Lloyd Nolan interviews
Jackson Tippett McCrae
[Reprinted from Bookreads.com]
For those not already familiar with Jackson McCrae, this interview will hopefully serve as an introduction to this talented and prolific writer, even though he’s been writing now for over ten years. For those who know and love his work, by all means, read on—there are so many layers to this author and his work that it would take a lifetime to uncover them all. And even though his best-known work—The Bark of the Dogwood—originally came out in 2002, it is still selling quite well and the paperback version has been released in 2005. Mr. McCrae’s The Children’s Corner has now been published and has received the Ellis R. Meredith Award for Short Fiction.
LN: Tell us about yourself; where you’re from, your education; that type of thing.
JTM: I’m originally from the South and grew up there during the civil rights era. Needless to say, that was an intense time for everyone. I attended the University of North Texas, majoring in music and then went on to Juilliard, studying piano. In New York I produced and directed several off-off Broadway endeavors and won several awards for music composition including the IBM best use of the Finale software that enables composers to notate their music and then hear it played by the computer. I also worked for the New York City Ballet, the New York Philharmonic, and Twyla Tharp Dance briefly. I got really caught up in the dance world at one point and studied at the Martha Graham School and some other places. While my background was always in music and dance, eventually I found myself in the world of publishing (it paid better and was, for a time, more stable.) My work experiences at Smithsonian Magazine and Condé Nast Publications pushed me more and more toward writing fulltime. The end result was my first book, The Bark of the Dogwood. It’s no accident that the story is that of a writer for a home and garden magazine who is asked to write about Southern homes and gardens.
LN: Interesting. We all know the famous people who attended Juilliard, but tell us about the University of North Texas—aren’t there some pretty well-known people that went there?
JTM: Certainly. Off the top of my head, let’s see . . . Dr. Phil is one, along with Nora Jones, Steve Austin, Larry McMurtry, and a host of other famous writers, musicians, and artists. I can’t remember them all.
LN: Well, certainly Larry McMurtry is a famous one, having written major screenplays and award-winning novels. Lonesome Dove comes to mind—I believe he won the Pulitzer for that.
JTM: And everyone knows Dr. Phil . . .
LN: Right. So, tell me this. I know that parts of The Bark of the Dogwood are set in Texas. Any chance it was set at the same time these famous people were there? Any of them in the book?
JTM: No, none that I know of. None intentionally. Though I believe several were at the university the same time I was there.
LN: Which brings us to another question: How much of yourself is in Dogwood?
JTM: God, I hope not too much. But seriously, you know, that’s the question that gets asked most in interviews and at readings and I have a stock answer that I like very much. My theory is this: If you set out to write a work that is strictly fiction, some truth will get in. Also, if you set out to write a work that is one hundred percent truth, some fiction will slip in the door. It can’t be helped. So to answer your question, Yes, there’s some of me in the book and in the character of Strekfus, but there’s also a lot that is composed of other people. I can honestly say that I’ve never put any one person in a book—any one real person. All of my characters are composites—they’re much more interesting that way. Believe it or not, real people are actually very flat and unrealistic—look around. We like to think that the people we know are well rounded and that no one is wholly one thing or another, but I think it’s a fallacy. Oh, it does happen, but the majority of people are very, unfortunately, one-dimensional. And I imagine that as authors get more and more into writing different books, they leave a greater part of themselves behind and become interested in developing totally new characters. My next novel deals heavily with male prostitution, so let’s hope people don’t see that as autobiographical.
LN: Okay. Let’s move on to your new book, The Children’s Corner. I was struck by how individual each story is and how you really made every one a complete tale with a fully formed plot and interesting characters. Would you comment on that?
JTM: You read Dogwood—you know that I like to play with styles. It’s something I learned in music when taking composition classes in the 1980s. We were encouraged to try any and everything, and at one point, eclecticism was very “in” as far as composing music. It wasn’t unusual to have classical elements coming together with the avant-garde, or even a pastiche of styles. I felt pretty comfortable in music and with words, using many styles, and I didn’t want to waste that, so the result is that my writings can sometimes sprawl stylistically. This worked well for me in Dogwood as the chapters alternate between the South—a more languid and laid-back style—and the New York ones—clipped, short, and to the point. When I got to The Children’s Corner I attempted to tailor the style of writing to the subject material. Nothing too way out, you understand—they are, after all, written by the same author and needed some consistency, but I really wanted different colors and rhythms. There’s that music reference again. I’m very much attached to art and music—I was also a painter at one time—so all of these elements make their way into my writings.
LN: Let’s talk about your career in publishing in New York.
JT: Let’s not, if you don’t mind. I’d rather not ruin a good interview.
LN: All right. Then how about your experiences since becoming a published author?
JTM: That’s fair. There’s good news, and bad. The good news is that I’ve learned more about human nature since my first book came out than I have in the entire period of my life before that. The bad news is that I’ve learned more about human nature since my first book . . . well, you get the point.
LN: Care to elaborate?
JTM: I never realized how petty and vicious some reviewers and even some of the public could be toward authors. And I’m not talking just about myself. If you go onto websites and read reviews of any book, you can see some of the most vituperative and scathing reviews about some of the most brilliant and moving books out there. Look at To Kill a Mockingbird or The Great Gatsby—you can find people who loathe these works and everything in between. One can only imagine what they’d do with some of the lesser ones.
