Interview with David Fuller

I think it would be fair to say that I’m not what you would call a history buff. Quite honestly, the only time buff enters my vocabulary is at Visage Salon when I’m getting my nails done. But all kidding aside, I have to admit that the Civil War has always piqued my interest. On quite a few occasions, my family has incorporated a side-trip to Richmond, Virginia on our way to elsewhere in order to tour the Confederacy’s White House. Within those walls lies the rich history that depicts the heroic battles of the Grey Coats. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it. The artifacts on display are truly fascinating.

When my colleague, Jessica Wiener from Hyperion Books, sent me SWEETSMOKE by David Fuller for possible consideration, my radar went on high alert. How could I not read a novel that dares to combine the struggles and heartache of the Confederacy with a love story like none other? Rarely do I get so hyped up about a book that doesn’t fall into my typical Jen’s Jewels category of selections. Without a doubt, this is THE book for the fall. And after reading it, I am sure you will agree.

As part of this interview, Hyperion Books has graciously donated five copies of SWEETSMOKE for you, my readers, to win. So, don’t forget to look for the trivia question. Good luck! In honor of the South, y’all grab a cold glass of iced tea and get to know the amazing screenwriter turned novelist, David Fuller.

Jen: For the last twenty-five years, you have had much success as a screenwriter. This month, your debut historical novel was released. So that my readers may get a better sense of the man behind the book, please tell us a little bit about your educational and professional background that led you to where you are today.

David: Hello, Jen. It’s a great pleasure for me to be able to join you for this interview.

As a boy, I grew up, from age 7 to age 11, in Europe. That was an education in itself. Through that time I thought I was an American kid. When I came back to the States I found out how much I had changed. I went to college as a painter, at the Rhode Island School of Design, but after a year, I realized I was interested in other artistic pursuits. I transferred to Brown University and graduated from there with an eclectic degree. I wanted to make movies and knew that the only way to get into that field was to write. So I planted my butt in a chair and wrote. And wrote. It took time to break into the movie business. During that time, I worked for a game show company as an art director, where I did everything from design elaborate network pitches for Dan Enright, to hand- writing cue cards for Wink Martindale, Jack Barry and Bill Cullen.

As a screenwriter, I teamed up with the talented and clever Rick Natkin, and together we had a nice run within the studio system. There was a stretch of time when we sold everything we wrote. Our most commercial script was made into a truly dreadful movie, and even though we were completely rewritten (and despite the fact that the head of every studio had read our original script), it was our fault when the movie failed. Naturally. Blame the writer.

Jen: SWEETSMOKE is a beautifully written story that dares to change the way in which the reader will view the role of slavery during the Civil War. How did you arrive at the premise?

David: As a young man, I worked for an African American production company, headed by a local Chicago celebrity and true Renaissance Man, Jim Tilmon. I did illustrations for a multi-media presentation entitled WE ARE BLACK, and learned about African American history. I carried this knowledge with me into my later work, and it eventually led me to the premise of SWEETSMOKE in an unusual way: My wife works at a movie studio, and her assistant, Susan, wanted to be a producer. Susan would send me scripts she liked, and I would read them and tell her why they would make crummy movies. In frustration one day, she said, ‘Okay, so what should I be looking for?’ I said something off the top of my head, like ‘Think about putting things together that don’t normally go together, like a bookstore owner falling in love with a movie star, or a psychic dog, or a slave detective…’ at which point I realized what I had said. ‘Wait. You can’t have that. Pretend I never said that.’ At that moment, I understood the entire story; I knew it would be set in Civil War Virginia, and that the slave would be a carpenter, as carpenters had more freedom than most slaves. There would be a murder, and the murdered woman would be a spy for the North.

Jen: SWEETSMOKE would not ring true if the harsh reality of the lives of the slaves was not accurately depicted throughout the book. How much research went into validating the authenticity of the time period? What was the most fascinating piece of information you discovered?

David: After eight years of research, I looked around and realized I could easily spend twenty years more, and that I had to start writing. The writing process took close to a year, and I continued researching throughout. I want to emphasize the fact that I am not a historian. I’m a storyteller, and the research I did was expressly aimed at supporting the story.

