RH: I was interested in the oral qualities of this novel, which seem
like a natural extension of your spoken word career.
ME: I wanted the book to feel a little bit like a chick sitting
around gabbing, so when I was writing it, I'd go to open mikes and
read sections. It does have a rhythm to it, but it's definitely written
for the page, unlike some of my earlier stuff which was written just
for performance. It's as close to merging the two styles as I think you
can get. When I read at book signings, though, I still edit it for
performance, skipping over stuff when I know it'll move quicker for
an audience.
RH: What made you want to tackle a project of this size?
ME: I'd been starting novels and not finishing them for a
while. The spoken word thing was actually an accidental offshoot of
that. And I got a lot of attention for it, which gave me time to write a
novel. Now I'm on to my second one. This is what I've always
intended to do, the thing I love doing the most. I'm lucky because
doing spoken word performances and records brings attention to my
books.
RH: You definitely come to the table with a reputation
established.
ME: I'm very fortunate for a first-time novelist, most of whom
don't get book tours, because of my reputation. It also works against
me in terms of being taken seriously as a writer. People say, "Oh,
she's just a pop figure."
RH: And publishing gives you a lot more freedom of expression
than, say, MTV did with what it would accept in your videos.
ME: I do whatever I want now, which is how it should be.
(laughs) MTV's a very useful tool; I wouldn't be here if it
weren't for MTV. Yeah, I had to take some of the 'fucks' out of my
videos back then, but you have to do stuff to get where you need to
go. I cringe when I look at some of that stuff, but it was very useful
and I'll probably do it again.
RH: Given how little time many of us have for reading, if you
really want to get out there as a writer, you almost have to have
something that can be read quickly.
ME: I didn't sit down thinking about that, but it did become a
natural part of my process. Part of why I love what I do is because I
get to communicate with people and meet people. It's very much
about that, and to be that inclusive when I'm writing a novel, I have
to write so that more people can read it as easily as they can hear
me.
RH: And from the open mike scene, you're probably used to
having to fight for people's attention.
ME: Oh, yeah. They're just not going to shut up for you unless
you're saying something there.
RH: So you'd walk away from that environment, if you were
successful, with a lot more confidence in your ability to get your
work out there.
ME: The open mike stuff taught me how to write. It taught me
how to finish things and it gave me confidence to finish a damn book
instead of stopping halfway through or three quarters of the way
through. And I still use that tool; I read the book I'm working on now
at open mikes.
RH: Are you going to continue to straddle the two?
ME: I want to. I love the tradition of the troubadors, centuries
ago, going around storytelling, and I'd like to do that. But I also love
to spend months holed up in my house writing.
