I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Matthew Kessen for Playtime, an online arts & culture magazine. Here is an excerpt:

- You wrote much of this book in Montana, and started your in-person promotions there; and there is a serious belief in Montana in the phenomenon of the Montana Writer. Do you consider yourself a Montana Writer? And if so, based on my own experiences taking creative writing classes in Montana, where are the deer in your novel?
Skeslien Charles: I do consider myself a Montana Writer. I wrote much of the book in Montana, rewrote the whole thing in the Prairie Peddler, a café where I listened to people talk. Much of what they say is in the book. The people in my hometown who read my novel said that they could relate to Daria’s isolation. I think that my themes and images are universal.

- How about a Parisian novelist? Are you one of those? What would that mean?
Skeslien Charles: A lot of people live in Paris part of the year. It is like a college town, a place people live for a few years, then move on. I don’t feel like I am part of any kind of movement here. I do appreciate Odile Hellier of the Village Voice Bookshop, Penelope Le Masson of the Red Wheelbarrow bookshop, and Sylvia Whitman of Shakespeare & Company. These three women are constants.

- How does living in a foreign country affect your writing?
Skeslien Charles: Living in a foreign language can improve your imagery. For example, in French, a kite is a cerf-volant, or a flying deer. (There’s the deer you asked me about…) In Russian, they say ‘Time will show’ rather than time will tell. You start to see and hear things in a different way. You also see your country and yourself in a very different way.

To continue reading the interview: http://www.playtime-magazine.com/2010/02/playtime-featured-artist-janet-skeslien-charles/