Today I’m excited to share my interview with Barbara Langhorst. She is a local author as well as Academic Programs Manager; ACE Facilitator; Academic Council Chair, English at St. Peters College in Muenster, SK.
JAN: Welcome, Barbara. How long have you been writing and how did you come to it? Who are some of the people who most influenced your decision to write?
BARBARA: I always loved chanting poetry as a child, and later, loved to lose myself in books. My father used to stand on the landing in the house where I grew up and say goodbye to my mother by quoting Alfred Noyes’s “The Highwayman”: “Look for me by moonlight /Watch for me by moonlight, / I’ll come to thee by moonlight –though hell should bar the way!” He was very theatrical about it, and I used to imitate him in the grocery store, which amused people, because I was only three years old. I wrote things as a teenager, but never thought of myself as a writer. When I started university (at 32!), I thought I wanted to be an English/Art teacher, but quickly switched to Honours English because I loved all that we were reading and writing. I did my Ph.D. in experimental poetry but didn’t realize I wanted to write until I was teaching at St. Peter’s, when I enrolled in a poetry workshop for “fearful and lapsed” poets with Halifax’s Poet Laureate at the time, namely Lorri Neilsen Glenn. She was a fabulous teacher, and I met some incredibly kind and talented people in that class. We gathered as a weekly writing group for about eight months after that workshop. By the time we had given it up for summer, I had most of my first manuscript written, and that became restless white fields after Robert Kroetsch, who was visiting St. Peter’s to perform at the launch of our magazine, the Society, generously looked at my work and told me to send it out. When I wrote to tell him that Doug Barbour and NeWest Press had accepted the manuscript, he wrote back, “The sound that you hear in the distance is me jumping for joy.” I owe a never-ending debt to all the fantastic people who’ve egged me on, not just my family and those I’ve mentioned, but also Carol Gossner, Hazel Kellner, Robert LeBlanc, Sheila Bautz, and Ed Novecosky, who were in that first writing group. And my friends Shawna Lemay, Sylvia Legris, and Elizabeth Harms have all done more for me than I can say.
JAN: What’s your preferred genre?
BARBARA: After my poetry book came out, I realized I wanted to try writing a novel. I enrolled in the Humber School for Writers with Sandra Birdsell as my mentor, and started the manuscript that became Want. I love writing novels—there’s nothing like having a story bursting in your head; the incessant prodding is unlike anything else. I’ve written most of a second novel (In Dreams We Wake) and have started a third.
JAN: Why do you write?
BARBARA: I write because I love to learn, to feel something pure and vibrant channeling itself through me, and because I can’t stand not writing. My husband knows that I am a sad and miserable person when I’m not putting words on paper regularly, and he encourages me to just go and write.
JAN: How and where do you write? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
BARBARA: I tend to write whenever I have a block of a couple of hours that I can squeeze in—then I ascend to my office upstairs. There’s only one small window, and that’s not near my computer, so I’m following Annie Dillard’s advice—a room with no view. I’m not sure what “pantser” means—a seat-of-the-pantser? I think I’m that. I don’t have the whole plot worked out when I start—the writing seems to work best when it surprises me.
JAN: Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you?
BARBARA: I write when I see a problem I can’t solve; I write to exhaust that problem. In writing Want, I was worried about the state of the world, but really did find that the worse things became, the more I wanted to renovate our kitchen. That wasn’t possible for me (fortunately), so the book unfolded from there. In Dreams We Wake was a response to the situation a friend was in, like the many people I know who are living separate lives, even under the same roof. I wanted to explore well-meaning people who misunderstand one another, but are really connected on a deeper level.
JAN: How do you research and how do you know you can trust your sources?
BARBARA: For my first two novels, I mainly researched online, checking multiple sources until I felt sure I could trust the information they had in common. I also talk to people, especially when it comes to cultural differences or language. For my third novel, which is a sequel to Want, I plan to talk to as many people as I can who are living the life off grid, to make sure I get that right. We also watch a lot of documentaries!
JAN: What do you like most / least about writing?
BARBARA: I love feeling that connection when the words flow faster than deliberate thought can take me. I hate worrying about whether anyone else will be interested in what I’m so fascinated by.
JAN: Yes, there is that! What are some of the best methods of promoting your work?
BARBARA: Interviews are lovely, because they give people a chance to hear about work they might not encounter otherwise. I love doing readings, too, though I’m not really a savvy traveler. Fortunately, my husband Michael likes to come with me, so he handles the navigation and makes sure I don’t get lost. Reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are priceless—I’m so grateful to people who take the time to do that.]