LN: Have you had any bad experiences you’d care to share with us, regarding the reviews?
JTM: Hmm. Let me see if I want to go there . . . you know, I was harassed about a year ago by an author who kept putting bad reviews on Dogwood. I knew who it was—his style was so apparent and he’d obviously not read the book. It took quite a bit of effort to get him to stop. The phrase, “Needs to get a life” comes to mind. More recently, I had someone write in with what was probably the most mean-spirited review I’d ever read—again, this was on a website where books are sold. I can fully appreciate someone not liking my work or being turned off by some of the subject material, but when they start making statements that are simply false and defamatory, I get upset. This particular individual listed specific sentences that she didn’t like in the book. She went on to list several grammatical errors. The thing was, neither the sentences nor the errors existed! My publisher had the file of the book and scanned it, just to be sure. None of those mistakes could be found anywhere, at any time. I found out who the reviewer was and threatened legal action, at which point she admitted that none of those sentences or errors were actually in the book. She went on to say that she planned to further defame me orally and in writing, and then added that if my attorney didn’t let the matter drop, she would be blackmailing me—all of this in print by the way. We determined that she was mentally ill and have since let the matter drop, but you know, it scares me that anyone can write a bad review on any book. It’s sad that the general public doesn’t understand how hurtful these comments are, not to mention damaging to book sales.
LN: The Children’s Corner recently won the Ellis R. Meredith Award for short fiction. I understand this is the first time the award was given.
JTM: It’s from a foundation in Vermont; a group of individuals who value writing and see it as one of the saving graces that we have left. Since it’s the first time the award is offered, the whole thing came as a surprise. Neither the publisher nor I had submitted the book to anyone, so the award amazed us both. When I first saw the name, I thought that perhaps it had something to do with the Meredith who died in Mississippi during the civil rights era, but it doesn’t. That was a James Meredith, I believe.
LN: I’m guessing you thought of the connection because of your writings about that era?
JTM: Exactly. Turns out, the committee simply liked the book—The Children’s Corner—and hadn’t even read Dogwood.
LN: What’s next for you in the writing arena?
JTM: I’ve just finished another book and am in the process of doing some heavy editing. I’ve also completed the main part of another book that I think will be the best thing I’ve done. I’d love to discuss it more, but I don’t want to give any ideas or the writing process away. I do have to tell you that some of the bad experiences with The Bark of the Dogwood influenced my writings, and really hate to admit that.
LN: Such as?
JTM: Well, when I wrote Dogwood, I incorporated a multitude of anagrams, hidden messages, links to and from characters, myriad references to other Southern writers, and a host of hidden and not-so-hidden ties into Truman Capote, for whom the main character is named. Only a select few highly educated people got it. Most just read it for the surface story and didn’t realize that each and every chapter was intricately tied to the next. Most didn’t realize that some of the anagrams were clues—you know, look this way, don’t look that way? And this was long before Da Vince Code came out, though my usage is nothing like his, and the writing style is galaxies apart. And those who found parts of the novel too obvious, with too many coincidences, just didn’t understand Southerners or that the coincidences were my way of saying, “Go back and dig deeper—there’s more there.”
LN: And as a result?
JTM: And as a result I just said, “Fine. No one really appreciates what I’m trying to do. I’m not going to put that much effort into my next book. No one cares." But in the end, that wasn’t what happened. You see, by the time Dogwood took off, I’d already completed finished drafts for four more books. Well, I thought I’d been less detailed and less puzzle-oriented, but when I went back and looked at the drafts of the new novels, I had done the same thing—you know, included anagrams, puzzles, mind games, etc. I guess my subconscious just wouldn’t let me be swayed, even though I was really dejected by some people’s ignorance about Dogwood.
LN: So this was something you did in The Children’s Corner?
JTM: A little, yes, but more so in my next novel, Katzenjammer.
LN: We don’t know about that one yet.
JTM: No.
LN: Anything you’d like to discuss?
JTM: Well, as I said before, it deals with a male prostitute and the publishing industry. While the style is much more straightforward, the twists and turns are every bit as complicated as Dogwood. There are some number games in it also. Again, you don’t have to know these things to enjoy the book, but they’re there if you want to dig deeper.
LN: So your experience with Bark of the Dogwood wasn’t totally negative?
JTM: No. I’ve got several fan clubs, one in particular in Georgia—these ladies send me boxes of Southern treats, cards, gifts, you name it. They’re a lovely bunch and very supportive. In addition, there are several American colleges and high schools that teach Dogwood in class. There’s also a club in Arizona, one in Chicago, and even a few in Canada. For some reason Dogwood has been on several Canadian bestseller lists. It was very high up on Amazon’s bestseller list for the longest time. It's also popular in New Zealand and Australia.
LN: That’s great. But some high school students are allowed to read it? Is that legal? I mean, it’s pretty racy in places.
JTM: Yes, it is. I understand what you’re saying—there are some pretty daring sections in the book, but thank goodness some important English teachers picked it up and realized its merits and what I was trying to do with metaphors, symbolism, etc. And one instructor who had his own website had me listed with Hemingway, Twain, and Faulkner. Not bad company, though I don’t think I agree.
LN: Other authors should be so lucky.
JTM: You’re not kidding.
LN: Well, that about wraps up our time, unless you have something else you’d like to add.
JTM: No. That about does it for me. Thanks for the interview.
LN: You’re quite welcome, and the best of luck with The Children’s Corner.
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