Authors Interviewing Characters: Sue Mell

Authors Interviewing Characters: Sue Mell interviews Connie, from PROVENANCE

About PROVENANCE

Still grieving his wife’s early death, 57-year-old DJ takes refuge in his sister Connie’s half-finished basement, imagining a comfortable and solitary retreat in the Hudson Valley town where they grew up. Instead, he finds himself caught up in her troubling divorce, drafted as caregiver for her 11-year-old daughter, Elise, and unable to face or afford a storage unit crammed with hundreds of vinyl records and every other scrap of his former life. DJ gifts Elise a marbled glass egg, a porkpie hat, and one of his prized guitars. But what’s asked of him is not to give the perfect object—it’s to give of himself.

Winner of the Madville Publishing 2021 Blue Moon Novel Award, Provenance is a story of hope in ruin. With subtle poignancy and humor, it offers a fresh take on contemporary conflicts, exploring pivotal moments of sorrow, longing, and renewal in the lives of three deeply textured and indelible characters

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In a conference Room at the Best Western Plus, in Kingston, NY, Sue interviews Connie, a social worker at the state hospital. “The kind of crushing, impossible job,” as DJ describes it, “that few people can stand up to day after day, year after year, without giving up hope. Teens who tried to kill themselves, their parents, each other.”

Sue: Thanks for suggesting this place, by the way.

Connie: Still affordable, but a definite step up from the Super 8, and close to the hospital. We recommend it to the family members travelling from out of town. A half hour’s all I could free up, though, so I’m ready whenever you are.

Sue: Okay then, here we go. If you’d known that DJ was broke, that he had no plans of getting a place of his own, would you have still, or at least thought twice about taking him in?

Kind of a loaded question. That’s where you want to start? He is my brother. I’m supposed to what—let him end up on the street? Not that he would’ve. He’s always had good friends, like Tracy, who’d do almost anything for him. But that’s hardly the point. It isn’t really about the other person. It’s about you—who you want to be. And sure. He doesn’t speak to me for a year and then asks for a favor—and a big one, at that. But could I have lived with myself if I’d said no? I could not. And I had a feeling he’d be good with Elise. The music, all those dang guitars. I think there’s a way he hasn’t changed much since we were kids. 

Sue: Do you think people can change?

Connie: For the worse, obviously—they do. (She laughs) No—seriously though. I know they can. I see it all the time at work—the patients, and even some of their parents. It’s a matter of degree, you know? Sweeping change—well, that’s unrealistic. But in small and important ways—yes. People can change. Maybe grow up, is a better way to put it, where DJ’s concerned. Here’s the thing: if you expect too much, you’ll be disappointed. But if you expect the least of people? Then that’s all you’re gonna get.

Sue: Is that what happened with David?

Connie: With David? Aren’t all marriages disappointing to some degree? Talk about undue expectations. But yeah. I loved David. Still do, if I’m being honest—and the guy broke my heart with the coke, his sketchy friends, and their ridiculous schemes. But Elise is a great kid, and that’s not only my doing. We had a lot of good years, before it all went to shit—sorry, can I say that? I really thought . . .

Sue: You really thought . . . ?

CE: That we’d figure something out—not for our marriage, mind you. But for us still being a family, for Elise. I’m glad she’s got DJ in her life now, but I was always counting, even after the divorce, on David being here, too. I get it. But I had no idea, obviously, he was thinking of moving down to Silver Spring. Just far enough away to make it a pain in the ass. Assuming he does get clean. And the house. Such a stupid waste—I can’t even think about that. Could I have one of those? (She points to the tray of bottled waters and power bars at the far end of table.)

Sue: Sure, sure. There’s coffee, too—I should’ve offered.

Connie: No, no—water’s fine. 

(She opens a bottle and takes a long drink. I open one for myself, giving her a minute before starting again.) 

Sue: That’s gotta be hard. Driving by, seeing a  foreclosure sign . . .

Connie: Bank Owned. You’ve no idea. 

Sue: And Ryan and Patrice?

Connie: Still squatting there, so far as I know. I feel bad for that kid. Maybe we could talk about something else?

Sue: Let’s come back to DJ, then, if that’s all right? You once described him as “the most people-est” person you know. Is that something you envy?

Connie: Yes and no.

Sue: Why no?

Connie: Because it’s easier to be all hyped about whoever’s new, than the people who’ve stood by your side.

Sue: Like Andrea.

Connie: Like Andrea—exactly. But I suppose the possibility of something romantic will always trump family—or really anything else. My brother’s not unique in that. Let’s just say, that all things considered, he’s been pretty lucky, where women are concerned. I think he’s got a way of  making women feel seen, and that’s very attractive, but I don’t think, with Andrea, that it’s gonna work out. Though you never know. I think she’s the sort of person who gets other people to take care of her, so they’d be too alike.

Sue: Do you ever think that you’ve just stepped into that same position? I hate to use the word enabling, but—

Connie: Please—of course I am! I’m a social worker—I’m not totally blind. But there’s enabling, and there’s giving someone a chance to choose, to rise to the occasion. And the truth? The truth is I don’t have anyone else to help me with Elise. It’s a wobbly structure—I’ll give you that. But it might just stand. For now, at least. For this little while. 

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Author Bio:

Sue Mell is a writer from Queens, NY. She earned her MFA from Warren Wilson, and was a 2020 BookEnds fellow at SUNY Stony Brook. Her collection of micro essays, Giving Care, won the 2021 Chestnut Review Prose Chapbook Prize, and her collection of short stories, A New Day, was a finalist for the 2021 St. Lawrence Book Award. Provenance is her debut novel. Other work has appeared in Cleaver Magazine, Hippocampus Magazine, Jellyfish Review, Narrative Magazine and elsewhere. Find her at www.suemellwrites.com

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing