An Interview With Local Writer Elizabeth McKenzie
Author of Stop That Girl

Interviewed by Byron Merritt

Local Santa Cruz writer Elizabeth McKenzie has the right to brag ...but she hasn’t let the spotlight she’s found herself in with Stop That Girl, her latest creation, go to her head. Having met McKenzie at a local book signing for the novel, she was soft-spoken and somewhat reserved about her ample literary successes. Her stories have appeared in such prestigious periodicals as The New York Times, Three Penny Review, ZYZZYVA and many others. But tackling a novel appears to be a new format for her and she’s found a unique voice in Ann Ransom, her main character in Stop That Girl.

McKenzie also recently put up a website (www.stopthatgirl.com) which mentions much about her life, her work and her latest book.

FWOMP: The title of your book is Stop That Girl: a Novel in Stories. What does "A Novel in Stories" mean?

Elizabeth McKenzie:

This term seemed overly precise, when it was first attached to this book, and I protested it. But even with my doubts about the label, I think it's a legitimate literary form. Each chapter is a story which can stand alone, although taken together a cumulative resonance is supposed to occur. Think of Dubliners or Winesburg, Ohio, or more recently of Annie John and Monkeys — collections in which stories build on each other and become whatever it is that a novel is — the definition has really stretched and stretched. I've heard the form called a "story cycle" sometimes, but to me that sounds kind of mechanical, like a setting on a washing machine.

FWOMP: I’m sure you’ve been asked this before, but here goes again: How much nonfiction is interspersed with fiction with regards to the main character (Ann Ransom) and your life?

EM: I can argue with myself on how to answer this question. Earlier this year Jonathan Franzen gave a talk in Santa Cruz and someone asked him this and he said something about how writers don't usually like that question, that it's the dreaded question. Because if you say it is autobiographical there's some kind of assumption that you haven't been creative. But the thing is, the hard part is finding a form, whether the material comes from personal experience or not. Overall, I think it's a good sign to be asked this. Because it means someone's been engaged enough to wonder. If you read a story about someone waking up and putting on the kettle, you're not usually dying to know if "it really happened" or not. But yes, anyway, some of it ...

FWOMP: Why the name Ann Ransom?

EM: I Actually she was only Ann as I wrote the book and it wasn't until I finished that I realized she needed a last name, and realizing that she didn't have one actually underscored a thematic element here, that of Ann's not belonging to any group or tribe. And for me, 'ransom' has an interesting echo.

FWOMP: How long did it take you to write this collection and get it set into a novel format?

EM: I Some of the stories were in the works for years. The title story especially. I probably tried it with a half dozen different openings and voices before I finally I hit on one that came a little more naturally. After the collection was accepted, I wrote four new stories in a short time, no doubt because there had been some good news. Then we edited awhile and new ideas kept occurring and I'd ask if I could throw something in. Then at a certain point the publisher threatens to charge you if keep making changes, so I had to stop.

FWOMP: You've written about Santa Cruz and other California coastal towns in Stop That Girl. Have you lived in these communities at some point in your life?

EM: I I still have old mail addressed to me in Aptos, Capitola, Menlo Park, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. But I haven't moved in a long time now.

FWOMP: Do you like living in Santa Cruz?

EM: I I love Santa Cruz now but it's easy to blame the place you live for your woes or your inborn sense of isolation. But nowadays I think it's very beautiful here and there are lots of things going on and I'm not blaming it for anything. In fact when I come back from trips it strikes me as a wonderland. I like walking in Pogonip and Wilder Ranch and going to Tacos Morenos and my writing group and I've even grown kind of fond of the monster welcoming sign on River Street.

FWOMP: Take us through a normal Elizabeth McKenzie writing day.

EM: I After coffee, I sit with my edited manuscript from the night before and start making changes at the computer. As I make the changes I add other stuff as well. Then I comb through it all and make more changes, and finally after a few hours, I print. Later in the day, I start editing what I printed. Once I've made marks all over it, I save it for starting up with the next day. Then, before I go to sleep, I lie in bed thinking about some problem that I wasn't able to solve. Often as I'm falling asleep I come up with the solution. Doesn't have to be anything big, often just a logistical hang up that I'm trying to see my way through.

FWOMP: Are you working on your next book?

EM: I It's a novel that takes place in San Francisco, with detours to other locations by way of the recollections of the main character. It's basically about two people who had tormented childhoods coming together and tormenting each other, with life-altering results. I could be more specific, but I feel superstitious and don't want to curse it.

FWOMP: You’ve been published in quite a few respected periodicals. Can you tell us a bit about your writing career?

EM: I Well it has been developing a little at a time. I was always excited anytime I had anything accepted at a quarterly, and every year or so this would happen, but I never really had the sense of much gathering momentum in terms of a career. I did write two novels early on, but they were stunted and doomed from the start. Then a few things happened that made me focus in on the material in Stop That Girl. The title story was accepted at ZYZZYVA, then ended up in Best American Nonrequired Reading, and then shortly after it was chosen for NPR's Selected Shorts and performed at Symphony Space in New York. I flew out to see it, and when I saw the actress, Mary Beth Hurt, playing the part of Ann in such a gripping way, I left feeling totally worked up about continuing to develop her character.