Writing a novel is like being married to someone. It's a lot of work, and it reveals your own shortcomings and assumptions in sort of terrifying ways, and the only way to learn is by doing it. The younger me would have been totally aghast if I told her that! The younger me could dash off a short story in a week, and thought revision was just another word for copyediting, and had no idea that writing a novel is like being married to someone. Jami Attenberg: You’ve been working on this novel for a really long time, chipping away at it between teaching gigs, and now after all these years your work has come to fruition.Ĭhelsey Johnson: It took me seven years to write this book. I asked Johnson a few questions about the long haul of writing a book the impact being an educator has on her work, hope, faith and how to write about political topics in a non-oppressive way. "Stray City," which will finally be published today, is a great read a nimbly-written, witty examination of an unconventional, anti-romantic relationship set in the '90s queer scene in Portland. Making progress, bit by bit, sneaking time from her day job. Always, always, she was writing this book. Me crashing on her couch, us grabbing a drink, talking about our projects. I’ve been watching Chelsey Johnson write her debut novel, "Stray City," for almost seven years.
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