Interview
with Nancy Canyon
Ms. Canyon began writing and painting as
a child. In 1997, she studied with Natalie Goldberg in Taos, New Mexico. She
holds a Certificate in Fiction Writing from University of Washington and an MFA
in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University. She is a member of Allied
Arts of Whatcom County and RWA. She has completed three novels,CELIA’S HEAVEN, STEALING TIME, and
WHISPERING, IDAHO. Ms. Canyon lives in
Bellingham, Washington with her Tuxedo Cat, Sid.
What are you reading right now?
I’ve
had a resurgence of reading my astrology books, because I’m an astrologer. I’ve
been reading about Dark Moon Lilith, a gravitational point that keeps the moon
in the orbit. I’m also reading a book called LONGING FOR DARKNESS: TARA AND THE BLACK MADONNA by China
Galland.
It’s about this woman who goes on an adventure looking for the tara and it
starts with her in Nepal climbing this mountain and she falls and breaks her
leg. I like the adventure and the search for something, especially for meaning
in life. In all my books that’s what I’m doing - searching for meaning.
What first sparked your interest in
writing?
When
I was a kid, I would go to the library, which was just down the block from
where I lived and I would just fill my basket with mysteries. And I liked
getting out of the kids section into the adult section and smuggling books home
so my mom didn’t know I was reading more adult material.
I
also started two novels in grade school and they were both mysteries. One was THE
MYSTERY OF THE TIN BOX, but I never got much farther than the opening.
What do you love the most about writing? The least?
I
like it when things just happen that are unexpected. Suddenly I have a story
unraveling so that I’m surprised, too.
I
don’t like the length of things going on and on with editing and the feeling
like this will never ever be finished.
Tell us a little about your writing process.
I write with other people and I - we - use start lines. I write with a syntax so
I vary the types of sentences I’m writing from short to run-on. I know what my
topic is, but I don’t know what’s going to come out. It’s pretty stream-of-consciousness.
Writing with other people is good, because I can connect with their minds as
well as my own mind and I can learn from them. I don’t outline anything either.
What are your passions?
Writing definitely! Painting is one. I like meeting with other people in the studio and
doing art together. I like getting out and hiking and camping. I really like
shamanism and journeying. I love photography, too. That’s another thing I’ve
been doing since I was a kid.
What inspires
you?
I think nature is my main inspiration. And dreams. I wrote a poem this morning
from a dream I had last night and I think the dream was inspired by the full
moon.
Why speculative fiction?
Because there’s that magic involved that is like the journey or the dream. Things
happen that are surreal or out of the ordinary and I really like that. It’s fun
for me.
As both a writer and reader, do you prefer either science fiction or fantasy over the other?
I’ve read more fantasy than science fiction. Science fiction seems harder and
fantasy softer. Fantasy is more fairy tale-ish. Science fiction feels closer to
reality in some ways.
How was “Ghost
Rocks” born?
In my writing practice, Tony the shaman came about and then he went on this vision
quest up to the ghost rocks. I had actually been working with a shaman who had
been taking people on vision quests to the mountain. He was an interesting man
and I was learning a lot from him about the Native American medicine wheel and
the animal totems. I really desire to go on a vision quest myself, but it felt
far too frightening to go out there by myself without food for three days. I
really aspire to it and I still aspire to it, but I think I might probably die!
I guess that whole story came out of the aspiration. The closest I come to
doing a vision quest is when I go camping and it really does scare the bejesus
out of me, but I still do it. I don’t go without food, though.
The text says “Ghosts Rocks” is an excerpt from the novel STEALING TIME. Was it challenging
adapting a portion of a larger work for a shorter format?
Yes, it was slightly challenging. It became more standalone and also a much tighter
story than the rest of the book was at the time. It became a standout part of
that book, to make it work as a piece in itself. Then I had to rewrite the rest
of the book to bring it up to that level!
Do you have any
advice for aspiring authors?
The main thing that I like to encourage people to do - because I teach writing - is
to let themselves be free and let the story go will it will go and don’t try to
control it. When authors say this story came alive and wrote itself, that’s
truly a gift. The story becomes a gift to the writer. I think it’s better
writing that way and it’s more fun that way!
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself?
I sometimes think maybe I will meet Tony or another one of my characters in real life.
I really love adventures. I think writing about people having adventures makes me feel like
I’m having that adventure.