What can readers expect from your new novel Act of God?
Act of God
Act of God is comedy about climate change, an urban spin on The Book of Job, and a cautionary horror-tale. Readers should expect to laugh.
Why did you decide to write about identical twin sisters as your main protagonists?
You either write about what you know, or you write about what you want to know. Having never had a sister, I wanted to know what sisterly love and hatred, and all the complex emotions in between, is about. Once I started, I thought, why not up the ante, and I made the sisters identical twins. What singleton isn't curious to know what twin-ship is like?
Please tell us about your inspiration for the book.
The inspiration for the book came about from a true incident. A friend of mine found a mushroom growing in her closet. She called the exterminators, and the next thing she knew, the HAZ-MAT (hazardous materials) squad had arrived and declared her whole house toxic. All her possessions, including the clothes she was wearing, were bagged as hazardous waste.
How much does teaching help you to write?
I would reverse the question and say that my writing has helped my teaching enormously.
You spend your time between Florida and Brooklyn so how inspiring are these locations for your writing?
The area in Florida where I live is rural and swampy. I have alligators in my backyard. The area in Brooklyn where I live is old-world Italian with hanging laundry flapping in the yards. I relish the contrast. I've set my last three novels in New York, but the one I'm writing now takes place in Florida. It took me a decade to figure out how to write about this eerie landscape with its hanging moss and gum mud.
What are you ideal writing conditions?
I only require silence. I wear earplugs and noise cancelling headphones and play a sound track of bird calls and rain.
Who are you reading right now and who are your favourite authors?
I'm reading, The Emperor of All Maladies, a Biography of Cancer. Lately, I find reading fiction disrupts my writing fiction.
What is next for you?
My first Florida novel - two sequestered jurors fall in love and can't concentrate on the trial they are supposed to be judging.
Act of God by Jill Ciment is published by Pushkin Press