An Interview with VOICELESS Author - Caroline Wissing

Caroline Wissing, with Canadian author Wayson Choy.

I recently finished reading and reviewing a new Canadian Young Adult novel, VOICELESS, by CAROLINE WISSING (Thistledown Press). I loved it! I thought I would ask the author for an interview, so I could further share her with my TTBOFS readers.

Voiceless was a compelling read for several reasons, but what really drew me to it was the fact that the narrator did not speak. I was eager to see how the author would conquer this challenge. After reading Voiceless, I do believe Wissing nailed it.

Voiceless is a story about overcoming our less than stellar beginnings. Annabel (Ghost), the non-speaking narrator, will leave a solid impression on you. You can check out my review HERE.

Please continue on to read my interview with the author, CAROLINE WISSING.

KC: Whatever made you come up with the idea of having a non-speaking narrator for your debut YA novel VOICELESS?

CW: Wow, that’s a good question. Temporary insanity, maybe? I love quirky characters; normal is boring, and I delight in giving my characters challenges and obstacles to overcome. I don’t recall the exact moment when I decided to make Ghost non-verbal, so I can’t tell you my thought process. Maybe she just came to me that way. Sometimes characters seem to appear fully formed and there isn’t a lot a writer can do about it.

KC: That’s very true! Did you find that narrating through Annabel (Ghost) was challenging? Was there ever a time when you thought to yourself, “What am I doing?”

CW: Yes and yes. My narrative choices for Voiceless were sometimes limiting but, I found, also very rewarding. I fell in love with Ghost’s voice and really enjoyed living inside her head for the duration of the novel. She has a super heart and a lot of courage, and exploring that made for a great journey. I also love how she sees the world and observes the people in it.

KC: Voiceless is, essentially, a story about lost children. I sensed a passion for the underdog in its pages. There are so many lost children in today’s society. I will be including some Kid’s Help info at the end of this post. Did you explore this theme out of a personal empathy for kids in this position? Do you have any words for teens who are suffering right now? Teens who may not be orphaned or homeless, but just having a hard time?

CW: I dislike social injustice in all its forms, and find social injustice crops up as a theme in a lot of my writing. Homelessness is a national shame and should be everyone’s concern. In terms of teens, I was one and I remember how difficult it was to manage my emotions. I’m now parenting a teen and a preteen and I see how much they struggle with the pressures and choices that they have to make. I find teens need a parent, or at least a positive role model, more at this age than they did when they were younger, although they don’t seem to know it.

Without a stable a home, teenagers are terribly vulnerable. I think they want the same thing we all want: to feel safe. I’m not qualified to give advice to struggling teens, but it helps to remind them that these are probably the toughest years of their lives, of anyone’s life. Anyone who tells a teen that these are their best years is doing more harm than good.

KC: Wonderful response. Your passion definitely comes through in the pages of Voiceless. Whenever I discover a new writer, I become quite curious about the things that brought them to the point in their journey in which they happen to be at that moment. So, this question has a few parts to it. I like to know what an author’s favourite things are. Caroline, do you mind answering the following favourites list?

Who are your favourite authors now? And who were your favourite children’s authors when you were growing up?

CW: As an adult, I love writers who inspire me to be a better writer. Miriam Toews’ writing blows me away. I had the character from A Complicated Kindness, 16-year-old Nomi, in my mind a lot as I wrote Voiceless. I enjoy novels that combine humour and pathos. It’s a delicate balance, but when it works, it really works. A Prayer for Own Meany by John Irving is another contemporary favourite of mine.

I was a big reader as a kid. I was shy and introverted and books let me escape into more interesting lives than my own. Not surprisingly (and if you’ve read Voiceless you understand what I mean) I loved horse stories. I read and re-read The Black Stallion series, Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka and Man o’War. But the novel that really “got” me was Marian L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. I got it from the school library and it completely blew my mind. I’d never read anything like it in my life. I checked it out and read it so many times that I was worried they’d ban me from checking it out again.

KC: What are your favourite movies?

