I do think that it is one of the eternal questions about art, though - is all art intrinsically selfish?

Liza Campbell

Categorized in : Thinking Art Selfish

Ivy [Wilkes] does exhibit a certain impatience at the beginning of the book [The Dissemblers]. She doesn't want to wait through years of hard work and insignificance to make her mark on the art world. Part of her growth is in realizing - even embracing - that the process of art is more important than the product or the recognition.

hard-work book art

I knew the basic outline of the novel [The Dissemblers] and would write whatever scene of the book I felt particularly excited about at the time.

excited writing book

I'm working on a novel about a girl who grows up in the circus and her relationship with her father, who grew up in Hungary when it was under Soviet control and left during the 1956 revolution. It is told from both of their perspectives, and has been a joy (and very frustrating) to research and write. Needless to say, I am very excited about my next project!

growing-up girl father

I was loosely aware that most of my characters were fundamentally selfish people, but I didn't intentionally make that a theme.

selfish character people

When Ivy [Wilkes] begins her work in forgery, she doesn't yet know the toll that it will take on her own original work. She even thinks it might be a way to find inspiration. By the time she realizes that she has lost her own voice, she is thoroughly entangled in the forgery mess.

ivy inspiration thinking

At the beginning of the book [The Dissemblers], Ivy [Wilkes] has a long way to go in order to achieve self-sufficiency. Although she is very independent, even somewhat of a loner, she is very affected by other peoples' opinions. At the opening of the book, her ideas of success and achievement are largely defined by the approval of others; over the arc of the story, I think that begins to change a little.

independent book thinking

This was my first novel [The Dissemblers ]. I've never seriously written short stories, and actually find short stories much more intimidating as an art form than novels.

stories art firsts

At the end, I cobbled scenes all together and smoothed out the transitions as much as possible. Incidentally, I would not recommend this approach to writing a book, and will probably not write that way again!

together writing book

From beginning to end, the novel [Dissemblers] took about three and a half years to write. I didn't write it chronologically.

three writing years

I hope to work through disappointment and frustration with as much grace as [Georgia] O'Keeffe did, and I hope to have the same confidence in my own vision.

frustration disappointment grace

I read letters and journal entries by [Georgia] O'Keeffe (which were infinitely more useful than any critical analysis of her work).

critical-analysis georgia-o-keeffe letters

I did make several trips to the very wonderful [Georgia] O'Keeffe museum. Besides the art (my favorite paintings are from her Pelvis series) my favorite thing about the museum is the architecture. I love how enormously tall the doors are - it is like going into a church. There is also something home-like about the layout of the museum. I wish I could live there!

home museums art

The book [The Dissemblers] officially came out two weeks after my thirtieth birthday...am I still young?

One thing that was inspiring to me in my research about [Georgia] O'Keeffe was to learn that in addition to her success she had very hard times, and times when she was frustrated and uninspired.

georgia-o-keeffe frustrated hard-times

Yet [Georgia O'Keeffe ] always stayed true to her vision, and was at times uncompromising in following the path she saw for herself.

georgia-o-keeffe vision path

I tend to only write productively for one to two hours per day, so there is plenty of time left over for me to work a day job!

writing jobs two

I find that time constraints actually make me more productive, and "real world" experiences provide a lot of inspiration to write.

inspiration real writing

I am currently in nursing school, so one day I will be both a nurse and a writer.

nursing nurse school

Publishing requires a lot of persistence and a fair amount of luck.

publishing persistence luck

Finally, I found a wonderful agent who wanted to work with me, and she sent it to one billion publishers and received one billion rejections, until I was fortunate enough to be matched up with the Permanent Press.

agents rejection wonderful