I came across many fascinating pieces of information. I learned that when George Washington died, he had put into his will that, after his wife Martha Custis Washington died, his slaves should be freed. Apparently, Martha spent a year hiding out in her bedroom, afraid that his slaves would murder her in order to achieve their freedom.

Another interesting piece of information I came across was that when slaves from different plantations came together, rather than comparing notes as to the brutality of their respective owners, they bragged about their plantations, as if they were on different teams. That sort of unexpected, real human response is why we have to tell stories.

Jen: The most difficult part for a debut novelist is quite simply figuring out the best formula in which to make the story work. For example, murder mysteries need a motive. Love stories need sexual tension. Historical fiction needs facts in order to bring credibility to the plot. Quite masterfully, you incorporated all three of these in your first novel, SWEETSMOKE. What was the most challenging part of bringing your story to life in terms of balancing all three of these aspects within the book’s framework? In what ways was it different than crafting a script?

David: The most challenging part was incorporating the research. The world of slavery and civil war had to be woven into the fabric of the story so that it felt seamless. If it appeared to the reader that I was trying to show off all the cool stuff I’d learned, then the book would be lousy. Cassius had to be someone I could identify with and live with. I have never been good at writing stories from the point of view of a victim, and although Cassius is oppressed in his world, he is not a victim by personality.

The story then had a strong dynamic: I was excited to see how someone of his intelligence and thought process would handle himself. He had to be creative, and he came alive for me. The sexual tension in the story comes from his personality, the fact that he is drawn to Quashee but is having trouble letting go of his anger and his protective shell. He knows that to fall in love would give too much power to the planters, as his vulnerable emotions would become his Achilles’ heel that the whites could use against him. The murder mystery plays off his personal history -- Emoline’s death carries his memory back to the most horrible incident in his life. My hope was that if I could weave these pieces together, the story would work.

Jen: What I liked best about your book was the way in which the reader was able to sympathize with both Cassius, the slave, and Hoke Howard, the plantation owner. Blame was not assigned. Fingers were not pointed. Each had his own cross to bear. In a sense, you were able to tell two stories in one. Was it always your intention to do it this way or is this simply how the story unfolded during the writing process?

David: I had always planned to do it that way. If you tell a story with obvious heroes and villains, you are writing melodrama. I hoped to show the slaves as deeply human: smart, stupid, witty, dull, thoughtful, and insensitive. The same with the planters. They are just as smart, stupid, witty, dull, thoughtful and insensitive. There are great similarities in the personalities of Ellen Howard and Emoline Justice. Both are strong, prickly women, difficult and intelligent.

Jen: To move the story along, there must be strong secondary characters whose threads are carefully woven throughout the book. Their ultimate purpose is to add to the plot without taking the focus away from the main character. Which storyline involving one of your secondary characters was your favorite and why?

David: I have affection for so many characters in the novel. Thomas Chavis and his wife, the owners of Weyman; Joseph and Andrew, Savilla and Jenny; Mam Rosie and her dangerous connivances. The Angel Gabriel was great fun to write. I find myself mentioning so many of them, as if to leave someone out might hurt their feelings.

The subplot of Tempie Easter rings powerfully for me. She is not a likeable person, but what happens to her is horrifying and reverberates through the novel. You can make the case that she brings it on herself, as it is her own plan that Cassius turns against her, but that just makes Cassius’s response to it that much more meaningful. If she had been kind or decent, I don’t think her story would have been nearly as effective.

Jen: Cassius was different than most slaves due to the amount of liberties he was given by his owners. Why did he not choose to run away? What made his loyalty to Hoke outweigh his desire for freedom?

David: Why Cassius did not choose to run away is a question that must be seen within its historical context. Naturally, there was incredible danger for a runaway. The law was fiercely set against them, both in the South as well as the North with the Fugitive Slave Act. Patrollers were on the road, and a black face was instantly assumed to be a slave. The whites planted fear in the slaves in every possible way, including through their religious upbringing. For Cassius personally, he did not know what lay beyond Sweetsmoke outside of thirty miles, which would have made running away extremely daunting. The liberties he enjoyed as a child and as a young man also would have contributed to his staying in place. He certainly felt no loyalty to Hoke after the incident with Marriah. But something in his anger and emotional coldness shut him down so that he was unable or unwilling to reach for his freedom.

