Angela Doll Carlson Q & A with Eastern Iowa Review
Chila: It's amazing what we can see when we take the time to notice -- strange things on underpasses and such. One of the talents of a good writer is to be able to take an everyday occurrence, sighting, whatever, and make something of it, draw a story around it. Is this often your m.o.?
Angela: Absolutely. I spend a great deal of time just noticing things. Given the chance I’d sit and watch people, places and things all day long. I constantly point stuff out to my kids while I’m driving and they think I’m crazy. “Look at that sunset! Look at the dent on that car parking up ahead! Look at the massive field over there!” I admit, though, it’s not the safest way to drive in Chicago. Overall, I like to hope that I have some talent for writing, but I think my real talent is paying attention– to the odd, the intentional, the quotidian, the every day-ness of life. I think it’s all fascinating.
Chila: I agree totally: a keen sense of observation makes the best writer. A related question: You live in Chicago. What's something you find there in the crowds and busyness that inspires you in your writing journey? A certain store or intersection? A city park or museum? Do you sit in a certain outdoor spot and get the good-writing vibes?
Angela: It’s difficult because I used to be able to sit and write anywhere, but lately, I find I have to sit and get in a zone to put it all down in some cogent form, even if the zone is located in the middle of the loud and busy house. Still, I’ve become a creature of habit where writing is concerned and that scares me a little. I mark it as another indication that I’m getting older. I think about children, who can sleep anywhere, in any position and have no residual pain after. I just can’t do that anymore without a stiff neck and aching back. I have to stick to my routine– this mug of coffee, this chair, this time of day. It’s the only variable I seem to be able to keep (relatively) fixed and predictable. It means what comes out of my head can be as wild and rambling as it needs to be. I can get lost in the work. I like that.
Chila: Who is your favorite poet, fiction or nonfiction author and why?
Angela: When I think about authors whose work seems to reach inside of me and draw out something new and surprising when I read them I’d have to look first to poets Luci Shaw and Rainer Marie Rilke. As for fiction, it’s hard to narrow down but I’ve developed a massive crush on Cormac MacCarthy as of late– probably because I’m reading him at the moment. I’m a little fickle with my fiction crushes but Marilynne Robinson remains a favorite. She’s my long-term crush there. In non-fiction, I don’t hold much for favorites because most of my non-fiction reading tends to be research oriented, as it is now that I’m working on a book about embodiment. That said, I’d read pretty much anything that Richard Rohr or Met. Kalistos Ware puts out there.
Chila: Do you have specific writing plans for that eventual time when your children have grown and left home?
Angela: I joke to my husband that since we’re both artists we ought to have been raising lawyers or professional football players just to make sure someone can put us in a really nice retirement home when the time comes. Alas, we seemed to be nurturing a new pack of artists, even so. I imagine they will, at some point, leave home but I think I live as though they’ll always be around. I’m probably in denial on that. I suppose that’s why I don’t wait to make future plans about writing. I just try to do what I can, eating the elephant one bite at a time, as it were– or “bird by bird” as Anne Lamott says. So in this way, I’m kind of always working on something or a whole lot of “somethings.”
Chila: We all have personal writing heroes, I think--people we know, people we interact with, someone who motivates us beyond what we thought we could do or be. Who's yours? How does he or she help you be the best you can be at this stage of your writing life?
Angela: I’m thankful to be a part of a great community of support where writing is concerned because I’m fairly neurotic and need a great deal of affirmation. My husband, David Carlson is an excellent first line of defense for that as he’s a crazy talented artist and fellow author. I will say as well, that at some point, I’m going to have to start paying Scott Cairns a monthly stipend for his sage and straightforward advice. So though I reach out to a number of incredibly kind and talented friends about writing, publishing, editing, or basic therapeutic emotional support for this whole weird authoring endeavor, I send an awful lot of those, “Hey! Quick question!” emails to Scott first. He’s a wise friend, and I believe he tells me the truth– which is scary and nurturing all at once.
Chila: It's amazing what we can see when we take the time to notice -- strange things on underpasses and such. One of the talents of a good writer is to be able to take an everyday occurrence, sighting, whatever, and make something of it, draw a story around it. Is this often your m.o.?
Angela: Absolutely. I spend a great deal of time just noticing things. Given the chance I’d sit and watch people, places and things all day long. I constantly point stuff out to my kids while I’m driving and they think I’m crazy. “Look at that sunset! Look at the dent on that car parking up ahead! Look at the massive field over there!” I admit, though, it’s not the safest way to drive in Chicago. Overall, I like to hope that I have some talent for writing, but I think my real talent is paying attention– to the odd, the intentional, the quotidian, the every day-ness of life. I think it’s all fascinating.
