Author Archive: Cai Emmons
Why I Turned Away From Realism and Began to Write Surreal Fiction
My writing has taken an unexpected turn in the last few years. I’ve begun to incorporate elements of the surreal—what some might term fantastical or magical realist—into what would otherwise be realistic novels. My 2018 novel, Weather Woman, for example, tells the story of a woman who discovers she has the power to change the weather; she […]
Lessons From a Story Collection: The Smashing of False Beliefs
False Belief #1: I am only a novelist. I am a novelist—I did not intend to write a short story collection. I write what I love to read, and since I was a young child that has been novels. I used to lie on my side on my bed, elbow bent, head resting in my […]
Camping: A Writer’s Strategy for Staying Observant
I am just back from a weekend camping trip to the Oregon dunes with my partner Paul, also a writer. We didn’t plan to write on this trip; we simply wanted some time away in nature, sleeping in a tent. This was car camping, driving with a packed car to a Forest Service site not […]
How The Weather Influences My Writing
The idea for a novel does not usually arrive—for me at least—in a sudden “aha” moment. It is a process that takes place over time. Some of my ideas have lived in me for years like spores I scarcely knew were present until they found the fertile soil in which to sprout. Weather Woman was […]
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