One of the many things I’m grateful for this year is Jac Jemc, a prolific Chicago-based writer of fiction and poetry that recently caught my eye. She rocks. Google her. Trust me. Would I lie to you on Thanksgiving?
Without further ado, here she is.
Bipartisan
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Anna’s two selves are sitting alone in the living room. Anna is tirelessly introducing these selves to each other. Anna is always both, but sometimes she is so much one that she forgets about the other. When this happens it can be hard to stand, let alone walk away.
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1. Where did this story come from? Describes it’s genesis?
I had a post-it with the first line sitting on my desk for a few weeks. I read that line over and over. I added a new line every couple days. I’ve deleted all those, because they were lines for a longer story.
2. Who are you? What makes you so amazingly cool that we just had to interview you?
I am Jac Jemc. Perhaps you did not know, but I am all the rage right now. Ha. Just kidding. No, but seriously, I was talking with some friends that do different arty things and we were griping about how we’d have to explain our lives to relatives at Thanksgiving and how those relatives would say things like, “So, have you written a bestseller yet?” or “Have you won an Oscar?” I decided it was best to beat them to the punch and make them feel un-hip by saying, “Oh, haven’t you heard? I’m all the rage,” and then go on to list all of the venues which they are too uncool to know about.
Also, I am very good at making fancy potato casseroles, I have a pet hedgehog named Werner, and I do not have control of my facial expressions. Beat that, Uncle Ted.
3. What are you working on right now? Can you tell us? Stores? Poems? Novels? One of those tiny ships in a bottle?
Well, it is a secret I am making up right now, but I’ll tell you anyway. I am working on building up a large body of tiny stories. Like maybe I could write a thousand of them and gather them up in a fat little book. Also, I have been writing poems about monsters and also poem-ish monologues by historical figures on the fringe. I have a novel manuscript that is away from home right now, trying to figure out if it can lay down roots elsewhere. I am also working on eating one of those fancy potato casseroles I made.
4. Think fast: favorite short story or novel at the moment? Of all time?
I am currently obsessed with a story by Jincy Willett called, “The Haunting of the Lingards.” Of all time: “The Man from Bogota,” by Amy Hempel. All time novel is, The Book of Disquietude, by Fernando Pessoa, if that can be counted as a novel. If not, Wittgenstein’s Mistress by David Markson.
5. If you could start a band full of writers, of literary greats and contemporary stars, who would be in your band and what instrument would they be on (four or five members only, otherwise the van gets too crowded and smelly)?
We would be a country-type band. Mark Yakich would play the keyboard. Carole Maso on drums. George Saunders on lead guitar. Gertrude Stein on bass. Mary Hamilton and Lindsay Hunter could sing, but they would sound just like Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville. I would be the seamstress.
6. What would be one writing tip you would give to someone just starting out?
Sit down everyday and do it, even if it’s for five minutes. You’ll feel better.
7. What’s on the horizon for you? What’s next—i.e., publications, events/readings, etc.
I’m reading in the Reconstruction Room for their “Reading Bondage: Only the Microphone Was Ashamed” night, December 3, 2008 at the Black Rock. I’m also going to read in the new Orange Alert Reading Series December 16th, at The Whistler. I have a little chapbook coming out in January from ML Press and stories should be coming out soon in bearcreekfeed, Mourning Silence, and Caketrain. You can always read about the people that don’t like my work (and the few that do) at jacjemc.wordpress.com.