JAN: Absolutely. I don’t think readers realize how important that is for an author. What are your favorite / most effective social media?
BARBARA: I’m on Facebook, but most of my posts are either writing-related or animal related. Most of the people on FB with me are writers, so it’s a chance to find out about what everyone else is up to. I follow Instagram but almost never post.
JAN: How do you balance professional time with personal time?
BARBARA: I teach university courses in English and Creative Writing at St. Peter’s College, so I have the luxury of meeting visiting writers and hosting readings. It’s absolutely wonderful how generous these people are, taking time to come to a small rural college out in Muenster, SK. I generally write on weekends unless I’m busy with marking, and over Christmas and the two Reading Weeks, and of course the rhythm is different in summer, so I usually have more time then, but not always.
JAN: What are you currently reading? Do you prefer digital or print?
BARBARA: I’m reading Hermione Lee’s biography of Penelope Fitzgerald. It’s incredibly detailed, and I’m sure a lot of the historical and cultural references are lost on me, but I’m just getting to the part that talks about her novels, and it is fascinating to see how the events of her life influenced her decisions in her writing. Last weekend I read Lois Simmie’s memoir, Finding My Way, and was heartened by the many, many things we have in common. Ordinarily I read novels, but I’ve read these two life stories of women who started writing relatively late. I guess I’m looking for hope and validation, since I’ve been a late bloomer in so many ways. I definitely prefer print. Digital copies are nice in that you can blow up the font, but I can’t stand not being able to flip through and find a page physically. I like the weight of a book.
JAN: So true. What are some of your favorite things? What makes you unique?
BARBARA: I love animals, and most people, and bowls. I had two gorgeous ceramic bowls my sister made and gave me, and I was heartbroken when we moved to our present acreage 14 years ago and the only things that broke in the move were those two absolutely exquisite, irreplaceable bowls. I wish I’d kept the pieces and glued them back together. I am not all that unique, but have been called quirky, which I enjoy. As Elizabeth Harms says, “Why settle for the mediocrity of the norm?”
JAN: Indeed! What keeps you going in your writing career?
BARBARA: I keep writing because I love to learn. I’m always trying to craft a better sentence, a better narrator, a more engrossing experience. I want to connect to people without actually being in a crowd. I like talking one-to-one, or in small groups, about writing, and the odd life we choose when we decide to write.
JAN: Is your faith reflected in your writing, and if so, how?
BARBARA: I was raised a Catholic, but I’m really a pantheist or a mystic—I’m a Romantic, in that I see Nature as God’s language. I see the mystery in the world everywhere, and I feel drawn to call attention to that. In Want, Delphine is under spiritual attack, in a way similar to something I experienced when I first came to Saskatchewan, but what she doesn’t understand is that it’s when everything seems comfortable that she might be in the greatest danger. It’s when we become complacent that we’re really in trouble. And I love the story of Teresa of Avila, and her The Interior Castle. I’m also immersed in the spiritual life here: the monks at St. Peter’s are amazing, and feed my mystic heart.
JAN: What are some things you learned from your own writing?
BARBARA: I’ve learned that writing is a way of thinking things through. My first book, restless white fields, gave me a way of making something that I thought was beautiful out of almost unbearable pain. It gave me a way to carry problems that still reassert themselves when I am least expecting them. And although Want showed me that I didn’t need a new kitchen, if I relapse and look at home magazines or home reno shows, that longing reanimates itself. I’ve learned that what you allow into your mind shapes what you think and can certainly lead you to do things that are not good for you.
JAN: Yes, I get that! What is your ultimate writing goal?
BARBARA: I would love to write a bestseller, however remote that possibility might be for me. But I keep hoping!
JAN: As do most of us. Do you have any advice for a beginning writer?
BARBARA: I always advise beginners to read as much as they can, to write as much as they can, and to be willing to go back and revisit work after they’ve let it rest and have read a lot more. I also tell them to get a day job that allows them time and energy to write. Teaching is a common career for writers, but all that performing is creative in its own way, so sometimes people can’t write when they’ve taught. But everyone is different, and the thing that works for one person won’t suit others. I do use Hemingway’s advice: leave one idea for the next day when you finish writing, so that you don’t have to face a blank page. The important thing is to write what you’re excited about, but to keep writing even when you don’t think it’s exciting. Persevere! And learn when and how to take advice—other people may not be right, but you should consider that they might be. And finally, remember J.K. Rowling and Dr. Seuss—they were turned down an enormous number of times before finding great success.
JAN: Great advice, Barbara. Thanks for an engaging interview. I’m sure readers will love it.
Thanks for the interview!