Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

What inspired you to write Somewhere in Minnesota?

Somewhere in Minnesota is a collection of short stories inspired by many different things, from personal experiences to imagined ones, and all the challenges, life-altering events and peculiar moments that happen in our lives. Living in Minnesota, I am surrounded by beautiful scenery, dramatic weather and interesting landmarks, and these naturally create the most wonderful backdrops for stories of grit, love, sorrow and survival.

How do the stories reflect life in America, and/or, the world?

I believe that every good story reflects life in this world in some way. As a writer, it is my greatest quest to write stories that resonate with readers, wherever they are in the world and whatever they may be experiencing. Whether a reader recognizes the setting of a story, my hope is that the characters’ idiosyncrasies, insecurities and moments of reflection and revelation will make people nod in recognition. Ah-ah… yes. I’ve felt that way. That has happened to me. I understand why this character is lost, or hurting, or feeling something so powerful that it stops them in their tracks. 

Here are a few examples. One of the stories is about a person, who ran away to Italy to escape some terrible life circumstances at home in Minnesota, at the very moment in time when Covid-19 transitioned from a scary virus to a global pandemic, and Italy was an epicenter of the rampant spread of the disease. All of her uncertainty about the severity of the virus and the confusing reports about transmission, masking, and so on will likely cause an involuntary shudder in anyone who was an adult during the pandemic.

Another story explores the “what if” questions around long lost family members. Another wades into the world of deep depression, and what it’s like to love someone who is suffering. Yet another story couches themes of aging, loss, tolerance and hope within a tale about what it’s like to have an annoying new neighbor replace a beloved one.

Are some of the stories auto-biographical?

All of the stories pull from my life experiences in some way. For example, one story is about the near-death experience of a toddler. I nearly died myself as a two-year-old. I was watching my sisters and brother playing across the street in the yard of a neighborhood home, and when my mother’s attention lapsed I ran out to join them and was hit by a truck. I survived, of course, and like the boy in the story, when I look back on the accident, all I can remember is the feeling of want. That feeling propelled me out into the street, just as the feeling of want propels Jeffy to chase a red ball out onto a sheet of melting ice.

Another example is the story about debilitating depression, which draws from a terrible period of darkness I experienced as a young adult. I have tried to write about what that experience was like several times. It was not until I wrote about it from the perspective of the support person, not the one suffering from depression, that I was able to paint what felt like an adequate portrayal of its depths and its impact. 

How fundamental are life’s experiences to the writing muse?

From my perspective, life experiences are the muse. This is the silver lining to the big gray cloud that is all of our challenges and our pain. Whether you have a domineering parent, or you lose a loved one in some tragic way, or you simply struggle to make sense of the hand that is dealt you in this life, you go through things that are alternately harsh, stupefying, annoying and funny. For a writer, these things are fuel and fodder for amazing stories. 

What I’ve learned along the way is that stories don’t need to be about those challenges to be inspired by them. What I mean by that is that as a writer, one does not need to spend time writing about pain, or loss, or depression, or sadness (unless one is called to do so, of course). But these are themes that provide the conflicts, the character traits, the decision points and the startling moments in stories about everything else. Whether a writer is producing genre stories — such as sci-fi, mysteries or romance — or literary fiction, difficult life experiences and their many colors of pain and truth can add incredible depth to stories, if you can harness their power.

Do you feel being part of the writing community has shaped your writing life?

It most certainly has. I’ve been involved in several writing communities for years. During that time, I have supported many writers in learning the craft of fiction writing and have written many articles on the writing craft, and I believe that my own skills have developed immeasurably through those avenues. I am involved in one writing community in particular that enables me to get a critical eye on my own work, which is invaluable. Others see things you don’t see. They might tell you if something you have written could be construed in an unintended way, for example. They will tell you if a character seems flat, if a conflict, or arc is too soft, if the “voice” of your story is uneven, and if you’re “telling” instead of “showing.” 

But just as importantly, my long-time writing community, known as Write Club, is a source of accountability. We must bang out a story each month and send it around for critique. And we must read all the other stories and provide honest, helpful feedback. You simply can’t put a price, or value on those interactions and insights.

What other books have you published? How do they differ from Somewhere in Minnesota?

Somewhere in Minnesota is my first published book that is mine alone, though my stories have appeared in several anthologies. This book is solidly in the “literary” genre. As a teaser for my next book, the last story in Somewhere in Minnesota introduces the fictional town of Whimden, Minnesota, which is the setting for all of the stories in the next book, The Whimden Chronicles. These will all be genre-centered stories. Readers will be immersed in murder mysteries, ghost stories and magical realism. It’s a complete departure from the first collection, in a way, but literary techniques, including character development are always at the base of the stories I tell.

