Trillium Book Award Author Readings June 16

Ten Questions, with Allison Baggio

 
Share |

Debut novelist Allison Baggio is the author of Girl in Shades (ECW Press).

Allison Baggio talks to Open Book about her mentors and influences and how Girl in Shades came to be.

Open Book:

Tell us about your book, Girls in Shades.

Allison Baggio:

Girl in Shades is the story of a uniquely gifted girl named Maya who is eleven-years-old when her eccentric mother is diagnosed with cancer. The novel follows Maya?s struggles in the months before her mother?s death, as well as the years after she passes away. It is a story about discovering who you are even in the face of family secrets, uncertainty and loss. It begins in 1980s Saskatoon and moves to Toronto, then to India and back to Canada.

OB:

What appealed to you about the mid-1980s as a setting?

AB:

I probably set the story in the 80s because I too was once a young girl living in that time period. All my own memories from being eleven and twelve would be from the 1980s. This makes research easier. But also, there is something kind of exciting and alive about the 80s — music videos, punk rockers, all that fluorescent clothing and of course, the wonderful music of Corey Hart!

OB:

Marigold (Maya's mother) is unique and intense. How did you come to her as a character?

AB:

It was Maya?s experience that I knew I wanted to explore and Marigold arrived as a product of that. The fact that this young girl is forced to watch her mother die was an intricate part of the story and I always began the book this way. After that, Marigold revealed herself to me as I uncovered more and more about her personality and life story. I think by having Marigold as the kind of person she is, it gives Maya the perfect opportunity to develop into the self-confident person she becomes at the end of the book.

OB:

What was most challenging about writing this book?

AB:

Jumping back and forth between the two time periods offered some challenges, especially during the later editing stage of the book. I?m pretty obsessive about knowing every detail regarding what is happening or has happened in a story, and of course I had a timeline, but it did get tricky when we got down to the final edits on what ages she was when and which events happened when.

You also have to be mindful of the reader and what information is being revealed at which point. It?s enough to drive you batty when you think about it. Luckily I had help from my editors to keep it all straight. I applaud them for being able to make this sort of mental investment in another person?s book — it?s hard enough to keep track of everything when you wrote it yourself!

OB:

What recurring themes or obsessions do you notice turning up in your writing?

AB:

First and foremost, death, which sounds pretty depressing but I feel like it keeps things in perspective to be in touch with the reality of death and the fact that it can happen at any time. I also find that I write a lot of hospital scenes, which is probably because so much life-changing drama can be created in those scenarios. Other than that, stuff like family dysfunction, self-discovery, body image, supernatural events and physical injuries that bring some sort of enlightenment are pretty prevalent.

OB:

Who are some people who have deeply influenced (fellow writers or not) your writing life?

AB:

Elizabeth Ruth was one of my writing teachers at George Brown and I remember her saying that published authors are not necessarily the best writers, they are the ones who?ve stuck with it. I think that sentiment gave me permission to follow my writing dream because I knew that ?sticking with it? was something I had control of. She was also the first person to give me positive feedback on my fiction — that really inspired me.

I?d also say my Humber mentor Shaena Lambert for being the first one to take real time with my manuscript, and Barbara Gowdy, whose writing has inspired me a great deal. Lately though, it?s been my wonderful agent Natalie St. Pierre and my fantastic editor at ECW Press, Jen Hale, who have been influencing my work the most.

OB:

What was your first publication experience like?

AB:

Oh my goodness, wonderful. The first journal to publish my work was Lichen: Arts & Letters Preview. I had been writing seriously for about four or five years at that point, and to see something I had written in book form was very surreal. I remember buying the journal with my story in it at Pages on Queen Street, and just walking down the street with tears in my eyes, holding the book opened to my name. I am so thankful to them for believing in my story and for starting the ball rolling, however slowly.

OB:

There is a lot of dialogue about the value of university and college writing programs. What was your experience like?

AB:

My writing courses were very valuable for a number of reasons. I?ve always known I wanted to write but when I first started getting serious about it, I needed a bit of help narrowing down what it was exactly I was going to write. I decided to take a number of creative writing workshops at George Brown College in and around 2001, and they helped me see that fiction was what I was meant to do.

When I participated in the Humber School for Writers correspondence program in 2005, it was really helpful to work one on one with a mentor and get feedback on something I had created. I was lucky enough that my mentor requested to read the entire manuscript of Girl in Shades and give me some big picture suggestions. After graduating from the program, the Humber School for Writers turned into a valuable resource and support for me. I even signed with their literary agency about five years after I finished the program.

OB:

Is there a book you?ve read recently that you wished you had written?

AB:

I?d have to say Room by Emma Donoghue. I was afraid to read this novel for a long time since I have a son the same age as the boy in the book, but when I finally gave in, I thought it was absolutely brilliant. She managed to deal with an extremely disturbing premise in a really captivating and heart-warming manner. It actually helped me to understand my own son better and better appreciate the bond we have.

OB:

What are you working on now?

AB:

I am working on a new book that will include a number of my published and unpublished stories, as well as a brand new novella. As a whole, the collection is a look at the human body and the ways it defines, fails and frees us. I?ve got one other project on the go, but it?s too early to talk about that one.


Allison Baggio's fiction and commentaries have appeared in publications all across Canada, including Room, subTerrain, Today?s Parent and The Toronto Star. She is a graduate of York University and the Humber School for Writers. Girl in Shades is her first novel. She lives in Whitby, ON.

For more information about Girls in Shades please visit the ECW website.

Buy this book at your local independent bookstore or online at Chapters/Indigo or Amazon.

Post new comment

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.

Advanced Search

GritLit