Katy Grabel is the author of the new memoir The Magician's Daughter. She lives in Taos, New Mexico, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Q: What inspired you to write this memoir?
A: In my late 20s I was on a road trip and happened to be driving by a theater where my parents were performing. At that time the big illusion show had been scaled down to a small show with just my parents, and I had not seen it for quite a few years. I remember I came in late and sat in the back.
When I saw all those old routines again, the patter and props, the jaunty music, I was surprised by my powerful reaction. It all came flooding back – the cold drafty theaters, scratchy nylons, my dented wardrobe trunk, and most of all my love affairs with the spotlight.
As I watched the show I started getting cold chills because I knew I had to write about it. At the time I was a newspaper reporter, so writing a book wasn’t such a farfetched idea.
I had a lot of dewy hopefulness as a 14-year-old that in my 20s was already fading fast. I wanted to build a bridge between my young self who thought she could do anything, and the woman I was. I had lost something and this was my way of getting it back.
Q: The writer Jenna Paulden said of the book, “Katy Grabel is a master of creative language and visceral description.” What do you think of that assessment?
A: I was writing about magic, so the language had to feel magical, which to me means poetic, rhythmic and “sparkly.” I wanted sentences with space for the reader to see and imagine beyond the words.
To get me in that magical place, I sometimes read poetry before writing. On my desk I also kept an old hard-bound book of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and I would read that in hopes the sing song quality of her words would inspire me.
Q: What do you think the book says about magic?
A: Magic never is where we think it is. I certainly did not find it in the tricks and illusions of the magic show, but I did find it in the peripheral of the magic show, like the thrill of being on the road, traveling at night, the heat of the spotlight… I romanticized these things and that is what made them magical to me.
As adults we tend to lose that sense of awe and wonder. Why does it have to be that way? I believe there is magic all around us. Synchronicities, intuition, transcending limitations, and following our passions are all imbued with magic. And of course, the natural world. It’s about seeing with new eyes.
Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: We must find our own magic and don’t let anyone steer you their way. My father would have liked me to tell HIS story of the magic show but in the end, I was true to myself. I told it all – the geese that defecated on the stage, the noisy floating ball…
Writing this book had a big impact on me. Because I revealed a lot of my father’s tricks and illusions, I had to wait till he had left this world to publish the book. As the years passed, I had to keep believing in me and the story.
Also, writing the book gave me a new appreciation of my father. Our adult relationship had been strained and yet writing about the magic show reminded me how hard he worked for the family and his show. And his uncanny ability to create something out of nothing.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: So much happened after the magic show. Like my whole life! I’m not a wife or a mother but I’ve had my share of serious manganous relationships. I fled California for a remote town in New Mexico. I have a strong community of friends, and I’m always learning. Somewhere in there is a story to be told.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I always loved music and a few years ago I started playing guitar. And now I write my own songs. So my message is this — always believe something really wonderful can happen to you.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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