Catherine Theis responds to the Next Big Thing interview, discussing her work in progress Leave of Absence, which includes The June Cuckold, her exquisite and zesty verse drama that Convulsive Editions released last fall.
Q1: What is the working title of the book?
A1: Leave of Absence.
Q2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
A2: From my belly.
Q3: What genre does your book fall under?
A3: Invasion.
Q4: What actors would you choose to play the part of your
characters in a movie rendition?
A4: Marcello Mastroanni, Catherine Deneuve, Paul Newman,
Brian Dennehy, Julie Delpy.
Q5: What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
A5: Lose Everything and Then Take to the Sea Headless.
Q6: How long did it take you to write the first draft of
this manuscript?
A6:
Q7: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A7: The poetry and non-poetry of my friends, my family, and
the poems happening in the cracks of everyday life. Leave of Absence measures itself against the Day and Sun Project.
Other inspirations include César Vallejo, Susan Sontag, peonies, Joanne Kyger, Michelangelo
Antonioni, the city of Barcelona, several well-executed dinner
parties, Lake Michigan, soft grass, Joan Didion, train rides, and my niece,
Penelope. Love, of course, inspires. There’s another book before this book
called, The June Cuckold and Other Tragedies. In all candor, both books are fueled by love sickness.
Q8: What else about your book might pique the reader’s
interest?
A8: When you
boil its pages, it will turn into a lamb dumpling. (You’re on your own as far
as yogurt is concerned.) In other words, I want you to eat this book, for it to return to belly.
Q9: Will your book be self published or represented by an
agency?
A9: Can there be a third way called, “Transcribed by Rebel
Monks in Candle-Lit Caves?”
My tagged writers for next Wednesday are:
1. James
Pate
2. Jared
Stanley
3. Lily
Brown
4. Megan
Breiseth
5. Jennifer
MacKenzie
