Your heroines – Iris Woodsen here, Grace in Quiet Time – are complicated, conflicted figures – not Gothic, exactly, but perhaps akin to that – do you see them taking their places in an older literary genre?
I would say I unconsciously draw inspiration from classic literature, particularly Gothic literature. I don’t read a lot of contemporary literature so my style is certainly influenced by that. I’ve always been drawn to tragedy and am most compelled by complicated female characters. I find it easy to put myself in their place and write their stories.

 The novel’s timelines run from the 1930s to the 1960s – why these time periods and how did you research them?
Green Eye Blue started as a short story (the opening section). It just came to me, fully formed, all at once. I didn’t consciously pick the time period, it was how it appeared in my brain. The train, the fashion, the language. It was the story it had to be.
I researched by reading literature from the era. I read newspaper articles and studied old photographs. I travelled to New York City, Lily Dale, and Niagara Falls to get a proper feel for the places. I liked putting myself in the physical spaces Iris inhibited to see what would happen, to let chance have its way. I let my experiences colour how the story took shape.

What’s your writing process – do you write every day?
I absolutely do not write everyday, although I wish I did. I wouldn’t be able to sustain it.
I’m an obsessive writer. So usually when a project starts, I’ll work all day, every day until it’s finished. Then I’ll step away for a while. Sometimes I take a break from working entirely, other times I work on something else. But it would have to be a different genre, like poetry. I’m very singularly focused when I’m working so I don’t often have two projects happening at once.
I’m particularly bad when I’m in the final stages of editing. I can lose weeks when I’m editing. I’ll look up from my computer and realize a week has gone by. I certainly can’t condone it as the healthiest way to work, but it’s always been my way.

 What books do you like to read? What artist or artwork, not necessarily a writer or piece of literature, most inspires you?
My tastes in books are rather varied, but I almost exclusively read female authors. I consider myself a mood reader. The last books I read were: The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright (to my son), The Fate of Mary Rose and Great Granny Webster both by Caroline Blackwood. If I find an author I like, I tend to read their entire works.
I’m currently reading a biography on Blackwood. I’m very drawn to her life. She had ties to Lucian Freud (the painter), Robert Lowell (the poet), and Walker Evans (the photographer) so I’ve been exploring the works of those with whom she was connected.
Writing is isolating work so whenever I reach a standstill, I try to go out into the world. Travelling is ideal – but, of course, that’s not always realistic. I find museums, art galleries, and churches to be the most evocative. I’ll spend time among the things that people have made and I always find some type of inspiration there.

What’s next for you?
I’m taking some time off right now because I just had a baby. But I was working on a memoir about being pregnant. I’ve been keeping journals, which I haven’t done with any regularity since I was a teenager. It feels nostalgic, so I’m leaning into those feelings for the book.
I also recently completed a book of poetry titled, I Got Everything I Ever Wanted, which I’ve been working on for about five years. Hopefully that will be out in the world next.

Green Eye Blue is published by Vagrant Press.

(Church image above: St Dunstan-in-the-East.)