Why set the novel in the late 1970s, rather than, say, the ’60s, better known for racial turmoil?
For one thing, this was an era I remember well from personal experience, whereas I was a young child in the ’60s. And it was important to me to set this novel in 1979, at a time that was supposed to be safely beyond the horrors of slavery, or of early twentieth-century lynchings, or of mid-twentieth-century legally segregated buses and sidewalks and school systems. The summer of 1979 was beyond that, yes—yet racially motivated ugliness was still far from underground. I hope this story suggests our taking a serious—and maybe intentionally skeptical—look at the not-so-distant past, and our own era.
You are a beautiful writer. Have you always been a writer? What turned you into a writer?
That’s awfully kind of you. I’ve wanted to write ever since I learned to read, I think. And the more I read, the more I wanted to write, and keep reading, and write better.
I remember in fourth grade, my teacher Mrs. Gross read aloud to the class a poem I’d written about having spotted a buck in the snow. Now, I don’t know that I’d ever seen a buck in the snow before, and it was probably an atrocious poem. But it was a turning point, letting my imagination create this scene, then creating that scene for a group of other people, and having the teacher hang up my poem for everyone to see. I was never the kid who could knock the kickball clear out of the field, so it was a real gift to be noticed that way. For days, I’d pass my poem hanging there on the bulletin board, and just couldn’t believe anyone else had taken notice of it, or that my words had actually connected with other people. In fifth grade, my teacher Mrs. Buckshorn quietly left me an article on my desk one day and whispered, “This is for you to read when you grow up and become a writer.” I don’t know that I’d told anyone about wanting to be a writer, and I’ve always been pathetically insecure, so, again, her insight was an enormous affirmation.
I have times of wishing I didn’t enjoy writing so much, since unlike lots of other professional endeavors, there’s not necessarily a direct correlation between how much time you put in and how far you get in the field. I enjoy teaching on the university level, too, and I often try to convince myself that since I dedicated all those years to gathering the proper credentials, I should simply, and only, teach. But teaching, if you try to do it well, often crowds out time to write, and I become … well, out of balance, off kilter with the universe when I can’t write. I just want to snarl and snap at anything that moves. So it’s probably best for all concerned that I try to write on a regular basis.
And what else have you written, and what intrigues you for future novels?
Blue Hole Back Home is my fifth book. I’ve written a nonfiction book, Working Families, on navigating kids and career; a collection of stories, Grit & Grace; a collection of reflections, Why Jesus Makes Me Nervous; and an academic book, Whitewashing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, that looks at nineteenth-century women novelists’ responses to Harriet Beecher Stowe. That era, nineteenth-century America, continues to fascinate me. I’ve worked off and on for several years on a trilogy of novels set in Charleston, South Carolina, and Boston, Massachusetts, during the Underground Railroad, and I’d like to return to it as my next writing project. Or maybe on a contemporary novel set in Charleston….
Resources
The lyrics are from the song “Gotta Get You Into My Life,” written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
The lyrics are from the song “That’s the Way of the World,” written by Earth, Wind & Fire.
The poem is “Amorous Birds of Prey” by John Donne.
The lyrics are from the song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.
The poem is “Death Be Not Proud” by John Donne.
The lyrics are from the song “Amazing Grace,” written by John Newton.
The lyrics are from the song “Stand by Me,” written by Ben E. King.
The lyrics are from the song “Ain’t Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Round),” written by Aretha Franklin.
The lyrics are from the song “People Get Ready,” written by Curtis Mayfield.
The lyrics are from the song “Stand by Me,” written by Ben E. King.
Joy Jordan-Lake lives in Brentwood, Tennessee with her husband and three children, and teaches at Belmont University. She is also the author of Grit & Grace: Portraits of a Woman’s Life; Whitewashing Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Working Families; and Why Jesus Makes Me Nervous. In 2009, Blue Hole Back Home won the Christy Award for first novel.
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