Jen: Who was the stronger character…Cassius or Hoke? How so?

David: In so many ways, Cassius is a much stronger character than Hoke. Hoke is a rather weak man, indulgent of his own desires – he whimsically purchases slaves and animals, and is forced to sell them when he is in difficult financial straits – and he’s a vain man – this is particularly obvious when he compares himself to Cassius’s physical strength. Cassius’s weaknesses, which we see at the outset of the novel, are self imposed. His distance, his rage, plays out as immobility and ennui. But when he starts to act, after he learns of the death of Emoline Justice, his intelligence, his cleverness, and his ability to think on his feet, take hold, and his strength builds. Slaves needed to be wise readers of their owners, in order to not only survive, but to evade punishment.

Jen: I was surprised by Hoke’s wife Ellen’s brutality towards the slaves. Was it common for the plantation’s mistress to have much interaction with the field hands as well as instill fear among them? During that time period, was not the woman’s main role to run the household and the man’s to take care of the business side of the plantation?

David: Wars always seem to change traditional roles, as we’ve seen throughout history. Ellen has little interaction with the field hands, but she of course has very close relationships with the house slaves. Her flogging of Marriah emerged from her own private fury. Within the story, when Hoke is incapacitated, Ellen takes over his books and the plantation business out of necessity. She is forced to keep up the appearance of Hoke being in charge, but at that point, she has found that she’s better at his job than he was.

Jen: Was it difficult to say good-bye to these characters when it was all said and done?

David: Oh my yes. It was particularly difficult to say good bye to Cassius. The moment I finished, I thought of what he might be doing next, but I realized, as time passed, that this was the right way to say farewell.

Jen: Looking back, what do you think was your true motivation for writing this book? Was it a professional hurdle that you have always wanted to jump? Was it to bring a better understanding of slavery and plantation life during the Civil War to light? Or could it simply have been to broaden your own awareness of our country’s rich history and how it relates to your life?

David: To some degree, it was a combination of all three. But it was also a desire to tell a good story. Here was fertile land upon which to build a story, and a writer doesn’t often get the chance to live through a distinct world with a character as interesting as Cassius. When he came into my head, I knew I had to tell his story. Perhaps, in some odd way, he insisted upon it.

Jen: What has surprised you most about the book publishing industry?

David: Their kindness and generosity. Publishers seem to like writers. I have loved working with Leslie Wells, my extraordinary editor. She significantly improved the novel with her thoughtful notes and her careful reading. Ellen Archer is a great publisher, a joy with whom to work, supportive and enthusiastic. She even laughed at my jokes at the Librarian’s Dinner. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my extended Hyperion family, Will Balliett, Allison McGeehon, Michael Rotondo, Maha Khalil, Jessica Wiener, Beth Gebhard, Alexandra Ramstrum, Jill Sansone, Betsy Spigelman, Bijani Mizell and Chisomo Kalinga. I adore them all.

Jen: Will you continue to pursue a career as a novelist or will you return to screenwriting?

David: If there is a story that seems right for the screen, I will consider pursuing it, but I am spoiled by the pleasure of writing prose. It allows my actual words, good, bad or indifferent, to reach a public. The movies provide the words only through proxy: actors, directors, rewriters.

Jen: Do you have a website? Will you be able to participate in author phone chats? And if so, how would my readers go about scheduling one? (Me, first!!)

David: I would be thrilled to participate in phone chats, and you will indeed go first! There is contact information on my website: http://www.sweetsmokedavidfuller.com/

Jen: Thank you so much for being a part of Jen’s Jewels. I am truly in awe of your novel. It’s so well-written, so moving, and truly an exceptional piece of literature. Bravo. I wish you nothing but the best.

David: It was totally my pleasure. I am humbled by your kind words and I deeply appreciate them. Thank you for letting me be a part of Jen’s Jewels.

I hope you have enjoyed this interview as much as I did. Please stop by your favorite bookstore or local library today and pick up a copy of SWEETSMOKE.

Okay, it’s time for your favorite part of the column. The Contest! Win your very own copy of SWEETSMOKE! Good luck!

What is David’s website address?

Next month, I will be bringing to you my interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Allison Brennan. You won’t want to miss it.

Until next time…Jen