Grab the Lapels

Meet the Writer: Olivia Kate Cerrone

I want to thank Olivia Kate Cerrone for stopping by! Olivia maintains a website where you can learn more about her writing and information about her new book, The Hunger Saint (Bordighera Press, 2017). If you like what you see, follow Olivia on Facebook or Twitter!

Do you know someone who would like to be featured at Grab the Lapels? Send her my way so she can participate in the Meet the Writer feature!

Grab the Lapels: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Olivia Kate Cerrone: My parents always read to me as a child and that definitely sparked my love for stories, the places books could take you in your imagination. I began writing fiction from a very early age, producing “novels” and short stories with handmade drawings to accompany. The sense of wonder and possibility of storytelling has never left me.

GTL: How have you developed creatively since then?

OKC: I never thought of creative writing as a hobby. Even as a kid, I wanted to become an author and publish books. Of course, I had no idea at the time as to how very difficult that journey would be, but I had the drive and the passion to keep trying, even after years of rejection and disappointment. Throughout my life, I have always (and continue) to seek opportunities to develop creatively, be it through a workshop, a writing conference or an MFA degree. I enjoy being in a workshop with other writers. I am very lucky to have a group of talented prose writers with whom I meet with on a regular basis in Boston, MA. Growth is continuous, and you have to stay humble and resist arrogance or complacency in order to keep getting better. Real growth takes time. I hope that I am a much better writer in five or ten years than where I am now.

Cerrone Author Photo

GTL: What happens when you’re not happy with your writing?

OKC: Honestly, I am seldom ever happy with my writing, especially the first draft of anything, so I revise constantly. Perhaps even a bit obsessively. A piece goes through many different drafts and often past the eyes of a trusted editor before I send it out into the world for possible publication. Sometimes, if I’m really struggling, I have to just let a manuscript sit for a while, and go work on another project or just take a breather from writing altogether and read, read, read. Often, I find that poetry helps me connect to language and ideas in fresh ways, and that actually helps me find a way back into my own fiction if I’m blocked.

GTL: What is your writing process like? Which do you favor, starting or revising?

OKC: Ideas usually comes to me in fragments — snatches of dialogue or a phrase of description that are later explored and built into a scene or the narrative in some way. Sometimes, as was the case with The Hunger Saint, I will come across a piece of history or an experience that haunts me and demands to be told. When I first learned about the carusi, for instance, I was shocked by how little had been written about them, especially when children as young as six years old were sent by their families to work in the sulfur mines of rural Sicily. That disturbed me enough to produce The Hunger Saint. Research also figures a great deal in my creative process. Getting the details right, even in fiction, is very important to me. I like to “sketch out” the outline of a plot, especially with short stories, as it tends to help me keep focused on what needs to be told, instead of trying to cram an entire world of information in ten or fifteen pages. But with larger projects like novels and novellas, you can’t exactly know where you are going at every point along the way or the story itself might feel stilted. You have to trust the process, be patient and keep trying with each draft.

Cerrone_Cover

GTL: How has your writing process evolved?

OKC: I spend a lot more time on revision now than I used to. Perhaps that comes with maturity and patience. Revision is so crucial, especially with a larger manuscript. There are certain things you simply can’t develop until the third or fourth draft. I have learned the hard way over the years that rushing through the development of a story just for the sake of having it published is never a good thing. My prose also tends to be a lot more socially conscious now than it was when I was younger. I believe that literature should engage readers in larger questions about human rights, especially in these challenging and uncertain times. Stories have such great potential to raise awareness and spread compassion over complex and difficult issues throughout our society.

GTL: What are your current writing projects?

OKC: Right now, I am working on DISPLACED, a novel set in Boston absorbed with themes of identity, family, immigration issues, intergenerational trauma, and deportation. The book questions what it means to be an American in a time fraught with so much tension and upheaval. I am also working on a few short stories and essays that speak to various political and humanitarian concerns.

Do you know someone who would like to be featured at Grab the Lapels? Send her my way so she can participate in the Meet the Writer feature!

24 comments

  1. This is really interesting! Thanks, both, for sharing. And I know just what you mean about never being quite happy with your own writing. I rarely am, myself. I wish you much success!

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  2. It was when I realised that I had no interest in (or compulsion to) collect scraps of my own writing that I understood that I was someone who writes sometimes, not a ‘writer’. For Cerrone to concentrate not just on writing, but on facts and justice, must require tremendous dedication.

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  6. Thank you for taking the time to share so much with us, Ms. Cerrone! I’m so impressed that even as a child you never thought of writing as a hobby but as a career. Have you ever felt defeated over that philosophy? If so, what advice would you give to budding writers to get past those hurdles?

    And Melanie, thank you for providing this interview! You have some really insightful questions. I particularly enjoy how you focused on the writing process; I think most author interviews focus too much on the book itself and not enough on the person behind the story. Well done.

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    • Hi Jackie! Thank you so much for your questions and support. I have absolutely felt defeated many times throughout my journey as a writer. There have been points where I seriously questioned whether or not I was cut out to be a writer, and if it was worth all of the heartache and disappointment to keep trying. Rejection is such a significant part of the literary life. It’s so hard…and it’s easy to get frustrated and disappointed and to internalize rejection…to feel like your work is never good enough. But I’ve come to appreciate the value of rejection over the years even though it’s still very painful and frustrating. Rejection forces you to grow. It forces you to develop tenacity and perseverance and keep trying. To anyone who is struggling right now: I think it’s important to remember that the struggle itself, the failure and the rejection that comes with trying to become an author is all part of the process of developing as a writer. Don’t be discouraged by perceived failure. Just keep going. Keep writing, keep submitting your work, keep trying. Growth is continuous. Remember why you write in the first place. I think it’s important to remain connected to the joy and excitement that compels you to write, regardless of the world’s response. Protect your joy.

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