Deborah Shapiro on Writing About Grief and the Decision to Self-Publish
In Conversation with Alex Higley and Lindsay Hunter on I'm a Writer But
Welcome to I’m a Writer But, where two writers-and talk to other writers-and about their work, their lives, their other work, the stuff that takes up any free time they have, all the stuff they’re not able to get to, and the ways in which any of us get anything done. Plus: book recommendations, bad jokes, okay jokes, despair, joy, and anything else we’ve got going on that week. Hosted by Lindsay Hunter and Alex Higley.
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In this episode, Deborah Shapiro (Consolation) talks to us about her new novel, writing about grief, the journey to her decision to self-publish this amazing, gorgeous, “quiet” book, working with Bookmobile, the power of simple covers, and more!
From the episode:
I didn’t only want it to be from [Justine’s] perspective. I wanted to hear from characters who were differently involved with the same person, but I also wanted to explore these relationships. For each of these women, their relationship with [James] wasn’t necessarily a primary relationship. We think we understand the contours of grief when you’ve lost someone really close to you, but I was interested in looking at what happens when you lose someone who isn’t actively part of your life. It affects your life; it affects how you go about living your life.
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Deborah Shapiro is the author of the novels The Sun in Your Eyes (a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice), The Summer Demands, and Consolation. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sight Unseen, Chicago Magazine, Literary Hub, Washington Square Review, and elsewhere. She lives with her husband and son in Chicago.
