Dan's Papers - June 20, 2008 - A Conversation with Victoria Lustbader

Author Victoria Lustbader talks to Dan's Papers about Stone Creek, her writing process and how she finds inspiration in the Hamptons.

You were a fiction editor for many years. What made you make the switch to writing?

I wouldn't say that I switched from editing to writing, as though it were a cool, thought-out career decision. And I actually had another, decade-long career with The Nature Conservancy in between. But, what did finally happen was that I reached the now-or-never point in my life where I had to do what I had wanted to do, and believed I could do, since I was a teenager - but had been too afraid to try. What made me ready was unhappiness, a great motivator for change! I finally admitted to myself that I was seriously unhappy despite having a wonderful life; that I'd put a leash around my ambitions and my self-expression, and it was choking the joy out of me. And I also finally admitted to myself that I believed I had something to say, and that I had talent.

You're married to bestselling author Eric Van Lustbader. Is having the same career as your spouse helpful? Intimidating? Do you read and critique each other's work? Do you ever argue over the last batch of printer paper?

It's both! But overall, there are only benefits to us both being writers. Writing - both the creative process and the business end of it - can be lonely and dispiriting one moment, and exhilarating the next. With both of us on the same rollercoaster (although in separate cars most of the time!), we empathize with one another down to the bone. I think we understand one another better - understand where the other disappears to when the writing is going well - and we're kinder to one another. We often do read and critique each other's work as we go - it's wonderful to have someone right there, when you're stuck or in doubt, who you can trust to be smart and helpful. We write very different sorts of books, have different strengths and weaknesses, and really complement the other's way of thinking about a problem. We are not in competition in any way, but early on, I couldn't help but compare his output to mine (huge and fast to small and slow!), and his success to mine (ditto), and feel a bit frustrated or diminished. When I gained confidence in my own patterns and progress, that fell away. And, to avoid any such arguments, which could potentially lead to harm, we are very careful about keeping those reams of printer paper in plentiful supply!

How did Stone Creek come to be? Did the idea start with a particular character, scene or theme?

I was ready to begin a new book before Hidden, my first book, found its publisher, and so in a way I was writing a first novel all over again, with no expectations from the outside, free to write what was in my heart and take my chances with it. I knew I wanted to write a book about grief and loss, and about children, but it took some delicate input from my agent before I accepted that, in part, I needed to draw on my own experience of grief, loss and children. But even before I knew the details of the story, my main characters were as vivid in my mind as though they were inhabiting the world I live in, and I knew the emotions they were each struggling with. Also, I wanted to write about reaching a point in life, which we all do, when we have to learn to live happily with what we've got, even if it's not everything we thought we needed or wanted. Because the alternative does not make for an acceptable existence. I had reached that point in my own life, and moved past it. Writing Stone Creek was the expression of a personal life transition. But as the novel's characters and storyline gradually crystalized in my imagination, I knew that what I was writing about was not my story. It was everyone's story. Because everyone, in his or her own individual way, suffers the pains of loss and disappointment. And has to decide whether or not those pains will forever define their lives.

Stone Creek explores some very serious, realistic themes - love, loss, adultery. Did it ever become too much while you were writing? Did you ever have to turn off the computer and find some happy distraction?

Let's just say that I pretty much cried my way through 18 months of writing Stone Creek!

Which is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it's a good thing. As you say, the book deals with some heavy-duty experiences and choices in people's lives, and it was painful to have to live there day after day. But writers, all artists I think, are strange - we like visiting the painful places of life and illuminating them for others to see from a place of safety. We're tough. We can take it! So, writing Stone Creek was painful, but also cathartic and fulfilling, and I rarely wanted to get away from it.

What's your writing process? Do you have a regular routine? Do you write every day?

I do try to write every day that I can - or work on the book-in-progress in some way, even if it's just note-taking or thinking. I don't really have a regular routine. Some days I'm at the computer before dawn, some days I throw every distraction I can find at myself, and then suddenly I'm at the computer at two in the afternoon...Writing is work, it's a job, if you will, and you've got to tough it out and do it, even when it's not going well. But it's creative work, and you have to respect that, too, and honor the organic nature of it, leave it be when it's telling you to.

You have a home in Southampton. Do you find the Hamptons particularly inspiring?

I love to write here. Our home in Southampton is our primary residence, and we're here most of the time. My office has lots of windows and looks out over our pool and gardens. I can hear our little waterfall and the birds. The beauty and the peace are very strengthening, and thus very inspiring. But the truth is, when the writing is going well, I can write happily and well in our tiny city apartment, with ambulance and fire sirens wailing away, the kids from the elementary school next door shrieking in the playground...I can write in a crowded Starbucks! Right now, slowly working my way into a new book, being out in Southampton is the best place for me. It's a gentle and forgiving environment, and keeps me hopeful.

Victoria Lustbader will be at BookHampton in Southampton this Saturday, June 21 at 5 p.m. Call 631-283-0270 for more information.