Kirsten Mickelewait
Author Interview - Kirsten Mickelewait
Author of The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty
Raised in New York’s Gilded Age, pampered heiress Sara Wiborg dreams of a more creative life than the rigid future prescribed for her. It’s only when she meets Gerald Murphy that she finds a man who shares her creative, aesthetic ideal and, after a friendship of eleven years, they marry despite the strong disapproval of her family.
Against the sizzling Jazz Age backdrop of 1920s Paris and Antibes, Sara’s innate style and gift for friendship attract the bohemian elite of the new century—including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, and Dorothy Parker. But by the 1930s, her fortune is lost and tragedy strikes—not once, but twice. Sara’s strength and resilience allow her to find a new equilibrium over time, long after the parties have ended. A heartbreaking story of love and loss, The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty follows Sara through her very modern life to reveal how tragedy can be healed by faith, unconditional love, and a creative mind.
Author Interview - Kirsten Mickelewait
Author I draw inspiration from:
The book that inspired the writing of this novel was The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. She's by far one of my favorite authors of historical fiction. Also enjoyed Love and Ruin.
Author Interview - Kirsten Mickelewait | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
In bed, both before my daily nap and at night. It's the only time I feel truly relaxed enough to get into a story. I also listen to books on audio in the car and on my daily walks. But I'm a visual learner, so I think I retain the story more if I read it in print.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Eve Ross in Amor Towles' Rules of Civility. She would probably do all the talking and I would simply listen, in awe of her indomitable spirit. I've always admired Bohemians and, though she may not strictly classify as a Bohemian, she had that "come what may" spirit that made her life so unpredictable and wild.
I love people (women especially) who live by their wits and are able to pivot as circumstances demand. Also people who have an individual sense of style in manner and dress.
Author Interview - Kirsten Mickelewait | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
For the first 20 years of my life, I planned to become a professional modern dancer. Fortunately, a knee injury prevented me from further pursuing that goal; I don't think I would have made the cut in the big leagues. I switched my major to English and built a stable career as a marketing/PR writer, and it wasn't until I was in my forties that I tried writing fiction. Two of my elementary school teachers had told me I should become a writer; I wish I'd had the confidence to start learning the craft of writing novels at a much earlier age. I was nearing retirement when my first book, a memoir, was published. Once I was out in the world as an author, I realized I should have pursued that goal all along.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardbacks feel like a real luxury these days; they seem like books you'll want to keep forever on your bookshelf. I greatly prefer paperbacks over ebooks, but I do load several ebooks onto my Kindle when I'm traveling. And audiobooks are invaluable for when I'm in the car or out walking. But I find that the narrators of audiobooks can make or break the experience for me. Sometimes I can't even finish the book if the narrator seems wrong for the character. However, when I recorded the audiobook for my memoir, I developed a new-found respect for narrators. It's an incredibly difficult, arduous task!
The last book I read:
All Fours by Miranda July. I loved the smart, funny voice, but I struggled to relate to the impetuous nature of her protagonist. I'm too pragmatic to enjoy watching her spend $20,000 to redecorate a motel room just to fulfill a fantasy of seducing a young stranger. (I do realize that this was kind of the point of the whole story.) I was also frustrated by all the bad choices she made that threatened her marriage, which is funny, because I made some similar choices in ending my own marriage. The biggest question for me was how much this book was a memoir and how much a novel. July has said it's a fictional novel, but she chose to include many characteristics from her own life (her gender-fluid child, for instance, and her own fame as a contemporary artist). It was a confusing book, but very well written.
Author Interview - Kirsten Mickelewait | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Oh, how I wish I were one of those authors who write their entire first draft in long-hand on a yellow legal pad! Writing long-hand is said to be the most evocative method, in which one's inner creativity just flows out onto the page. But I can't even write a thank you note without my hand cramping up and my writing becoming illegible. So it's the computer keyboard for me, from concept to copyediting.
I'm definitely a "plotter" vs. a "pantser." I always start with an outline and a working file of notes and quotes, story beats, even photos. I need to have a sense of where I'm going, and a structure to follow, even if it'll change drastically during the writing process. I love using Scrivener, with all its organizational tools. And I usually have charts for characters, plot points, and chapters on the bulletin board next to my desk.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
I'm a huge fan of the late Melissa Bank, whose protagonists in her linked story collections The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing and The Wonder Spot, Jane Rosenal and Sophie Applebaum, seem largely modeled on Bank herself. They're both super smart, hilariously witty, wise beyond their years, and naturally empathetic. When I learned that Banks had died a couple of years ago, I was devastated because now we'll never have another unforgettable book from her. I return to both books, and the wit and wisdom of Jane and Sophie, every year.
Author Interview - Kirsten Mickelewait | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I think I'd be either a visual artist or a graphic designer. I love telling stories, and that's just another medium to do that. In my career as a marketing writer, I worked hand-in-glove with a lot of graphic designers, and I enjoyed finding ways to integrate the words and graphics to send the strongest possible message, whether it was a print ad, a fundraising appeal, or a magazine story.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Hands down, the 1920s. I don't mean the sequined flapper dresses and feathered headbands of Great Gatsby fame, but rather the dropped waists, slouchy sweaters, long pleated skirts—early Coco Chanel. In the 1980s, Perry Ellis revived this look, and I wore it every day.
Place I’d most like to travel:
Since retiring from my full-time job three years ago, I've traveled to Morocco, the Netherlands, Italy (three times), Croatia, Slovenia, Portugal, and Spain. Next on my list is returning to Turkey and Greece. There's something about ancient Mediterranean cultures that really calls to me. I also hope to see Antibes in France, a primary location in my historical novel, The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty. I wasn't able to travel there when I was writing the book, so it would be fun to go and compare the imagined locale to reality.
My signature drink:
I recently invented a new cocktail: vodka and kombucha (favorite flavor: ginger and lemon). I'll also never turn down a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or a caramel macchiato.
Favorite artist:
These change over time and there are too many to mention. But currently I love Jon Batiste (music), Jean Michel Basquiat (painting), and Ken Burns (documentaries).
Number one on my bucket list:
I recently celebrated a BIG birthday by sky-diving; I'm glad I did it, but it wasn't the blissful experience I'd expected (the bliss came when I was back on terra firma!). It kind of dulled my desire to do more crazy things. I wouldn't say no to learning how to surf, and I love visiting new places on a bicycle. I also have a speculative novel in the can that I look forward to seeing in print.
Anything else you'd like to add:
It's never too late to become the person you always dreamed of being.
Find more from the author:
https://www.facebook.com/kirsten.mickelwait
https://www.instagram.com/kmickelwait54/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20566176.Kirsten_Mickelwait
About Kirsten Mickelewait:
Author Interview - Kirsten Mickelewait
Kirsten Mickelwait is a longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a copywriter by day and a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction by night. She received a degree in English from UC Berkeley, where she expanded her love of James Joyce and the expatriate creatives of 1920s Paris—including Sara and Gerald Murphy. She is a repeat alumna of the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference as well as the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Kauai Writers Conference, and the Paris Writers’ Conference. Her memoir, The Ghost Marriage, was published in 2021; The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty is her debut novel.
