Writer Kelly Simmons, the author of four novels including the recently released The Fifth of July, and One More Day (2016), discusses the influences that inspire her stories of family drama wrapped within mysteries.
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| Kelly Simmons |
Chris Quarembo: Congratulations on the release of your novel, The Fifth of July. The setting is Nantucket which is as much a character as the men and women who relate the story. When you were initially developing this novel was the setting or the human characters the main impetus for your writing?
Kelly Simmons: While the setting was important to the story – the real estate battles, the wealth, the magnetic beauty of the beaches—it was the characters who spoke to me first. Specifically, I loved the idea of viewing houses and inhabitants from the points of view of the caretaker and the housekeeper. I have a very close friend who has a caretaking company on the island, and his stories amused me and inspired me.
CQ: Your use of five characters each telling the story from their point of view gives a Rashomon effect to the novel. Do you think truth is malleable?
KS: I believe people remember things completely differently and assign competing weights to the same actions or events. Particularly with siblings or spouses -- the same facts are burnished to a shine or allowed to rust and drop away. That is true in most of my novels, and particularly in this one.
CQ: The Fifth of July and your previous novel One More Day have an underlying mystery but are chiefly about family relationships. Why this unique and satisfying combination?
KS: It took me quite a few years of writing to understand that I am obsessed with family secrets and community crimes and that my strength lies in that combination. This obsession was definitely shaped by events in my childhood--– I was stalked by a Peeping Tom, we had a car thief in the family, a classmate’s sister was kidnapped and killed, and a boy on my street tortured animals and set things on fire. Just your usual Mayberry RFD! I was a very curious kid who noticed everything, and these experiences affected me more than I realized.
CQ: Do any books stand out to you as being influential in your writing?
KS: I admire F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and re-read it frequently. But most of my influences, I believe, come from the female writers I have read deeply, and most of them are named Ann – Ann Beattie, Ann Tyler, Ann Patchett. I’m also fond of Janes – Jane Hamilton, Jane Smiley.
CQ: Are you currently working on another novel? And what can you tell us about it?
The first draft of my next book is about two-thirds complete – which means I’m deep in the hard part, locking things down, making sure the plot points make sense. (Then the fun part comes – making all the language prettier!) It’s about a female fugitive forced to take her teenage daughter on the run -- but the daughter has other ideas about meeting the family that’s been hidden from her. I’m excited about it. It’s new territory because it’s not quite as dark as my other work. I’ve gone soft!
CQ: When you’re not writing, what do you most enjoy doing?
KS: I love to dance, do yoga, and ride my bike. And read. And watch movies. And eat. But I also really enjoy writing, which is why I do it.
CQ: Thank you so much for joining me. Best of success with The Fifth of July and I’ll be watching for the release of your next novel.
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