The Night Side by M.M. DeLuca
AudibleWhat led you into writing?
I was always an avid reader, but when my children were born I began to experiment with short fiction. Later in my thirties, I was accepted into Pulitzer prizewinner, Carol Shields’ Advanced Creative Writing class at the University of Manitoba. She was an incredible teacher, mentor and friend and her encouragement spurred me on to write my first novel The Pitman’s Daughter. By that time I was hooked and there was no turning back.
How does a typical day look?
I usually get up around eight and do some kind of exercise, usually walking. I try to get out every day, though we get some really frigid winters here so it’s tough to walk in ice and snow and temperatures sometimes dropping to -20C! On those days I use my basement gym. I eat breakfast then settle down in my office, always making sure to turn on my pink flamingo neon light. I work all morning then take a break around 1:00. That’s when I go out. In the summer I go golfing with my husband. After supper I work again unless there’s a good hockey game! I’m a big fan of the Winnipeg Jets, our local NHL team.
In what ways do your characters test your abilities?
They’re always following me around. Hovering at the back of my mind, sometimes dictating their next move, other times stuck in a rut. Once I’m deep into the character I can clearly visualize them and get right into their head. More recently I’ve been challenged by a couple of multi-POV books I’ve drafted. It was tough sorting out the competing voices.
What’s your setup?
I’m lucky to have a main floor office. My desk faces the door so no one can sneak up on me. I have bookshelves along one wall and a shelf full of my notebooks—one for each novel. Pictures of my kids everywhere and mementos of special trips.
What lasting effects have your favourite authors had on your writing and style?
I’m a sucker for dark Gothic stories, so Daphne Du Maurier, Sarah Waters and Margaret Atwood have influenced my tendency to create moody, atmospheric settings. Tana French has influenced me in terms of using a visual, cinematic style. I also love humour, so writers like Liane Moriarty and Kate Atkinson have inspired me to try something lighter and more darkly humorous in my most recent works-in-progress.
What do you do for inspiration?
Listen to poetry on YouTube. The poems of T.S. Eliot, Catherine Hunter and Michael Ondaatje always take my mind to crazy places. Sometimes music helps. Going out for a walk is guaranteed to help fix plot problems.
What repeating themes do you find yourself pulling into your stories?
Definitely travelling, either back to one’s old stomping grounds or trying to escape a stifling or oppressive situation. Most of my characters are tormented by something dark and secret in their past.
How do you wind down?
Watch hockey, binge on TV streaming series. Most recently I was addicted to Shetland and watched all eight seasons.
What sort of challenges do you regularly overcome while designing your world/setting?
For me, creating the setting is the most essential part of writing. As an author, you’re inviting the reader to step into a unique world you’ve created. So you always need to be conscious of surrounding the reader with enough detail to ensure they’re firmly fixed in that world and don’t want to leave it.
What are you reading at the moment?
Moon of the Turning Leaves by Canadian author Waugbeshig Rice. It’s the sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow, a dystopian novel with a unique indigenous perspective.
What’s the most useful advice you could give to an aspiring author?
I’d have to say listen to Ernest Hemingway when he said, “There’s nothing to writing. All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” It’s so true. If your writing isn’t tearing at your emotions, then it’s not going to do much for a reader. Tap into your greatest joys and deepest fears.
Tell us about the book you’re promoting.
THE NIGHT SIDE. When Ruby Carlson was eighteen, she ran away from her home in Stoneybrook, Montana, and vowed she’d never return. Never return to life under the control of her manipulative mother, Ida, a self-styled medium and psychic scammer who made a career out of ruining people’s lives. Never return to the small town where enemies lurk at every turn.
But now, twenty years later, Ruby is back. Her mother is missing, presumed dead, and Ruby reluctantly returns to a home filled with chilling memories to settle Ida’s affairs. Did she really commit suicide by drowning, or is this another dark scheme? Ruby thought she knew everything about her mother, but finds herself unraveling a web of lies and secrets to reveal a story more twisted than anyone could have imagined . . .
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