Weil returned to Virginia to write his first book, The New Valley (Grove, 2009), which was New York Times Editors Choice selection, honored with the “5 Under 35” Award from the National Book Foundation, and won the 2010 New Writers Award from the Great Lakes Colleges Association.  Weil’s short fiction has appeared in Granta, American Short Fiction, Narrative, and Glimmer Train, among other journals; he has written non-fiction for The New York Times, Granta Online, and Poets & Writers.

Weil is slated to read at Gemini Ink on Friday, Feb. 26 at 6:30pm and will also conduct the class, Uncharted Territory: Exploring Novellas on Saturday, Feb. 27.  In the class, participants will learn what is a novella and, what can it accomplish that’s different from what a short story or novel can accomplish.

Gemini Ink intern Angelia Potter interviews Weil about his writing process and what’s inspired him.

Angelia Potter: What was your process for writing The New Valley?
Josh Weil: Wow, that’s such a huge question: pretty much everything that goes into writing can be lumped into process. So this is a hard one to answer without taking up pages and pages to do it. But I do know this: I wrote the novellas in The New Valley exactly the same way I write anything. A lot of writing is about figuring out what works for you – whether to outline or not, how to treat a first draft, at what point you can keep pushing and at what point you’re just tapped out – and then trusting in that. Part of that trust is routine, and I tend to have a very defined one. I get up before light, make coffee, fill a thermos, stretch, clear my mind, sit down at the desk, try not to get up again – or at least not to pull out of the work – for four or five hours, take a nap, make some toast, sit back down again and try to write through until I’m worn out and my mind is getting sloppy. Of course, some days my mind doesn’t work right from the start. Those are the tough days. Those are the days I sit at the desk for 10 hours and bang my head and get up and pace and curse and stomp about. I’m trying to ease up on that, do less of the stomping. Because, in the end, the most infuriating thing about writing is also the most magical: no preparation, no understanding, no routine, can guarantee it; it comes a little differently every time, and all you can do is get yourself as ready as possible to receive it when it does.

AP: Are any of the novellas’ protagonists based on real life individuals?
JW: Not really. I mean, of course their concerns, their wounds and what’s in their hearts comes from me (I think that, in all good serious fiction the characters have to be wrestling with something that comes out of the author, but that doesn’t mean that the external elements, that the story elements, or even the specific people, are anything like the author). And there are elements of people I know that made their way into characters, or that sparked the idea for characters. Geoffrey Sarver, the protagonist of the final novella, is a combination of many different things (most of which I probably couldn’t put my finger on), but I first got the idea for him when I was out at a rural farm filling a hundred pound propane tank. The guy filling the tanks was a mentally slow man, middle aged, quiet, and sweet-natured, and all alone out there. I started to think about how lonely that must be. And the very beginnings of Geoffrey grew out of that.

AP: Was there anything in particular that inspired the writing of these novellas and how did you build a connection between them?
JW: As far as inspiration, I’d say this: they’re all about men who have lost a loved one, and who are struggling to make sense of the world in that person’s absence, and to learn to somehow move on. I’ve seen that in my life, and I’m sure these stories, at heart, come out of that.

AP: Why did you make the Virginia countryside the setting for these novellas?
JW: I was there. Simple as that. I started going back there, to a cabin that my father and brother and I built, about 15 years ago. That’s where I do my best writing; that’s where I duck away from the world. And where I duck into is simply the place that’s become the most important to me in my life. It’s where I feel my heart attached to the land. And so the first novella just came to me there, and was very much of that place. I can’t imagine it set anywhere else. Once I had that one there, I knew I wanted to write the others set there, too. They all just started to feel rooted in one spot.

AP: You illustrated the middle novella of The New Valley, have you illustrated any of your other works and is visual art another outlet that you pursue?
JW: “Stillman Wing” is the first piece of writing that I illustrated, but it felt natural to do so since visual art has been so important to me for so long. I used to think I’d be a painter – that’s where I thought I was going – and then I got bitten by the writing bug, and found I loved narrative, and so I shifted into filmmaking. Now, I miss the visual. I’d like to bring that into my work even more. The thing I’m working on right now will be illustrated, at least to some extent. I’m trying to find the right balance with it so that the illustrations are organic to the story and don’t get in the way of it.

