It is a surreal moment when you are approached about
interviewing an author, but to interview two authors and meet one of them in
person is a whole other kettle of fish.
During the interview Rodge told me I am the third person to
read his short story. The first person is the editor of the collection Dan
Coxon and the second person is Victoria Briggs who also interviewed him. This
was a bizarre moment. Not only was I reading a story before it was even
published, but I was also the third person to read it. Mind-blowing.
So there I was in Rodge’s office, this established writer
looking to me to begin the interview as I fumble through documents on my laptop
to find my list of questions. My mouth immediately goes dry and I’m taking sips
of water every ten seconds. I’m also begging the God’s that I could type as
fast as he could talk.
Then, I begin. Immediately I was put at ease, though an
established writer, he seemed very down to earth, which I admired about him.
Do you
have a specific place you like to write? Or do you just write wherever and
whenever inspiration hits?
Rodge admits he used to write wherever and whenever
inspiration hit. Interestingly, his first novel was written mostly under the
stairs. With his second novel he upgraded to writing in a cupboard. Yes, it
made me laugh too. I thought I was the only person who chose interesting spots
to write. These days, after the birth of his daughter, it became impossible to
write at home while having a baby daughter to look after; therefore he took to
writing in his office at Edge Hill University where he works as a Senior
Creative Writing lecturer. He also uses train journeys as time he can use to
write.
How
organised are you?
Rodge’s organisation used to be very scattered, though he
is now very OCD with his work. He believes if you’re not organised then you
will get nothing done. Rodge is an editor for Freight Books, which is one of
the reasons he’s had to become obsessively organised.
What
made you choose to be a part of this anthology?
Rodge saw a call-out via Twitter for writers to be part of
this anthology. Rodge hardly ever enters things like writing competitions;
however after having just become a father himself, he believed it would be a
great opportunity to get involved with. He wrote the story for himself, but
believed it would fit into the anthology perfectly and if it didn’t happen,
then he would use it for something else. Rodge believes Dan Coxon, the editor,
knew of his work and after enquiring about the anthology, Dan encouraged him to
submit a story to the anthology.
Is it
a true story? If not, are there any elements of your real life in there?
All of Rodge’s stories have one element that is absolutely
true. He then takes this element and expands it, adding in fiction. He doesn’t
generally write about himself, he uses something from his life (no matter how
small) and uses it for more unorthodox angles. Unlike in the narrator in the
story, Rodge was never a big drinker, he’s never lived in London and he’s never
known anyone called Jim, however what he has experienced is friendships fading
and realising you don’t quite see the world in the same way afterwards.
When Rodge’s daughter finished breastfeeding and moved onto
food, he used to be up in the middle of the night feeding her. It was a special
moment for him because he was finally able to feed his daughter. He realised it
was at this time of the night where your mind wanders like you’re still in
dream mode. This was another element from his life he decided to include in his
story.
How
did the anthology come about being made?
It was Dan Coxon’s enthusiasm for the concept of being a
father. There was a kick-starter campaign for the anthology, once Dan had
collected enough writers. There are so many stories out there about being a
mother, but not many about being a father and this was another reason Dan was
so determined to make this anthology happen.
How
long did your story take to write?
It took Rodge three or four months to write. He’s much more
fragmented now his writing time. He writes a couple of pages and then comes
back to it later. In the first draft, the story was more about friendship, then
when he came back to it, he layered the story with references back to the
narrators father and his relationship with his son.
Describe
your story in one sentence.
‘A man
feeds his child at sunrise, while reminiscing.’
What
was your motivation/inspiration for this piece? Were there any writers that
inspired you for this?
As an undergraduate, Rodge was
majorly influenced by his lecturer and writer, Robert Alan Jamieson who he used
to give his stories to, to give him advice on. Robert really helped him develop
as a writer and whenever Rodge heard him say “you know what, that’s not awful” was what spurred him onto writing
even more. It was his goal to impress others like Robert.
Another major influence was
writer and artist Alasdair Gray, who he spent a lot of time with as he wrote
his biography. Alasdair is old fashioned, dictated his words and he learnt from
him. Rodge considers him his main mentor. He was so important to him, he
dedicated knew he had to dedicate a whole book towards him.
At
times it seemed Jim is the narrator’s father, other times he sounds like his
brother and then his best friend, was this intentional?
It was intentional. Rodge believes a good short story only
works if the writer is thinking all the time. Who are these characters? What are they doing? Why are they in this
piece? He thought it would be intriguing having this ambiguity over Jim’s
character.
Talk a
little about how you structured your story.
A lot of Rodge’s stories have a scene he focuses on, but he
cuts in and out of that scene. In this story, he’s having breakfast with his
son, it is very much fragmented, as his mind begins to wander. He intentionally
begins and ends the story with Jim. He doesn’t worry too much about the
structure in the middle of the story.