CW: I love movies! I like films with smart writing and quirky characters, so the Coen brothers’ films are big hits with me. Fargo is such a complex study of human strength and human failings, coupled with that wonderful dark humour, it’s definitely a favourite of mine. I also like classics, like To Kill a Mockingbird, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Paper Moon. I could go on and on.

KC: Your favourite quote from a novel?

CW: I love the idea behind Dr. Seuss’s line in Horton Hears a Who: “Don’t give up! I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small!” Every one of us can make a positive difference to someone, and, no matter how insignificant it might seem, it counts.

KC: Do you have a favourite writing place? A place you escape to, to let the muse run wild?

CW: I write mainly on the computer, only rarely jotting things in notebooks when inspired, so my space is wherever my laptop is. I also like to write in silence, so my home office is the peaceful, dedicated spot I need for my writing.

KC: What 3 books would you take with you to a deserted island?

CW: This is a tough one. So, I’m going to cheat and say the Harry Potter series, the Riverside Shakespeare (complete works), and The Norton Anthology of English Literature. There are so many great books to read out there that I don’t tend to re-read books, even if I love them. My answer serves to maximize the reading material (and provides great reading too!).

KC: Pantser or Plotter? Do you like to outline your novels, or do you just write off the cuff? OR, do you do a bit of both?

CW: I’m definitely a pantser. When I first started writing novels, I’d heard about writers using outlines and thought I was doing it wrong, so I tried to force myself to outline. It was a disaster. For me, everything flows much better when I allow myself to make it all up as I go along (although I always know the ending). Every writer should use the process that works best for her, not what works best for someone else.

KC: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? What is your first memory of actually sitting down and writing?

CW: I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I was a precocious reader (thanks to my diligent stay-at-home mother) and don’t remember ever not being able to read. Reading and writing have always been part of me. I was that weird kid in high school who couldn’t wait to get her essay back from the teacher. One of the stories I wrote in kindergarten ended up getting published in the school yearbook. It was about a pair of kittens and their adventures. I clearly remember writing that story at age 5.

KC: That’s awesome! I think that makes you the youngest published writer I know! Can you walk us through the journey you took from concept to finished book with VOICELESS?

CW: As a pantser, my process is very fluid. I know only where I’m starting and where I want to end up. The general concept for the novel came from a book I read about a woman in the States who rescues abandoned, abused and unwanted horses and gives them a place to live out the end of their lives in peace. Yes, there are generous, big-hearted people out there who do this. I was moved by her stories. And then I thought: what if those rescued horses were teenagers? So I made them human, gave them a past and a personality (and those quirks I love) and put obstacles in their way. The story grew from there.

KC: Do you have any other writing projects in the hopper?

CW: I’ve written five novels to date and am working on number six. Voiceless was the second novel I wrote. I’m hoping to interest my current publisher in at least one of those completed projects. Otherwise, I’m off to pound the pavement wearing a mortarboard advertising my wares!

KC: I, for one, can’t wait to read more! I wish Caroline Wissing the best of success with the rest of her writing journey. In Ghost, she certainly gave me a character I will cherish for a long time to come. Thank you, Caroline!

As promised, here is the contact for Kids Help Phone Canada & Kids Help Line

Voiceless - Review

Title: Voiceless

Author: Caroline Wissing

Release Date: March 30, 2012

Format/Page Count: Paperback/240 pages

Publisher: Thistledown Press

Purchased: Blue Heron Books 

Synopsis:  Annabel Cross, nicknamed Ghost, hasn’t spoken a word since she witnessed Granny’s brutal murder two years earlier. However, at 15, Ghost has found a kind of peace at a foster home on a farm with other unwanted teens, including her closest friend Tully, who has dwarfism. But Graydon Fox arrives and Ghost falls hard for his good looks and intriguing combination of vulnerability and aloofness.

