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Read the Bakersfield Californian's Profile on Jessica Swan

Excerpt of Harbor House Interview with Jessica Swan:

Q. What led you to writing? What individual or event influenced your decision to become a Writer?   At seven-years old, I was an extremely shy child, so my mother encouraged me to just sit down and write my feelings out in letters “otherwise those feelings will just sit in your stomach and eat you up!” Those letters quickly grew into several hundred notebooks and what started out as little entries of fear and worry soon transformed into long, observational stories of anything I found curious or fascinating. Writing became as natural and as comforting to me as playing with my dolls or pet duck.  My mother, who was a poet, taught me early on that writing can both quench your trepidations and ignite your imagination. By the time I was eighteen, I knew that writing had grown into such a vital part of me that to become a “Writer” meant to finally give a name to the only life I knew.

Q. Where do you get your ideas?   I am deeply inspired by the cities I have lived in. I let the setting do most of the talking in my stories. A city can tell you so much, sometimes you just have stop and listen. In Dear Isabelle, the city of Seattle isn’t just the setting for the story; it’s a character in itself.

Q. What is your writing schedule? How do you write your book?   Though I hate to admit it, I’m a night owl. I’ve tried and wished as hard as I could to be a 9a-5p writer but it just doesn’t feel natural to me. Even if I plant myself in front of my laptop during the day, I’ll just spend painful hours staring at a blank screen or sometimes worse— writing and rewriting the same sentence for an entire excruciating day. But at night, things are different. The perfect word is always at the tip of my fingertips while creative ideas flow freely at nearly 1,000 words a session. With a pot of my orange pekoe tea, I’ll work from 11pm straight through up to 4am, when I start to hear the morning birds chirp in the Eucalyptus outside. I can’t help it. Even if I force myself to go to bed early one night, I’ll just lay there in bed with my eyes wide open, tossing and turning and thinking, thinking, and thinking some more until I just get up out of bed and write it all down.

Q.  Why did you choose to write this book in the first person?   I actually wrote and rewrote Dear Isabelle from several different time frames and points of view (a time-consuming, but revealing exercise!) and once I changed the entire story to first-person, things just “started to fit” and suddenly the whole story felt more personal. Telling the story from Isabelle’s point of view permeated the story with a gentle compassion for her past that would otherwise get lost or diluted.

Q. Who do you think the typical reader is for your book?   Dear Isabelle was written for the people who like to talk and think about a story long after the book is closed— only to reopen it later and find something new. I often daydream that someday in a bookstore I stumble across an old copy of Dear Isabelle bent and wrinkled with all its pages worn and dog-eared.

Q. Why did you choose to write this book?  It all started with a simple concept. I’ve always been in love with the idea of approaching the actual writing of a manuscript in the same way that I approach the painting of my watercolor pictures: layering. I wanted Dear Isabelle to resemble a kaleidoscope of different layers upon layers, so that the story would be rich in texture and could change and develop each time it is read. I wanted to tell a story in a unique way that would intimately expose both the power and vulnerability of words themselves, while reconstructing our notions of what it means to ‘read between the lines.’

Q. Tell us about your characters.   I spent a great deal of thought developing all of the characters and framing all the various idiosyncrasies of their personalities. But Isabelle was a challenge. I didn’t want her to be just another ingénue. I didn’t want her innocence to represent a lack of experience, but to express more of an overload of experience that has left her in a vulnerable shock.

Q. Who are your favorite authors?   I’m fascinated by writers who craft their prose as artfully and as meaningful as poetry. The writings of Marguerite Duras, Theresa Cha, and Helene Cixous have all inspired me as a writer and taught me to “make every word count”. Of course, G.K. Chesterton will always have my heart. I’ve always thought of him as the silver lining behind the many clouds of writing. I admire his fluid conversational style and honest descriptions that can infuse the brutal realities of the world with satisfying elements of pure, romantic whimsy. The Man Who Was Thursday will always be my favorite.

Q. What are some of your other favorite books?   Vladimir Nabokov’s Pale Fire left the strongest impression on me. I love books that change and grow as you read and reread them. Marguerite Duras’ The Lover is another favorite. I also love memoirs— especially Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes.  However, I must admit that I secretly love the little stories in a good cookbook like Simply French by Patricia Wells & Joël Robuchon. For the past few months I have adored each and every page of Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris.  I love working through the book of recipes every weekend while my husband David certainly relishes his role as the official taste-tester.

Q. If you could be doing anything you wanted to in the world, what would it be?   I would be hosting a lavish dinner party at my home with all my favorite writers and artists as my guests. Nothing is more satisfying than a wonderful meal paired with great conversation.