Ron Rash cut to the chase last week by describing his writing process before anyone had a chance to ask him about it. Rash said,
“I start with an image.”
In this case he began recording the image of a woman on a horse. The image would soon become that of Serena, the larger than life heroine of his most recent novel as well as the book’s namesake. Serena’s persona soon took on a life of its own (one of mythical proportions.) Rash said it soon became clear that between Serena and her lumber baron husband, Serena was the dominant figure in the novel.
“Even if you don’t believe in free will for people you have to believe in free will for literary characters… you don’t want to limit your characters.”
Rash certainly puts no limitations on Serena… this heroine knows no limits. Serena’s capabilities inspire fear and awe among lumberjacks and locals alike… especially when she imports a Berkut Eagle (the fiercest of raptors) from Mongolia and trains it to hunt rattlesnakes at her bidding. It must be said that if Rash’s character impresses those surviving the harsh, clear cutting lifestyle of depression era Appalachia, she takes hardcore to a new level. One character comments,
“I’d no more strut up and tangle with that eagle than I’d tangle with the one what can tame such a critter.”
This quote is exemplary of Rash’s fantastic writing style. When he talked about his love of language and words and he said he delights in using them well.
“You talk about what poetry is, it’s memorable speech… You get a sense that not only every word is crucial but every syllable.”
He went on to call modern poetry “bloodless” because it is so abstract. Instead, he said, he likes the sort of poetry heard in every day talk. Rash can hear poetry in the voices of Appalachia… For example, when remarking upon a scantily clad young girl, an Appalachian is known to wax poetic,
“That girl doesn’t have enough clothes on to wad a shot gun.”
Rash concluded his book talk by explaining how one goes about wadding a shotgun… At Lemuria you just never know what’s gonna come up next.
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