AP: Maureen Howard, author of The Silver Screen, compares The New Valley to authors Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy. What do you think of such a comparison?
JW: I think she’s a writer who has earned comparisons to writers of that stature; I certainly don’t feel like I’m remotely in their league. But she was talking about some specifics of my writing, and comparing them to some things that McCarthy and O’Connor do, and I’d certainly say that I’m deeply influenced by both those authors, so she was perceptive in picking up on that and so kind to point it out where she felt she saw it.

AP: What are you working on now?
JW: Two things, actually: a novel and a short story collection, but I’m loathe to offer too many specifics until I know that one or the other is going to work. I’m at that place right now where it’s truth-telling time – the people I trust most are about to see the work – and so I’m going to keep quiet about it until they’ve whispered in my ear.

Gemini Ink Communications director Jennifer Herrera caught Cardona in a “zany” mood while discussing his book of poetry and his writing process.

Jennifer Herrera: Can you tell us about your 1998 book of poetry, Pan Dulce?

Jacinto Jesús Cardona: My book of poetry Pan Dulce celebrates my Tex Mex experience growing up in Alice, the Hub of South Texas: “So was I Tex or was I Mex, parttime Aztec, or was I your classic borderline case?” I write primarily in English, but I integrate certain Spanish words that conjure childhood memories, like “chavalón” (young boy) and “chicharra” (cicada). As a writer, I keep faithful to my code-switching chapulín (grasshopper) linguistics: My chavalón bones bouncing like xylophones.

JH: You’re a high school English teacher, how have your students played a role in your writing?

JJC: My heart goes out to students who come to school and think they have to fold their creative wings. I encourage my students to tap their creative powers, to believe in paper, pencil, plus potential.

JH: What are topics you have yet to explore in future writing?

JJC: Angst! Angst & more angst. Angst is good! I want to find strange Spanish words, make them my inspiring stars, words like zurumbático, estrambótico. Topics I have yet to explore, you ask? Hmmm. I’ll have to check out my Chicanoscope. Hmmm. I wrote about fixing flats and pneumatic jacks once, but lately I’ve had an itch to write about the phantom pain of empty cash boxes. I am also very interested in Golpes, blows. I am always expecting the giant golpazo from the sky. Hence, angst and more angst! Did you know that the motto of the Foreign Legion is “When in doubt, Gallop!”? Oops! Barnacles! I just dropped my Chicanoscope! Sorry.

JH: Who are your favorite writers?

JJC: Too many, of course, but among them are Italo Calvino, Fernando Pessoa, Vasko Popa, Charles Simic, Wislawa Szymborska, Antonio Machado, Gloria Fuertes. etc.

Edna will conduct a class on Historical Home Research in Nonfiction Writing that will take place on two consecutive Saturdays, Jan. 30 and Feb 6.  In the class, participants will learn, where to go, what to look for and how to use research to write nonfiction books and articles. Then, participants will learn where and how to submit articles for publication.

Gemini Ink University Without Walls director Leslie Plant and intern Angelia Potter spoke with Edna Campos-Gravenhorst about her upcoming class.

Gemini Ink: What has been one of the most interesting historical structures that you have researched?

Edna Campos-Gravenhorst: There have been so many; it is hard to narrow it down to one.  So I will tell you about one that involves a ghost.

Soulard is a historic neighborhood in St. Louis, there is a large inventory of historic homes and businesses.  The Anheuser Busch Brewery is in this neighborhood.  I was hired to do a history for a house that sits up from the street at the corner of S. 13^th and Lami, this house is known as, “The Haunted House of Soulard.”  The owner and developer of this house built in 1873 didn’t buy into the ghost theory until he experienced some weird happenings on the third floor.  I went into the project without any knowledge of the house being haunted.

As I was digging around city hall, the central library and the research center for the history museum, I found out who the original owners were.  Johanna Busch, niece of Adolphus Busch, and her husband had built the house.  Johanna’s husband, who ran the bottling plant at the brewery, killed himself in New York during the stock market crash in 1929.  Johanna lived in the house until she died.  After reading her obituary, we knew why the house was haunted.  Johanna died in the house on her 90^th birthday, she had lived there for 70 years.  The homeowner reasoned the ghost in his house was not trying to frighten him, she was just checking out what changes were being made to her home.