When Ghost’s mother is released from a drug rehab centre, she moves clear across the country to begin a new life—without Ghost. Devastated by her mother’s betrayal, Ghost overlooks Tully and turns to Graydon, meeting him nightly in the hayloft after curfew. One night the stable catches fire and, worried she’ll be blamed, Ghost agrees to run away with Graydon. While they flee along a dark stretch of road, a car pulls up and the driver, Cooper, offers them a ride. Cooper gives Ghost and Graydon refuge in his city apartment, but his offer comes at a price. After she realizes how Cooper expects her to earn her keep, and Graydon’s role in the plot, she has little choice. Rather than remain in the apartment as a sex slave, she must run and risk her life surviving on Ottawa’s streets in winter, mute and alone. (From GOODREADS)

Expectation: I know the author. I met Caroline at Absolute Write. We have since met in person at the Ontario Writers' Conference, on several occasions. My caveat here would be that I am a personal friend of the author, but that in no way biases my review. I had HIGH expectations for Voiceless because, 1) I loved the synopsis...it was unique and 2) I know the high quality of writing that Wissing outputs...having read one of her previous manuscripts.

Market/Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
 

Review:

Favourite Quote: 'I believe we just wanted to crawl into the children we'd never had the chance to be.'

Voiceless is a gripping story. From the moment the reader is introduced to the non-talking narrator, and the group of foster children in her company, they will be drawn to discover what becomes of this band of misfits. There is, first and foremost, Annabel, our narrator. She is also known as Ghost, a name given to her by her beloved foster mother, Mary. The other children are a sorry cast of unwanteds that includes a hooker (Char), a little person (Tully), a native (Jerome) and a mystery boy who appears at the story’s onset…a mystery boy whom Ghost is drawn to like a moth to a flame. Even his name is exotic—Graydon.

From the beginning, we see an intricate inner world through the eyes of our non-speaking narrator. She is thoughtful, caring…good. She is also lost in a world where her mother chooses drugs and the wild life over her. Ghost reflects on her early childhood with her grandmother…and from these reflections we realize the extent of the trauma she has suffered in her life. But at her foster home with Mary and Bobby, she finds a kind of peace. Her foster mother not only has a heart big enough to shelter the misfit children in her life, but she also extends that shelter to include the neglected and forgotten horses of the world. It is the horses that bring out a passion in Ghost…especially her love for the sway-backed Jett.

From the moment Graydon Fox appears at Noble Spirit Farm, Ghost is intrigued. It is just a matter of time before Graydon zeros in on her—possibly just as intrigued with Ghost’s inability to speak. The reader gets a sense that, as mysterious and bad-boy as Graydon appears, he also has redeeming qualities. He is nice and gentle to Ghost. But there is never a moment where the reader won’t let their guard down. Something will niggle at them throughout the story—a warning not to take their eye off the boy. It’s remarkable how well Wissing weaves this notion into the story. Even when he is at his best with Ghost, there is still that warning. Watch out.

After an ‘accident’ on the farm, Ghost agrees to flee Noble Spirit with Graydon. Things start to unravel from there. As a reader, I so wanted Graydon to redeem himself. As the warning flags became more flagrant, there was still that sense that he really did care for Ghost…that he just didn’t know how to undo what he had already put into motion. Was he a good kid drawn into bad circumstances? I devoured this book in my need to know the outcome. And though it felt near the end that certain loose ends were being bow-tied…it never took away from the story’s flow. I was satisfied from the first word to the last. Ghost and Graydon, and the rest of the sad-sack crew that made up the ensemble of foster kids on Noble Spirit, will haunt you long after you finish reading VOICELESS.

Wissing’s use of language is impeccable. Simply put, she has a beautiful way with words. Combine this with her ability to weave such a unique story of sadness and overcoming and you have an instant classic—Voiceless will be one of those books you just know you’ll want to revisit time and again. The maturity of Wissing’s lyrical prose boosts it beyond its market of YA…to that of literary. But it’s a story with mass appeal. It’s a unique combination when a story can transcend its niche and crossover into multiple categories of interest. I think Voiceless does this. Though written for the young adult audience, it would certainly speak to any reader who picks it up. This is a book you will want to read. I guarantee satisfaction.

Expectation was met and exceeded. Annabel is with me still...what a great female character. Such understated strength! Met & exceeded!

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