Wendy Wimmer
Author Interview - Wendy Wimmer
Author of Entry Level: Stories
Tales of characters trying to find their way through the struggles of underemployment.
Wendy Wimmer’s debut short story collection, Entry Level, contains a range of characters who are trying to find, assert, or salvage their identities. These fifteen stories center around the experience of being underemployed—whether by circumstance, class, gender, race, or other prevailing factors—and the toll this takes on an individual. Wimmer pushes the boundaries of reality, creating stories that are funny, fantastic, and at times terrifying. Her characters undergo feats of endurance, heartbreak, and loneliness, all while trying to succeed in a world that so often undervalues them. From a young marine biologist suffering from imposter syndrome and a haunting to a bingo caller facing another brutal snowstorm and a creature that may or not be an angel, Wimmer’s characters are all confronting an oppressive universe that seemingly operates against them or is, at best, indifferent to them. These stories reflect on the difficulties of modern-day survival and remind us that piecing together a life demands both hope and resilience.
Author Interview - Wendy Wimmer
Author I draw inspiration from:
Elizabeth McCracken, Bowlaway; Dan Chaon, Sleepwalk; Ann Patchett, Tom Lake; Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch; Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin; John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
Author Interview - Wendy Wimmer | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
On the beach of Lake Michigan in Door County, Wisconsin
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Anne Shirley of Green Gables lore. She would just be so entertaining and we could dream up imaginary scenarios that would keep my mind off of my claustrophobia.
Author Interview - Wendy Wimmer | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I was seven or eight years old and I had written a poem about the North Wind, personified/anthropomorphized, and showed it to a teacher, who insisted I had copied it from a book. He refused to give me credit or praise me for it, and I thought "You know what, I'll show 'em." I was tearing my way through the Narnia Chronicles at that time and I loved inhabiting books already, but when I wrote that little rhyming story, I actually WAS in the world with this jaunty North Wind character who was coming into town and meeting people and animals who were just unhappy to see them because brrrrrr.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I love hardbacks for the way they physically contain the world and feel so tactile, but I don't like actually holding them in my hands because I have some arthritis (thanks immune system, why do you hate your body so much?) so the pain makes me put down the book, plus I tend to prefer LONG reads, which means heavy reads. Paperbacks are fun but don't smell quite as nice or age as well as hardcovers, and I hate creasing the spines. Ebooks probably have my love because of the portability and adaptability (especially text size and background color, which helps my eyes deal with screen fatigue), not to mention how much it has opened up the library for me -- I can borrow and not worry about late fees because they just suck the books back off your device! I used to only consider audiobooks as entertainment/road trip fodder, but when I was doing my PhD in English Literature, the sheer volume of reading required at least one book a week during my commutes and while walking across campus or folding laundry. I still keep that habit up and it has exposed me to books and genres I wouldn't normally have read, like the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series, or Ann Patchett's fantastic Tom Lake (read by Meryl Streep!!!!). The downside is that I can't just sit and listen to an audio book, I have to be doing something else, so sometimes that's a careful balance. Also, what's the deal with people being snobby about audiobooks? They are legit reading!
The last book I read:
Piranesi by Susana Clarke -- loved it. Didn't exactly consider it "unputdownable" but whenever I had a moment to read it, I was happy to go back to the labyrinth with the titular character.
Author Interview - Wendy Wimmer | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Both -- I used to be entirely electronic, but about ten years ago, I took a workshop with Lynda Barry and she converted me to a paper drafter. I write in beautiful notebooks (every writer has a lifetime supply of unused notebooks -- use them!) and have a fountain pen addiction, and writing in ink on real paper is incredibly calming and wonderful, and there's this facet of feeling like you're actually bleeding the words onto the page, which is so dark and moody and perfect.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Elinor Dashwood from Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I get that Lizzie Bennet gets all the love from so many readers -- and rightfully so -- but I think I personally would become exhausted by her in time. I love Elinor's oldest daughter energy -- it matches my own. I get her on such a massive level, and sometimes I feel like I'm here, pointing out the budgetary realities of being a Not Rich person and being exhausted by people being unrealistic.
Author Interview - Wendy Wimmer | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Broadway theatre reviewer for The New Yorker. I really love musicals, although perhaps that would kill my love of them? But what a fun time until then!
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Probably 1810s-20s. I love an empire waist gown, but I wouldn't love the corseting. My love of that look ends the moment that bustles came onto the picture.
Place I’d most like to travel:
The Maldives. They look universally gorgeous and let's be honest, the Maldives will likely disappear within our lifetime due to climate change.
My signature drink:
Diet Coke. No, I don't want Diet Pepsi instead.
Favorite artist:
Van Gogh. I always knew that his work resonated with me, even as a young child, but when I first saw his work in person, it was a completely new and even more emotional connection to his aesthetic and expressions. If you haven't seen his work up close and in person, please do yourself a favor and sit with some of those paintings for even just five minutes. You'll be a changed person.
Number one on my bucket list:
Like millions of people in the US right now, I suffer from Long Covid, which means that I have debilitating fatigue and joint pain, occasionally headaches and brain fog, and a host of other annoying symptoms that leave me more or less homebound and requiring mobility aids for longer jaunts outside. I still have never visited Paris and I look forward to recovering enough so that I can go to Paris and have my normal activity levels to appreciate the city fully. I absolutely want to take a tour of the catacombs, brave the Louvre, climb the Eiffel Tower and just stroll around, stopping at cafes while wearing a striped shirt and red lipstick.
Anything else you'd like to add:
One time I touched Andre the Giant's arm. It was a moment that froze in time and has become a core memory.
Find more from the author:
@wendy_wimmer IG
@wendy_wimmer on Threads
Wendy Wimmer on Bluesky
@wmwimmer on Facebook
About Wendy Wimmer:
Author Interview - Wendy Wimmer
Wendy Wimmer's debut short story collection ENTRY LEVEL: STORIES received the 2021 Autumn House Fiction Prize. The book was also recently named to Kirkus Reviews Best Indie Short Fiction for 2022 as well as an honoree for the Society of Midland Authors 2023 Book Awards. She lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where she is an editor for a large tech publication and in her free time, she volunteers as the president of The Art Garage/Cedar Center Arts. Contact her via her website www.wendywimmer.com or on IG and Threads @wendy_wimmer.
