Interview with Author Terry Gamble

Terry Gamble sparkles as a person and a writer. Luminosity is a quality that comes to mind. Because she's also a great sport, she agreed to come slumming over here.

GOOD FAMILY, starting with its title, addresses the subject of class, a more taboo subject in our society than sex. The book is laced with a subtle, ruthless irony. How does it feel to write about money and class? (Irony and its targets found its way instinctively into the story. Yes?)

Class IS taboo because it seems so, well, un-American. So we pretend it's not there, or run around apologizing like mad for the differences in our circumstances or whatever zany genuflecting we seventies children felt we needed to do. But what IS class? Is it merely socio-economics? Or background and education? Who you know? Who your ancestors knew and what they accomplished? Perhaps it's all of the above. It's certainly more fungible today than in the past. Just read these articles about Brooke Astor and how she lived her life, and there's all this breathless speculation about who's going to "succeed" her as if this role she's played in society is dynastic. But what sounds fun about her is that she knew exactly who she was and what role she was playing. It's when people have the form without the substance that irony inevitably creeps in. Does that answer your question? Oh, and you asked if it was fun to write about money and class. Absolutely. It's a delight blasting through all that silver-plating to find the true metal of your characters.

What influence does Maddie's 'generation' have on her? Perhaps I'm being influenced by our talk about our own backgrounds, but it seems to me she reflects the impact of the irreverent seventies. What do you think?

Absolutely. She'd be mid-to-tail end of the baby boomers, drafting along on the counter culture. Of course, all that irreverence came with a price: lack of clarity, mushy boundaries, confusion about too many options. It's hard to define yourself by what you're "against". The upside is that she didn't have to BE her mother... and that she found her way out. I think there are great gifts in being part of the seventies generation, and we benefited by what the leaders of the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, the human potential movement were accomplishing. But to get stuck where Maddie is stuck at the beginning of the book -- focusing solely on the deficiencies of her family -- is to be saddled by irreverence in a way that gets old -- like the bitter drunk at the end of the bar.

One of the things I like about GOOD FAMILY is the tension between a woman needing reconciliation with her past/family and defying expectations/inheritance. Was it a challenge in creating the arc of the story? Did the character submit easily?

I don't know about the character "submitting." The questions central to her life came easily to me as I identify with them. I'm not nearly as cranky as Maddie (at least consciously), but what pleased me about the arc of the character development -- and, I suppose, the story -- was that as she became more dimensionalized, she settled into herself. I kept moving the material about her past around until I found a place for it to land -- mostly in the middle of the book. It provides a platform for her to go forward and become the leavened Maddie we see at the end.

Is the paperback out now? What do you have to say about publishing? Or would you rather talk about something more pleasant...how are the Michigan lakes looking this summer? Or how were the stars last night?

The paperback is out and doing surprisingly well. I say surprising -- not because I don't believe in the book -- but because I felt it had a limited audience, and it's finding a broader readership than I expected.

As for publishing -- well, there's publishing and there's writing, and I'm fortunately veering back to the latter wherein most of the satisfaction lies. I am baffled by publishing. I see so much good stuff ignored, and so much dreck extolled. I've learned to wear it like a loose cloth.

And I AM in Michigan now, and the humidity has been unbearable for four days. All we could do was sweat and swim. Last night, the lightening flickered and thunder cracked for almost two hours. I was so energized by all the electricity, I couldn't sleep.We look out over the lake, and it's one of the best shows nature has to offer. I feel the same thrill I did as a child when a thunderstorm moves in.

Find out more about Terry Gamble at her website.