Q: How did
you come up with the idea for your new novel, and for your character Hunt?
A: I came up
with the idea for If Anyone Asks, Say I Died from the Heartbreaking Blues in a
circuitous way.
For years,
off and on, I’d been writing stories set in the time period of the novel—the
late ‘50s and ‘60s in New York City. These stories often featured a young male
protagonist struggling with entry into the adult world, in other words, coming
of age stories.
I think for
this book I wanted a larger canvas, a transformational event that would include
many of those struggles that we confront on our way to adulthood. One’s 18th
birthday is generally accepted as a key demarcation point. So I combined this
with senior prom night—two pivotal events in any teenager’s life—and I had my
basic structure.
The
character of Hunt, my protagonist, came about as an amalgamation of the
protagonists in earlier stories, essentially a good-hearted kid who wants to
understand the trials and tribulations he’s going through. He wants to make
sense of himself: his enthusiasm for life’s experiences, his pain, his
loneliness, his yearnings.
Q: The novel
takes place over the course of Hunt's 18th birthday. Were there any challenges
to writing a novel that unfolds over a single day?
A: There
were some challenges to confining the time period of the novel to 24 hours, the
day and night of his birthday. In earlier drafts, the time period stretched out
over several weeks, but I thought that made the story loose in a way I didn’t
want it to be.
I thought by
compressing the time, I could add more intensity to the situation and to Hunt’s
feelings, and overall add more tension to the story.
But then I
had to find a way to make the various activities—the dance lesson, his job at
the beach, the overhanging threat of gang violence, and especially his
relationship with Debby Ann, the girl he takes to the prom, fit into that one
day and night. It took some juggling and telescoping to achieve that.
Among other
things, it pretty much eliminated the use of full-on flashbacks. I had to find
ways to get all the exposition into the present level of the story.
Q: The book
is set in the Bronx in 1960. How important is setting to you in your writing?
A: Setting
has always been one of the primary elements of my craft. I’d go so far as to
say I really can’t write a story unless I have a firm grasp of the time and
place. That becomes the foundation on which the story is built. It makes me
feel connected to the work in a visceral way.
I guess
that’s because, even apart from writing, I’ve always been particularly
sensitive to my surroundings.
I remember
walking with my father one night in our neighborhood and insisting we walk on a
certain side of the street because I thought it had more character. He rolled
his eyes but indulged me; from his perspective both sides of the street had the
same brick buildings, the same sidewalks, the same street lamps.
For me, even
the quality of light is something I consider in the scenes I write. I have to
know if it’s morning, mid-morning, late evening, whatever. Is it overcast or
sunny? Winter or summer? Cold or warm? And so on.
All of those
things affect my characters. They affect what I see in my mind, what I feel, as
I’m writing. In short, I believe setting contributes mightily to the
verisimilitude of a piece.
Q: How was
the novel's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I’d been
carrying the title around for several years before I found what I thought was
the right story to do it justice. It comes from an old African American folktale/song, the story of “Betty and
Dupree.”
I like the
title because it seems to sum up all the pain and drama and sadness of love
lost, or just beyond reach. I like the romantic implications of it. It’s lack
of love that kills us, as much as any disease.
Q: What are
you working on now?
A: Right now
I’m working on a new novel about various people—at critical moments in their
lives—who pass through a diner during the overnight hours this one particular
night.
This diner,
this night, I hope serves as a microcosm of human need and desire. People on
the edge, trying to make what they can of their lives.
I’m also
working on a novel about a writer who is asked by the husband of the only woman
he’s ever loved to find her when she disappears.
And I’m writing
a play and movie script of my previous novel, The Bronx Kill.
Q: Anything
else we should know?
A: In my
novel, If Anyone Asks, Say I Died from the Heartbreaking Blues, I’ve tried to
capture the feel of what it was like to live in that year, 1960. At the same
time, I hope I’ve captured some of the layers of adolescence, its highs and
lows, its humor, pathos, and romance.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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