Man of the Moment: Michael Koryta with Deb Smouse

Tell our readers about your background. Where are you from, and how did you start writing for a living?

I’m from Bloomington, Indiana, but currently divide my time between Bloomington and St. Petersburg, Florida. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Basically from the moment I began to read I began to write. As far as writing for a living is concerned, that came slowly. I’d written several novels before I was earning enough to live from writing alone. In many ways, I think that was a great blessing. There seems to me to be a lot of downside to having your first novel become a smash bestseller, a lot of pressure in ways that distract you from the craft at the very moment when you need to be most focused on improving it.

In what ways did your childhood influence you as a writer? As a person?

Wow, it does in just endless ways, don’t you think? As a writer, I’d single out the idea that I grew up in a family where reading for pleasure was always regarded as normal. My parents read, my sister read, books were central to our lives. There was never any sense of Michael, you should read a book. I just did it because it was fun to do, because I loved the stories. Parents sometimes complain to me that their children don’t like to read, and I always ask if they read themselves. Generally the response is, “Well, if I have the time, but I’m just so busy…” It’s not particularly stunning, then, that their kids aren’t getting into reading! Fortunately that was never a problem for me. I come from a reading family.

Every one has a different path to success. Tell us about your journey to where you are with your career today. Has writing always been a passion?

The desire to write has been with me almost as long as I can recall. I’ll forget doctor’s appointments, travel dates, and birthdays, but I can always remember when and where I read virtually any book of significance in my life. So, yes, I suppose it qualifies as a passion! I’ve always been in love with the idea of creating stories and characters that provide an emotional connection for the audience. The opportunity to make a living doing that feels like a tremendous con game, like I’m getting away with something. I keep hoping nobody catches me.

When did you give up your “day job” and become a full-time writer?

I didn’t shift to writing full-time until I sold So Cold the River to Little, Brown. That’s my sixth novel. I probably could have done so a few books earlier but I had a wonderful situation wherein I both enjoyed my second career as a private investigator and was afforded a tremendous amount of flexibility. There really wasn’t a great deal of friction between the two, and my boss in the PI biz was such a wonderful supporter of my writing that he made every concession. In all honesty, I probably would have hung in that game a little longer if it weren’t for the move to Florida. I enjoyed PI work a great deal.

In the Author’s Note, you thanked writers like previous ATG Man of the Moment George Pelecanos. Tell us about the writers who you look up to as mentors and/or influences.

I’ve been so incredibly fortunate to not only meet many of my literary idols, but also discover that they’re wonderful people. George Pelecanos and Michael Connelly, wow, they just define the ideas of graciousness and strong character. Those are two excellent writers who are even better people. And then of course there’s Dennis Lehane, who was a tremendous influence to me from the start. I was lucky enough to take some classes with Dennis, which were incredible experiences, and he’s gone out of his way to help me at virtually every turn. Laura Lippman, again, class personified. Ridley Pearson. Stewart O’Nan. I could keep running with this. It’s been wonderful to get to know them all, and it’s been extremely humbling that they’ve given me their time and consideration, because it certainly isn’t required.

So Cold the River was a wonderfully creepy, suspenseful, amazing novel. I have to confess: one night, I had to flip through a travel magazine so that I could go to bed at my hotel without being too scared. Two nights later I stayed up until 2 AM so I could finish it! Tell our readers about it. 

There is nothing I like better than hearing a reader lost a little bit of sleep with my work! That just puts a smile on my face. Thanks so much for the kind words. This book is a departure from what I’ve done before; it’s a mystery, yes, but also with a supernatural, ghost-story element. The idea came to me strictly from the place itself. West Baden is a real town, the mineral water that made it a world-famous destination around the turn of the last century is quite real, the extraordinary hotels and history are real. So I took that incredibly rich story fodder and had some fun with it.

Where the concept came from? .And how did you flesh out the story of the mineral water?

Much of the story revolves around the mineral springs that made the area a famous spot for a short period in American history. This water had essentially a mythical reputation; name an affliction, and you can probably find an old advertisement claiming it could be cured in those springs. Now, over time it went the way of most snake-oil sales products; dismissed, then forgotten. I decided to play around with the idea that not all of the water’s reputation came from false sales gimmicks.

What is your favorite scene in So Cold the River?

Good question, and a tough one. I’d probably have to say Anne McKinney’s role in the homestretch is the one that sticks with me the most. I loved writing in her point of view, and I felt particularly emotionally invested into her portions throughout the last 150 pages.

Do you base your characters on people that you know, or have met?

Not really. Every now and then I’ll use someone’s name just for laughs, but it’s dangerous ground basing a fictional character on a real person. You need to believe the fictional world in order to sell it to the reader, and the minute you let a real person step into it, things begin to feel off-balance. At least that’s been my experience.

Tell us about your writing process: how do you write (paper, keyboard, voice recorder)? How do you approach a book (outline, mind-map, just write, begin at the end)? Where do you do your best writing (your office, curled up in bed, in public spaces)?