I
thought it was brilliant the way you set up the story as if a father is talking
to a baby. It almost felt like the reader was the child. Was there any
particular reason you decided to do this?
Yes, this was exactly his intention. Putting the reader in
an interesting position. A baby can’t speak, and neither can the reader, so it
became the perfect parallel. The reader can’t interrupt and express their
views, just as a baby can’t. This wasn’t something he was consciously aware of
when he first wrote it, it was something he later realised and played on this.
He began writing the story almost as if the baby is listening and understanding
the story, which obviously isn’t the case.
I’m
loving the distinction between the narrators father being the complete opposite
of the narrator and Jim’s mother. Was this done purposefully to make his father
seem all the more terrible?
It wasn’t about making the narrator’s father look bad at
all, just that he wasn’t a fan of the narrator’s mother. As a child this is
something that affects your world and your view on things, which has made the
narrator himself want to be different and be a better father than his was.
Rodge discovered it was more of a challenge to represent a family that’s
functional than a family that isn’t functional during the writing process.
Despite
the narrator seeming not to have the best relationship with Jim, I found it
interesting how they always used to go drinking together, what was your reason
for this?
Some friendships are like this, they share a purpose in
each other’s lives. For certain people, they want somebody to talk to, others
want friends to go on wild adventures with. These days people don’t seem to
expect too much out of friendships. Of course, the narrator is massively
irritated by Jim, he believes he’s selfish, but Jim enables the narrator to
drink. That is Jim’s purpose to him.
The
narrator and Jim drank a lot. Like a lot. I’m guessing this means they were
both alcoholics?
They were definitely alcoholics. Rodge mentions how he
included anniversary dates in the story as an excuse for them to get drunk
together. “Shakespeare’s marriage to Anne
Hathaway (November 27th, 1582) celebrated.” They never cared
about the actual events; it was just something to justify drinking in the day.
Edge Hill University provides diaries, at the bottom of
each page are anniversary dates. Rodge flicked through each page and chose the
dates he thought would work best with the story.
Why
was there no mention of the narrator’s mother?
Rodge did mention the mother, but only in relation to the
father. It’s a short story and therefore he doesn’t believe the mother needs to
be mentioned. Furthermore it’s a story about fatherhood therefore only
featuring men.
The
narrator seems a little cynical when he mentions him and Jim were stuck in bad
jobs and then says to his child, he will inevitably have a bad job too. Is this
a character trait you intended?
It wasn’t a character trait he intended for; he also
doesn’t see this comment as being cynical. Rodge imagined the father to be
sending his child out to work from a young age, even something as simple as a
paper round. Ask anybody, they will most likely have had a bad job sometime in
their life. It’s just something people will go through and this is all Rodge
intended this comment to mean. Rodge himself has been working since the age of
thirteen. Though he did state the beauty of writing is the reader seeing
something in the writing the author didn’t intend.
I
absolutely loved the ending. By the way the narrator was talking I assumed it
was Jim who stopped talking to him or they just lost contact, but to read he
actually ditched him in a pub was pretty shocking. Why did you decide to end at
this point?
Rodge decided to end at this point as a metaphor for Jim
outliving his usefulness as a friend. The narrator at this point has realised
he’s had enough of Jim. He’s not totally sure if Jim even realises he’s there
while he talks. The narrator enables Jim’s rambling, which is the reason he is
useful to Jim. By leaving, this is where his life really begins, when he can
put his life back together. He gets a wife, has a child and he stops drinking.
Is
there anything else I haven’t asked you, that you think should be included?
Recently Rodge has been reading a lot of Roberto Bolaño’s work
for his next novel. The novel is about Chile, which is where Bolaño was born. In The Jim Hangovers the narrator mentions
Jim saw himself as a young Roberto Bolaño (a great artist in the making) when
in reality he’s somebody sitting around talking about it, when the reader knows
they’ll never get around to actually doing anything.
And
thus concludes my interview with the wonderful Rodge Glass.
Hope
you enjoyed this insight to the writing process of ‘The Jim Hangovers’.
ABOUT
RODGE:
Rodge Glass is a novelist,
short story writer and editor who was born in Manchester. He was educated at
the University of Strathclyde and Glasgow, where he obtained his PhD.
He has published three novels,
a literary biography which won a Somerset Maugham Award, a graphic novel and
has edited two short story collections.
Rodge now works as a Senior
Lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing at Edge Hill University. He
regularly appears at literary festivals and events.
Yours
weekly,
Jennie
Byrne
@mustbejlb
(on Instagram and Twitter)
Share your thoughts below. All comments and suggestions are welcome.
The point is do you have to be eccentric or even considered odd to be
a writer? Poets do seem to capture this flavour of oddness or is that because
they more performers than authors? The idea that they have to go out in front
of people rather than the people taking them home with them, as they do with a
book. (In the photo is a poet at a wedding - thanks Justin Thyme).