Chila: I agree totally: a keen sense of observation makes the best writer. A related question: You live in Chicago. What's something you find there in the crowds and busyness that inspires you in your writing journey? A certain store or intersection? A city park or museum? Do you sit in a certain outdoor spot and get the good-writing vibes?
Angela: It’s difficult because I used to be able to sit and write anywhere, but lately, I find I have to sit and get in a zone to put it all down in some cogent form, even if the zone is located in the middle of the loud and busy house. Still, I’ve become a creature of habit where writing is concerned and that scares me a little. I mark it as another indication that I’m getting older. I think about children, who can sleep anywhere, in any position and have no residual pain after. I just can’t do that anymore without a stiff neck and aching back. I have to stick to my routine– this mug of coffee, this chair, this time of day. It’s the only variable I seem to be able to keep (relatively) fixed and predictable. It means what comes out of my head can be as wild and rambling as it needs to be. I can get lost in the work. I like that.
Chila: Who is your favorite poet, fiction or nonfiction author and why?
Angela: When I think about authors whose work seems to reach inside of me and draw out something new and surprising when I read them I’d have to look first to poets Luci Shaw and Rainer Marie Rilke. As for fiction, it’s hard to narrow down but I’ve developed a massive crush on Cormac MacCarthy as of late– probably because I’m reading him at the moment. I’m a little fickle with my fiction crushes but Marilynne Robinson remains a favorite. She’s my long-term crush there. In non-fiction, I don’t hold much for favorites because most of my non-fiction reading tends to be research oriented, as it is now that I’m working on a book about embodiment. That said, I’d read pretty much anything that Richard Rohr or Met. Kalistos Ware puts out there.
Chila: Do you have specific writing plans for that eventual time when your children have grown and left home?
Angela: I joke to my husband that since we’re both artists we ought to have been raising lawyers or professional football players just to make sure someone can put us in a really nice retirement home when the time comes. Alas, we seemed to be nurturing a new pack of artists, even so. I imagine they will, at some point, leave home but I think I live as though they’ll always be around. I’m probably in denial on that. I suppose that’s why I don’t wait to make future plans about writing. I just try to do what I can, eating the elephant one bite at a time, as it were– or “bird by bird” as Anne Lamott says. So in this way, I’m kind of always working on something or a whole lot of “somethings.”
Chila: We all have personal writing heroes, I think--people we know, people we interact with, someone who motivates us beyond what we thought we could do or be. Who's yours? How does he or she help you be the best you can be at this stage of your writing life?
Angela: I’m thankful to be a part of a great community of support where writing is concerned because I’m fairly neurotic and need a great deal of affirmation. My husband, David Carlson is an excellent first line of defense for that as he’s a crazy talented artist and fellow author. I will say as well, that at some point, I’m going to have to start paying Scott Cairns a monthly stipend for his sage and straightforward advice. So though I reach out to a number of incredibly kind and talented friends about writing, publishing, editing, or basic therapeutic emotional support for this whole weird authoring endeavor, I send an awful lot of those, “Hey! Quick question!” emails to Scott first. He’s a wise friend, and I believe he tells me the truth– which is scary and nurturing all at once.
With appreciation to Angela for these answers and insights - best wishes! - Chila
_______
Angela Doll Carlson is a poet, fiction writer, and essayist whose work has appeared most recently in publications both online and offline, such as Burnside Writer's Collective, St. Katherine Review, Rock & Sling, Image Journal's "Good Letters" blog, Ruminate Magazine (online) and Art House America. Her first book, Nearly Orthodox: On Being a Modern Woman in an Ancient Tradition (Ancient Faith Publishers) was released July 2014. Her latest book, Garden in the East: The Spiritual Life of the Body, is due out from Ancient Faith Publishers in 2016. Angela currently lives in Chicago, IL with her husband, David, and her 4 outrageously spirited yet remarkably likable children.
_______
Angela Doll Carlson is a poet, fiction writer, and essayist whose work has appeared most recently in publications both online and offline, such as Burnside Writer's Collective, St. Katherine Review, Rock & Sling, Image Journal's "Good Letters" blog, Ruminate Magazine (online) and Art House America. Her first book, Nearly Orthodox: On Being a Modern Woman in an Ancient Tradition (Ancient Faith Publishers) was released July 2014. Her latest book, Garden in the East: The Spiritual Life of the Body, is due out from Ancient Faith Publishers in 2016. Angela currently lives in Chicago, IL with her husband, David, and her 4 outrageously spirited yet remarkably likable children.