I write on a computer, and I don’t work with an outline. I have a character and an opening concept in mind, usually. A setting. I suppose it’s safe to say that I generally have a pretty clear visual image that I’m either opening with or working toward, a specific scene that strikes me as being a powerful place to start. I can’t write anywhere but my desk or my screened-in porch in Indiana. Hotel rooms are – ironically considering the content of this book – creative dead zones to me.

Do first drafts go to your agent, your wife, a friend, or who? What is your editing process?

First drafts basically just go to my editor. I keep a very tight circle of early readers. My agent gets a look, of course, but he understands that I prefer to hear his feedback alongside my editor’s, so it’s not coming at me in waves. My girlfriend, Christine, has begun to see drafts a little earlier. For So Cold the River, she actually read some portions while I was working on them, because I needed someone to reassure me that it was worth the risk I was taking by going in such a new direction. For that reason, the book is dedicated to her.

Publishing has become in some ways a “spectator sport” in the digital age with blogs, websites, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Tell us about how you approach the digital world. Do you feel sometimes you are too accessible to fans?

It’s an awkward balance. I want to let my readers know that they’re appreciated, and I want to keep my publisher satisfied that I’m playing ball in the marketing department. With that said, every hour you spend on your blog, Facebook page, etc. is an hour you’re not working. I’m a writer who needs to be grinding on the book for good things to happen. I’m also of the notion that it is dangerous for a writer to think too much about his publishing fortunes, his fan reactions, his reviews. I’d rather be focused on the next book, on the story at hand. The digital world brings all of those things front-and-center. The more involved you are with it, the greater the risk of it infecting your writing.

Speaking of the digital world, what are your views on all the new E-Readers? What is your opinion on how it is going to affect authors, bookstores, and the publishing world? Are writers going to be facing issues like musicians did a few years back when it comes to royalties?

In this, as in all business matters, I trust people wiser than myself. There are excellent people thinking about this issue right now on the publishing level, the retail level, and the author representation level. I trust they can shake it all out without me. I would say that while I’m a book person, at the end of the day, I believe that the stories themselves, the quality of the work, is what’s most important. If someone wants to read my work on a Kindle or iPad or between the traditional covers, my responsibility is still the same: give them the best story I can.

Many of our readers are creative types, but struggle with balancing time for creative pursuits with the mundane tasks required to live life. Walk us through a typical day in your life.

It’s pretty boring! I handle e-mail and business-related tasks in the morning, and then I write. I do a minimum of 1,500 words a day, seven days a week, unless I’m traveling. I really have trouble writing when I’m traveling. It’s easier to find the time now than it once was – when I wrote my first two published novels, I was a full-time student, I was working 40-plus hour weeks at the newspaper, working part-time as a PI, and trying to maintain a social life and get to the gym daily. When I look back on that now, I think it sounds impossible. At the time, though, it was simply my life. You can always adapt. I’ve been pretty good at not allowing myself excuses for not writing. If you can sell yourself a sad story about how you’re too busy to write one day, you can surely do it the next, and then a few years will slide by and you’ll still be 40 pages into the book.

Writing can be such a solitary career. How do friends and family fit in?

If you’re trying to fit your family and friends in, I’d say your priorities are backward. I’ll butcher a Stephen King quote from On Writing: “Art is a support system for life. It’s not the other way around.” Social balance is absolutely critical to me. I couldn’t write worth a damn if I didn’t have good friends to go out and blow a night with, laughing and acting like fools. The work itself is so solitary that I desperately need social interaction to balance it out. And when I’m gone I’d prefer to be remembered as a good friend than a selfish ingrate who did some nice writing, time to time.

Most writers are also avid readers. What authors did you read as a child? What authors do you read regularly? What book is currently on your nightstand?

I’m going to try to edit myself on this one lest I write nine pages. My favorite writer as a child: Keith Robertson. Some of my consistent favorites these days: Stephen King, Daniel Woodrell, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, Stewart O’Nan, Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, James Sallis, Ron Rash, Zoe Ferraris, James Carlos Blake, Joe Hill, Sean Doolittle, Richard Russo, Richard Price, Pat Conroy, David Sedaris, Elmore Leonard. Whew. I’m missing at least three dozen from that, but I’ll cut it off there. Book currently on my nightstand is “Matterhorn,” about which I’ve been hearing consistent raves.

What’s next on the horizon for Michael Koryta? Can you tell us about your next project?

The next book is called The Cypress House, and it comes out on January 24, 2011, so there’s not that long of a wait for this one! It is, without question, my favorite novel to date, and I’m fairly certain you’ll lose some sleep with this one. If not, I’ll be highly disappointed.

Now is YOUR opportunity to tell us what we missed! What question should we have asked, that we didn’t (and what’s the answer to it)?

Music recommendation of the moment! I always like to give those. I’m pushing Joe Pug right now, his album “The Messenger” is brilliant.

Deb Smouse is the Editor in Chief at All Things Girl. She now checks the 40-45 box on surveys, loves to travel and sings in the shower. She dreams of sunny beaches, moonlight nights, and meeting a man who can dance. Find out more about Deb on our About Page.