007). Much to my shock and delight, M. J. took an interest in my writing\u2014long before I ever made any payment to AuthorBuzz\u2014and she introduced me to my agent, Dan Lazar. Dan sold the novel to Amy Einhorn, who wanted me to flesh out more of the family backstory than I had in the original version, and here we are.<\/p>\n

Q. In a starred review, publisher\u2019s weekly said \u201cElwork\u2019s first novel poignantly depicts the desperate need of people to believe in life after death…\u201d I\u2019m a huge fan of southern gothic literature and I think this \u201cdesperate need\u201d is at the heart of that tradition. You also manage to leverage the details of 1920s Philadelphia in much the same way southern gothic writers leverage the details of the south. Are there any other parallels? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m also a fan of Southern gothic writers, and that tradition certainly influenced me in writing this novel. Southern gothic tones are actually featured in The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead as part of the family\u2019s history, coming out of antebellum Virginia and shadowed by slavery. Being set on the outskirts of Philadelphia, my novel is actually more closely related to that Southern gothic tradition than to any historical writing in urban places like downtown Philadelphia. My novel\u2019s action takes place in an insular setting\u2014on a lonely, storied estate, along dry roads in the summer, and in the woods at dusk. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center><\/p>\n

Q. What scares Paul Elwork? What inspires him? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I fear for my sons\u2019 emotional and physical safety at times. Sometimes I still give myself the creeps in dark rooms, and have to shake it off and remind myself I\u2019m a grown man. I don\u2019t mind seeming goofy or silly (I\u2019m frequently both), or even a little dumb in an absentminded way (again, guilty), but I\u2019m terrified of appearing downright stupid.
\nSo many things inspire me. Again, my sons. Music is a huge inspiration; I often arrange soundtracks in my head as I listen. I don\u2019t have a deep scholarly knowledge of art history, but I love paintings. And storytelling inspires me, of course. I love the sense of \u201cbeing brushed by the wing of a great feeling\u201d while reading, as Willa Cather put it.<\/p>\n

Q. If The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead had a soundtrack, what would be on it? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Cool\u2014soundtracking. Love it. I guess I can\u2019t find a place in here for Rage Against the Machine, which I\u2019ve found myself listening to a lot just lately. I would want music that suits the period, but not so much Jazz Age\/F. Scott Fitzgerald soundtracking\u2014more like a haunting and subtle classical score with some traditional hymns thrown in, like \u201cWhen They Ring the Golden Bells,\u201d one I quote at the beginning of my novel.<\/p>\n

Q. What are you working on now? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m working on a novel about the making of a fictional Nazi propaganda film in the early 1930s. My idea is that it precedes the historical rise of such films in the mid-thirties. Once again I\u2019m after a tight focus on a relatively few players; a series of events that could have fallen through the cracks of history. Or that could have been buried there.<\/p>\n

Q. How would you describe your writing style? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Often sparse, sometimes lush, elegant but not prissy. I try to capture a lot in a few lines.<\/p>\n

Q. Can you describe your writing process? What do you enjoy most about it? What do you struggle with the most? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I tend to edit and revise as I write rather than simply write through to the end of a first draft. I both enjoy and struggle with this approach, in that it allows me a deeper perspective on each new scene and slows me down. What I enjoy the most is the exhilaration of getting lost in the writing, of feeling unhooked from time as we usually understand it, and of watching characters do and say things I\u2019d never planned for before I started typing.<\/p>\n

Q. Do you have any advice for other writers or debut novelists? <\/strong><\/p>\n

For writers in general: Only things that sound like clich\u00e9s but are all valid. Be true to yourself. Don\u2019t lose sight of the fact that the work itself is the most important thing. Settle in for the long haul.<\/p>\n

For debut novelists: Here\u2019s some advice I\u2019m still accepting myself. Don\u2019t obsess over reviews. Don\u2019t fret over sales. You can\u2019t control either, in the end. You\u2019ve put your work out there\u2014and yes, you need to promote it and make yourself a presence wherever possible\u2014but as far as actual outcomes beyond your control, now is the time to get as Zen as you can in a hurry.<\/p>\n

Paul Elwork lives in Philadelphia and is the father of two sons. His work has appeared in a variety of journals, including Philadelphia Stories, Short Story America, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Word Riot. His novel The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead (Amy Einhorn Books\/Penguin Group) is available online and in bookstores everywhere. For more information and links to short fiction and other content, please visit www.paulelwork.com<\/a> or follow Paul on twitter at @paulelwork<\/a>. <\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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