A Teaser from Chad Pelley’s Interview

Chad Pelley is a man of a lot of profound words providing vast wisdom for writers who read them. A humble man of many talents, Pelley is a Canadian author who is in it for the passion and not the money, like we all should be. Of course it would be wonderful to any one with a passion for arts to pay the bills with it but it’s more than that for those truly in love with what they do.

Though the launch of Every Little Thing isn’t until March 20th I thought I would share some of these answers with you now to inspire you to come back and write in between.

Interview with Chad Pelley:

1) I met you at the Writer’s Federation WordSpring event where you read from your debut novel Away from Everywhere. When you spoke before going into your reading you mentioned you usually want to read a certain section instead of the popular choice of the first chapter. Which section would you choose and why?

Well, when it comes to readings, I always default to the opening few pages. For a couple of reasons. One: you’re not spoiling anything if you’re reading from the front. Two: There’s little set up required for the section. And mainly, three: the opening of a book should always be the most intriguing section of the book. I mean, you need readers rapt and curious on page one these days. Every season, more than a 100 other Canadian books come out. You wanna stand out, and I find an intense opening, that alludes to a lot to come, is the way to go. If you read from the opening and people are left curious, they’ll buy the book. If you read from the opening and it made no impression – you’ve written a bad opening.

2) Away from Everywhere describes two brothers who, in a sense, prove that upbringing doesn’t make the man as Owen and Alex, twins, are practically complete opposites with one the creator and the latter the intellect. Do you feel one is more important than the other?

I think we’re all a product of our experiences – Owen and Alex equally so. What happens to us, and how we deal with it, and move on, makes us who we are. It’s just that we all deal with it and come out of it differently. And why that happens is still a psychological mystery.

In terms of creativity versus intellect, if that’s what you meant, you can have intellect without creativity, but any creative person is also an intellectual. I say that because fascination and passion are at the core of creativity, I think, as well as a deep-seated need to understand something. Art, or certainly “literary fiction,” stems from an interest in digging deeper into something about life, exploring it, trying to wrap your head around it, and understand it. And that’s intelligence at work. Art is the deepest form of study. I’ve learned more about life and the world from actively engaging with art than I ever did in 8 years of university.

3) Where do you plan to go from here? And how do you follow up after two amazing reads?

With Every Little Thing hitting the Shelves on March 20th, my next few months will be a little consumed with getting behind that book. But, by April, I’ll have a collection of short stories ready to start showing people. It’s called Big Red Hearts, or, Four-letter Words. Haven’t decided yet, but each story is about someone longing for something they’ll never have. I’m also writing a new novel right now, about a small town cut off from the world for 5 weeks. I like playing with tensions and human relationships, but I’m ready to start writing bigger HBO-esque stories, moving forward. It’s a very natural transition.

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Thank you for answering, Chad and thank you for reading dear reader,

Sarah Butland author of Sending You Sammy, Brain Tales – Volume One and Arm Farm