A: Growing up in rural south Georgia with a writer for a father, I saw the glories and miseries of the writing life up close. My father was Mac Hyman who wrote the bestselling novel, No Time for Sergeants, published in 1954 when he was only thirty-one years old. His novel was adapted into a play, running on and off Broadway for over seven years, made into a movie, and translated into twelve languages. Millions of copies were sold. I saw my father soar, achieve fame and success with the publication of his first novel, and saw this same success destroy him. I looked on as writer’s block stilled his talent. I watched him drink to excess and smoke one Marlboro after another until his fingertips turned yellow. I listened while he nervously ground his teeth. I observed his body growing thinner and thinner. He had three stomach ulcers when he died of a massive heart attack on the evening of July 17, 1963, at the young age of thirty-nine. He had just completed arrangements by telephone to go to Hollywood the next day to work on television sketches from No Time for Sergeants, and we had been hopeful that this job would jumpstart his writing. In the obituaries, they called him a humorist in the tradition of Mark Twain, but at the end of his short life, he was no longer funny. In the years that followed my father’s death, I vowed never, never, never to become a writer. For if my father was miserable in spite of his good fortune with No Time for Sergeants, I wondered what horror would occur if a writer worked hard but failed to get published. A writer was damned if she did, damned if she didn’t. In other words, I decided to avoid this no-win situation at all costs and fled from writing until my mid-thirties when I realized that I could no longer run from what I was meant to do. Therefore, I can honestly say that No Time for Sergeants has most influenced my life and career as a writer.

Q: What authors do you enjoy reading now?

A: While working on a novel, I don’t have the time to read as eclectically as I usually do, so I tend to focus on only one author and his/her work until I’ve read much of what he/she has written. Lately, I’ve been reading J. M. Coetzee, the brilliant South African writer, who has won countless awards including the Nobel Prize in Literature. His prose is clean and clutter free, without a hint of sentimentality, but his vision is complex and daring. Toward the end of The Life and Times of Michael K., which is about a South African man struggling to survive apartheid, I found myself weeping–loud, anguished sobs over the plight of the poor, the lost, the lonely. I cried just as fiercely when I finished Disgrace. I loved The Master of Petersburg because it is told from Dostoevsky’s point of view, explores the relationship between art and life, and ultimately shows us that the best of any writer is found in his/her art. Elizabeth Costello, the protagonist of his novel by the same name, is a world-renown writer and lecturer, whose life is revealed through a series of eight formal addresses. Only a writer of Coetzee’s talent could pull something like this off, and I read Elizabeth’s story with a burning curiosity–eagerly turning the pages, wanting to know her thoughts on religion, animal rights, evil, storytelling--everything. Just this past month, I finished Coetzee’s two memoirs, Boyhood and Youth. Both of which I enjoyed because I learned from them the ways in which the author’s life has informed his art. Still though, I prefer Coetzee’s novels. Like Dostoevsky, he puts the best of himself in his fiction.

Q: What was it like to have your first novel, Icy Sparks, chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection?

A: Icy Sparks was published during the summer of 1998. After ten years of trying to break with a novel, I was thrilled when Viking/Penguin bought the book. It was published to good reviews. It was a 1998 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Book, a 1998 New York Times Notable Book, and a 1998 New York Times Editors’ Choice Book, among other positive things. Nevertheless, by the spring of 2001, I was worried about keeping the paperback in print because the sales of the book had been modest. After all, I was an unknown writer breaking in with my first novel, typecast as regional literature. I was truly afraid that I would never publish a second book. It was then I received the telephone call from Oprah. My first thought after I hung up the phone was–now maybe, knock on wood, I’ll publish a second book.

Q: Icy Sparks tells the story of a young girl growing up in 1950's Kentucky with Tourette Syndrome. Where did you get the idea for this story, and was it a difficult subject to write about?

A: I always knew that I’d someday write about a little girl who feels different and has trouble fitting into community. I also knew that I’d give this little girl a neurological disorder because I grew up with epilepsy, which went undiagnosed until my mid-thirties. As a consequence, I understood the feelings of powerlessness which accompany losing control, yet I didn’t want to write about epilepsy. That would have been hitting too close to home. What disorder could she have? I wondered. Then one day, I picked up Oliver Sacks’s collection of essays, The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and read an essay about a man who had Tourette Syndrome. He experienced the worst symptoms of the disorder. Yet, whenever he played the drums, he became so engaged in the creative process that his symptoms disappeared. After reading this wonderful essay, I began to think about the healing power of art–that the artist heals herself through the creative process and that she can hopefully heal others in the finished work of art. So I chose Tourette Syndrome as my metaphor for being different and blessed Icy with a beautiful singing voice.

Before I ever put pen to paper, I thoroughly researched my topic. Not only did I read medical books on Tourette Syndrome but I also attended an annual meeting of the Tourette Syndrome Association in Lexington, Kentucky. While there, I spoke to many adults and kids with Tourette Syndrome and spoke to parents of children with Tourette Syndrome. One trait they all had in common was a terrific sense of humor–an ability to laugh at themselves. This was when I decided to inject humor into my novel. Once, Icy’s voice took over, I identified with her completely and easily empathized with her plight. After the book came out, I felt honored when I learned that the National Tourette Syndrome Association had endorsed Icy Sparks.

Q: Dalia Miller, the heroine of The Woodsman’s Daughter, is a very strong and independent character. Do you see any of yourself in her?

A: Dalia is loosely based on my great-grandmother. When I was a child, my grandmother would hold court on the veranda of our old house and tell us stories about my grandfather’s mother. “Your grandfather is peculiar, isn’t he?” she’d ask. “Let me tell you why. Let me tell you the story of your great-grandmother’s life.” Of course, I never knew my great-grandmother, but I heard all about her, and in spite of her faults, I grew to love her and to feel saddened by the tragic irony of her life. My heroine, Dalia, makes many wrong choices. She tries to correct each one by making another, even bigger mistake. She loves fiercely, but her love is misguided, and in the end she hurts the ones she loves the most. In a sense, her strong will becomes her undoing, a very human trait. Even though Dalia is sometimes hard to love, I found myself loving her, simply because she survives and learns from her mistakes. I think there is more of Icy in me than of Dalia, but both characters are quirky and determined, characteristics I also possess.

Q: Is there something about yourself which is not commonly known that you can share with us?

A: I’m a former Peace Corps and VISTA volunteer. For years, I volunteered at a respite care center as a best friend to those suffering from memory loss. I believe in giving something back to others.

Q: If you were to give a fledgling writer some advice, what would it be?

A: Be persistent. Write, write, write–out of the joy you derive from the creative process. If you write only to be published, you could end up with writer’s block, especially after enduring rejection. I shelved three novels before I finally broke in with Icy Sparks. The possibility of publishing comes with every new book written; therefore, if/when a book fails, don’t give up. Get out your pen and paper and immediately begin another.

Interview Date: July 2007
Profile and questions compiled by Kim W., University City Regional