GI: How does a house most significantly manifest its previous occupants’ personalities?

ECG: Historic homes, just like houses built today, were built to accommodate the owners’ and their families’ needs and wants in a price range they could afford.  For example, my husband and I own a historic home in the Benton Park West Neighborhood in St. Louis.  This red brick house, built in 1884, has three floors and a basement.  Why did one family need so much room?  As was common with most families during that time, the adult children did not leave home until they married.  The Richard Merkel family consisted of the father, mother and four grown children.  Mr. Merkel was a laborer, his daughter was a school teacher and the three sons owned a bookbinding business.  They were working class  and the house reflects this.  The wooden floors are oak planks with no fancy designs set in different woods, the fireplace mantel is made of oak instead of marble, the front entrance to the house is on the side and not facing the street.   When you purchase a home there is always an emotional undercurrent with the house you choose to buy, which you can’t explain at the time.  The reason unveils itself later as you discover your home’s past.  In our case, when I set foot into the front parlor, I told my husband, “This is the house I want to write in.”  Later I found out the original owners were bookbinders.  I wrote and published six books while living in this house.  My husband is a big American Civil War fan, his ancestors signed up with the Union Army, while mine signed up with the Confederates.  Our dog’s name is General Robert E. Lee.  I found out that Richard Merkel was a Union Civil War veteran who received a pension for his services and war disability.  He was blind in his right eye.   My husband and I both felt a connection to the house right away.

GI: In your opinion, what is the purpose of documenting the history of a house?

ECG: My clients are developers/builders, architects, real estate agents and homeowners.  For developers/builders the facts discovered in a house history help with the rehab of the structure.  If the house is in a historic district the exterior must be historically correct.  A house history will give details of the original structure.  They might want to tear down a porch or an addition, they will have to prove they were not original to the structure.  They also use the history for marketing the property after the renovations are complete.

For architects, it is important to know the original design of the house, before drawing plans for a rehab or renovation in a historic district.  I had a client who hired me after the architect had already drawn up the plans for the builder.  The roof on the house had caved in years ago, so when the architect drew up the plans, he designed the reconstruction with a flat roof, since most of the houses on that block had flat roofs.  When the plans were reviewed by the state architect so the construction could begin, the state wanted to know how they knew the house had originally had a flat roof.  So I was hired to prove this point.  I found out the house had a pitched roof and the plans had to be redrawn.  Bottom line, it costs more money after the fact.

Real estate agents use the house history in marketing the listing of a historic home.  Instead of the usual open house, they are able to provide a home history tour.  The history is a way of romancing an old house.  While they walk around with potential buyers, they can point out the features using historical facts.  Most buyers of historic homes want to know more than just the age of a house.  The realtor is able to weave a story for potential buyers based on facts not on oral history provided by neighbors.  Some times what people remember is not accurate.  When the realtor sells the house, the home history binder is given to the new buyers as a house warming gift.  The new buyers really appreciate this gift, it will lead to great conversations when they have house guests.

For homeowners the history of a house provides answers to questions ranging from, who is the ghost that lives in my house to why a staircase was reconstructed or why an addition was added or demolished.  Those of us that live in historic places like to have a connection with the house we have chosen to preserve for the next generation.  As we like to say, “We are not owners, we are keepers of a historic home. “  Knowing the history of our homes gives us a sense of place.

GI: Do you plan on writing about any historical structures in San Antonio?

ECG: I am looking for my next book project in San Antonio.  I will either write a book based on a historic neighborhood which will include historic structures or a book based on a family owned business which has been in San Antonio for more than fifty years.  There is a great opportunity to write such books for my publisher, Arcadia Publishing.  For example, in the St. Louis area Arcadia has published thirty-four books based on the history of the area compared to four books in San Antonio.  San Antonio has a very rich history, a large inventory of historic structures and many historic neighborhoods which deserve national recognition.  There are so many stories that need to be told.

GI: What are you currently working on?

ECG: Right now I am researching and writing my seventh book, Negreta, an American Nigress.  It is my first attempt at writing fiction and a historical novel, so it will take me a few years to write and publish it.  In the meantime, I would like to preserve the history of working class San Antonio by publishing books on historic neighborhoods and family-owned businesses.

