Melissa Fischer
Author Interview - Melissa Fischer
Author I draw inspiration from: Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient. His hallmark is conveying the eros of subtle presence. I strive for this.
Author Interview - Melissa Fischer
Favorite place to read a book: Lying on the couch with no distractions. In bed, before falling asleep.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Amelia Peabody of Elizabeth Peters’ mystery series. We would enjoy lively conversation about all and sundry, and she is so resourceful in an emergency! I wouldn’t mind a nip of brandy from her pocket flask, as the occasion may demand.
Author Interview - Melissa Fischer
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: Eight years old. I loved to read. I was in my bedroom alone – probably reading! – I stood up and felt the distinct knowing that I would write a novel. I loved the way I felt moved as a reader and I knew that I wanted to write in a way that moved others. Not that it was something I “wanted” – but a knowing that at core I am a writer.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: I love the tactile qualities of hardback and paperback. Now that I am publishing The Advocacy , I’m dissatisfied with the way that the ebook format defies a fixed presentation. The variation amongst ebook platforms, as well as the freedom for readers to customize fonts, robs the author of presenting the ebook in an intentional way. I also fear that if ever hardback and paperback books go by the wayside, there will be no way to authenticate the work. Audiobook can have the quality of listening to a story on the radio and is fun in a group setting. I enjoy that, but don’t go out of my way to seek audiobooks. This may be related to my twenty-year-old Subaru that lacks the modernity of USB drives and Internet.
The last book I read: Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton. One of the epigraphs to Part I of The Advocacy is from this book and I wanted to refresh myself as to the source. I was delighted to rediscover May Sarton’s articulation of sexual liberty and wonder how she might enjoy the current revolution in gender/non-gendered identity. Twenty-five years ago, she was a great provocateur of thought for me, a model of a woman writer. She is precise in her honesty, unflinching in putting her true thought on the page. I love her fine integrity, as well as her heart, caring for and including every being she encounters.
Author Interview - Melissa Fischer
Pen & paper or computer: First draft – pen and paper. I need the tactile connection. I believe the science supports this, as well – that writing with pen in hand stimulates the neurology in a way that typing does not. Editing – a combination of pen and paper, and computer. I often markup hard copy, then input edits to computer, print, and markup again. Electronic editing on the fly does insinuate itself. I always verify final versions in hard copy. For housekeeping, I love electronic – the ability to search for a word, weed out repetition, recognize lazy phrasing. Personal journaling must happen in an unlined hardback without any ridiculous imagery on the cover or trite daily sayings on the pages. The cover also cannot be bland and boring. While I’m all for recycling, natural papers tend to be too rough and irregular. The pages must be smooth. Getting harder to meet all these criteria.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Austin Fraser of Jane Urquhart’s The Underpainter. It is a novel about our inability to protect what is fragile. In the end, Austin spends his hours trying to restore what he destroyed. I am aware of my own violence and feel a kinship with his desire, his need, to honor what he could only recognize as it lay in pieces.
Author Interview - Melissa Fischer
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: A weaver and a seamstress. I love the feel of cloth and fibers. For a couple of years, I did have an old rug loom. I wove a large blanket and loved every aspect of setting up the loom, setting the warp, the rhythm of tossing and beating the weft. It wasn’t important to finish because I loved the act.
Favorite decade in fashion history: Now - for the freedom of movement and the growing accommodation of active lifestyles for women.
Place I’d most like to travel: Hawaii – to thoroughly relax. I haven’t had a good vacation in a decade!
My signature drink: I start my day with my custom recipe raw vegan breakfast smoothie – almonds, walnuts, pea protein powder, brown rice protein powder, hemp powder, cacao nibs, flax seed, pumpkin seed, chia seed, vanilla powder, cardamom, cinnamon, spirulina, cacao butter, coconut, almond milk, ice.
Favorite artist: I don’t think in terms of a “favorite.” For visual art, I open myself to connection. When I gaze at art, it only takes a second, or less, to know if I feel that connection. I have a June Wayne print on my wall that I love. A whooping crane hovers over a block of petrified forest. I don’t have a clue what it means, but I can feel the integrity of intention and relationship. Holly Near – her early albums, Imagine My Surprise , A Live Album , have sustained me for a lifetime. Lately, I’ve been watching videos of James Taylor. He was part of the ethos of my growing up. I am intrigued by his manner of engaging audiences across a lifetime.
Number one on my bucket list: Publish this novel and deliver it successfully into the world!
Learn more at my website: melissaannfischer.com
Author Interview - Melissa Fischer
