What:
I’ve always been a maker of things; I actually prefer that moniker to the somewhat loaded term “artist.” The first things I made were illustrations. I was lucky enough to draw and paint for a living for more than twenty-six years. Now, I make stories. I’ve written six novels, a bucket of short fiction (published in literary journals and made into a collection), and one really weird novella. Somewhere in-between all that, I wrote three plays together with my daughter. Having them produced for the stage and hearing actors say my lines out loud taught me a lot about dialogue.
I’m a confessed genre-jumper and I can’t seem to stay in my lane. While I love literary fiction (another loaded term), I grew up on science-fiction, had a long affair with South American magical realists, and eventually landed on crime fiction. The third in my noir series, Three Minute Hero, comes out in late October. These novels feature Luke Fischer, a man who denies being a detective, even though people keep asking him to be one. Also, this year, I released Samurai Bluegrass, a historical, science-fiction, martial arts, time travel novel. Did I mention I can’t stay in my lane?
Why:
I have always had a genuine love for story. First as a reader, and now as a writer. For me, storytelling is central, not just in entertainment value, but the way it has the potential to change us. I recently read that our brains remember story more than data. Stories just stick in our frontal cortex (or somewhere in there… hey, I’m not a brain surgeon!) It’s taking me years to get better at the art and craft of fiction—and I’m a huge believer in working on the craft. Where I’m at now, I continually ask myself, “Why this story?” and “Is it worth telling?” At the risk of getting too profound, stories are core to what it means to be human. I am delighted to be engaged in that pursuit.
How:
I try to write every day, I really do. But sometimes I can’t—and that’s ok. That’s what I tell writers who I mentor. The discipline of going to the page every day is wonderful. I always have a better day whenever I write. But I lead a very busy life, and I have a full-time job at a university. Most consistently, I write in the morning before I go to work. I try to go for an hour, or more if I get up early enough and the coffee is strong. I’ll do more on the weekends, or if I’m trying to finish a book, I’ll take a few days out at a small place we have in the country. That’s where I will really dig in and work full days. This often happens when I’m editing, but I’ve done it for drafts, too. The hardest thing is to get a long narrative like a novel completely in your head. Sometimes it’s best to do that by working 6-8 hours a day for several days. This year, I’ve released two books, so readers might think I’m prolific. I’m not really. But I’m often working on more than one project at a time. I’d been writing Samurai Bluegrass for more than eight years, while I worked on other novels. Three Minute Hero took around two years. So, it was just coincidental that they lined up and came out in the same year. It was exciting, but to be honest, also pretty tiring.
In a magical tale of a samurai lost in time, Craig Terlson draws bold strokes of beauty and violence, music and myth, calm and chaos, in ancient Japan and modern-day Toronto.
Three Minute Hero, Terlson’s latest taut and propulsive Luke Fischer action thriller, shows that while you can come home again, you can’t stay there. Or anywhere. Not for long, at any rate…and not without finding yourself reducing the population.
Bio:
Craig Terlson’s fiction has appeared in Mystery Tribune, Carve, Hobart, and many other literary journals. In 2021, he received his second Manitoba Book award nomination for, Manistique, the second novel in his crime fiction series featuring Luke Fischer. He has written essays on the writing craft for Write magazine, Substack, and Lit Hub. His new novel Samurai Bluegrass was released this summer, and the third book in the Luke Fischer series, Three Minute Hero, launches the end of October.
Links:
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“It’s Not Dirt,” a short story in Punk Noir Magazine
Thank you for visiting!
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist:
Multi-finalist award winning novel: In the Context of Love,
Picture book: Gordy and the Ghost Crab,
Poetry chapbook: Sleepwalker,
Linda’s social media links: LinkTree