Community leader and ritualist, Laurie Dietrich will enlighten students about the secret of speaking to the subconscious during her upcoming workshop. She’s slated to conduct the two-day workshop on Nov. 14 and Nov. 21, Dietrich will discuss the dual voice technique rooted in hypnotherapy and the psychology of brain function used in ritual and performance. Dietrich spends most of her time working as a practicing ritualist at Diana’s Grove, a community/ sanctuary/ retreat center in Missouri. The center stands by its precedence that self-discovery and self-creation is a spiritual process by promoting self-awareness through sacred rituals.

Gemini Ink intern Nicole Harbaugh talked with Laurie Dietrich about her upcoming class.

NH: Explain your definition of the subconscious and how it’ll play a role in the course.
LD: The subconscious is part of the “old brain.” It doesn’t care much about grammar. Or complete sentences. It understands symbols and loves
metaphor. It’s very concrete, too. It likes images. Colors. Words that evoke sensation. We might say, to the conscious mind, “Imagine you are
walking through the woods, noticing the smells and colors and sounds that surround you.” To the subconscious mind, a simple string of phrases and words appear… “Step. Step. Dappled light. Trees reaching. Crisp. Wood smoke. Rustling leaves. Colors like dying light…” will evoke the same experience, and often much more powerfully.

For me, as an artist, the subconscious is what I credit with doing the creative work. When I get an assignment, or an idea, and then let it sit — not consciously processing it — until an idea or a first sentence or a movement just seems to arise on its own, creating a doorway into the work. I consider that to have been my subconscious at work. That’s why I’m so interested in speaking to the subconscious both as an artist trying to put across an idea and as a healer trying to effect growth and insight.

NH: What are your roles as a ritualist?
LD: As a ritualist, I am someone with some expertise and experience in planning, writing, facilitating and performing rituals from the standpoint of creating a safe, potentially transformative experience with opportunities for interaction, individual processing, and responsiveness to the energy of the moment. It’s a mix of theater, language, healing and psychological skill-sets and it’s both really fun and deeply satisfying. It’s truly one of my favorite things to be.

NH: You have mastered a dual voice technique rooted in hypnotherapy and the psychology of the brain function honed through ritual and performance, could you expand on this practice?
LD: I do use dual voice technique in hospice work at Diana’s Grove. Dual voice is particularly good, as a healing modality, for overcoming resistance, accessing deep states of relaxation, and dealing with ambivalence. For example, I have recorded a trance CD on which one voice is simply talking about relaxing, being free from pain, while the other is guiding the listener through Dr. Ira Byock’s Five Things of Relationship Completion — essential work to do as you prepare to die, very simply “I’m Sorry,” “I Forgive You,” “Thank you,” “I love you,” and “Goodbye.”

As the conscious mind gives up, relaxes, and lets go it will only hear what the patient is ready to hear, consciously. If actually thinking about saying “goodbye” or “I’m sorry” is too much right now, the conscious mind won’t hear that. It will focus on the other voice, which is offering relaxing imagery, and the messages about the hard work of relationship completion will slip directly into the subconscious, where they’ll be accessible when needed.

NH: You hold a certificate in thanatology, what exactly does that entail?
LD: Thanatology is the academic/scientific study of death, dying and bereavement. Thanatologists study the actual death process, the experience/stages of individual grief, and the larger, cultural context — how we deal with death in our society, which includes things like ritual (funerals) and memorialization.

Dietrich is currently writing a book about coming into a healthier relationship with the reality of death entitled, The Beautiful World is Not Safe. She states that the premise of the book is that “there is no such thing as safe. All the things I fear will happen. I will die. The people I love will die. I will lose things. I will have my heart broken. I will break the hearts of others. I will behave badly. I will fail at things. I will be ashamed. All of those things will happen over the course of a life. The phrase I heard in my head was ‘the beautiful world is not safe.’”

Dietrich’s workshop will help participants bypass the conscious all writers face and speak into a deeper context reaching the subconscious of the individual and how to grow spiritually and independently by means of performance ritual to release preconceived notions.

Who: Laurie Dietrich
What: Speaking to the Subconscious
Where: Gemini Ink 513 S. Presa
When: 2 Saturdays, Nov. 14, 9am – 4pm and Nov. 21, 1 – 4pm
Limit: 15 Participants
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 11
CPE Credits: 7 Language Arts
Fee: $76