Where is your favourite writing spot?

I can write anywhere, quite honestly. I have a cubby near the kitchen — the epicenter of our household activity — and I do quite a bit of my writing there. But I also love the occasional coffee shop. And additionally, I have a habit of writing while walking, driving and biking. It’s a professional hazard that ideas come from anywhere and everywhere, and any time, including overheard conversations, observations of other humans in public settings, interactions with friends and ideas that spin off of something I might encounter in one of the many novels I read each year. Rather than trying to find time to sit down and capture those bits, I voice-text them into a Google doc so they don’t evaporate into thin air. Later, I rediscover them, and they are like little Christmas presents that I get to open when I’ve long forgotten them. 

What is your writing process like?

My process is very strange. I am what they call a “pantser.” This means I “fly by the seat of my pants” when it comes to writing. (The opposite of a pantser is a “plotter,” and I admire those people immensely and wish I was one of them!) To be a pantser is not to say that there is no writing process. I find this absolutely fascinating, and I wish I had figured it out much sooner.

The process for me goes like this:

1. Sit down and write something. It could be a scene, a character interacting with another character in some interesting way, or maybe the first opening lines, or the very last lines of a story.

2. Step away. The things that happen in step 1 are the seeds of the story, and they must have time to germinate. So, once those initial words are down, I go do other things. I take walks, or meet up with friends. I cook meals, I listen to a lot of books on Audible, hang out with my family, sleep, etc. While I’m not technically writing, it’s okay. The seeds are germinating.

3. Sit down again and write more of the story. Perhaps the antagonist has come into view as my subconscious mind works on the story. Perhaps some problem was solved while I slept on it and let the seeds sprout. I might have a major ah-ha moment while out biking on a trail that the person I thought was a side-kick is actually the main character. Or an entire subplot will emerge that will give the story its much needed depth and breadth. 

It took me years to trust in this process, because it feels fundamentally broken when it’s happening. After step one, when I felt stuck, I would begin berating myself. You call yourself a writer? You’ve just written two paragraphs. Two paragraphs! Loser! And as we all know, derision of oneself is the arch nemesis of the writer. It does no good whatsoever. In fact, I believe it has caused the sad end of many a writing career.

Which authors inspire you?

Oh, so very many. I read about three books a month. I love historical fiction writers, like Philippa Gregory, Kristin Hannah and Lola Jaye, and mystery writers like Louise Penny and Anthony Horowitz. I recently read Lessons in Chemistry and fell in love with Bonnie Garmus. Authors I have read obsessively over the years include Ann Patchett, Louise Ehdrich, Barbara Kingsolver, Fredrik Backman, Anne Lamott, and historically Wallace Stegner, Anne Tyler and John Steinbeck. One of my favorite Minnesota writers is William Kent Krueger, and I am working my way through his spine-tingling Cork O’Connor mystery series. Some of my favorite books of all time (all of which I have read at least two or three times) include The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett, A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles, The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt and Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens.

It’s an eclectic list, but you won’t find one shallow, or formulaic story in the bunch. Each of these writers has mastered storytelling in a way that is so unique, inspiring and breathtaking that it literally causes pain in my heart when I hear people say they don’t really care for reading. 

Where can readers find you?

I’m reachable through my website, www.jaynalocke.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@jaynatweets.

To get notified when my next book is available, or to invite me to a reading, or book club discussion, readers can use this contact page: https://bit.ly/ContactJayna. 

You can also find my books on my author page on Amazon. (Somewhere in Minnesota will be added in April, 2024.)

Blurb:

With springtime in the air, a toddler chases a ball onto a melting ice-covered lake far beyond his parents’ reach.
As the chill of Autumn comes to Minnesota, Max opens the door to find a grizzled drifter on the doorstep. Then Max realizes he knows the man.
When Julie returns to her mother’s home on the shores of Lake Superior, she sees an odd shape tossed by the waves onto the beach. What is it?
Somewhere in Minnesota is a short story collection about the frenetic human experience and the ways in which life manifests itself and delivers defining moments. With Minnesota lakes and seasons as the backdrop, each story shares a different tale of characters experiencing life’s unexpected turns — from peculiar circumstances to moments of crisis — that at least temporarily set their world off its axis.

Bio:

Jayna Locke is a writer based in Minnesota who has had a lifelong passion for fiction.  As a transplant to the U.S. Midwest, she has lived in the Northwest and the Northeast, as well as Northern California, and she loves to infuse her stories with a sense of place.  Her work has appeared in Portage Magazine, Bright Flash Literary Review, and two short story anthologies and will be published in an upcoming edition of Great Lakes Review.  She is reachable through her website, https://jaynalocke.com, or at https://twitter.com/jaynatweets.