A Noir Conversation with Vicki Hendricks
Two classmates chatting
As many of you know, I got my MFA in creative writing from Florida International University long ago—before the days of Kindles and artificial intelligence. I was lucky to study with some great faculty as well as some very talented fellow students. One of those is Vicki Hendricks, who went on to help me get my teaching job at Broward College and become a valued colleague.
Vicki made a big splash with her thesis, Miami Purity, and has gone on to write and publish more terrific books. I thought it would be fun to share a conversation between us with you.
Years ago you talked about structure and The House of Usher, the way the book can be split at the middle and the beginning mirrors the end.
I think, talking to my students years ago, I admired the beauty of the reflective structure and marveled at how Poe, a supposed drug addict, could have possibly created such a wonder.
The idea for Chez Usher came first as a screenplay, inspired by two wonderful gay friends, an architect and his partner, who was a women’s romance novel cover model. Who could pass up such a combination?
The screenplay eventually evolved into the novel Chez Usher, published in November. It’s much more richly developed than the screenplay and preserves Poe’s basic reflective structure.
We were in the same “write your first novel” class and we had to pick a book to model our own, after, and do a quantitative analysis—how many pages per chapter, how many scenes, and so on. You picked The Postman Always Rings Twice, and used it to help you structure Miami Purity. Did you use that same analysis to create Chez Usher?
No, it was a fantastic help on the first book, but I’ve never used that technique again. Since Poe’s original story is only a few pages, I had to reach well beyond everything in it to expand to the published 219 pages. Architecture became important, many Key West characters were added, plus scenes in New York City and subplots—Madeline took on a huge role. She’s my favorite!
I’ve never considered myself a noir writer, because of your belief that in noir, things start out bad and get worse, and I’m a happy endings kind of guy. But in his blurb for my book, Michael Nava wrote, “Bless Our Sleep is the best kind of classic noir, richly atmospheric with a flawed but sympathetic hero.” Do you agree that the darkness can also come from the atmosphere and the hero’s flaws?
Absolutely. The key is “a flawed hero,” which is essential. Everything I write has the earmarks of a “noir brain,” but not always on purpose. For a long time, I thought Chez Usher was a gay dark comedy. My publisher surprised me by calling it gothic noir. On my complimentary coffee mug is printed, “Author, it’s noir if I say it’s noir.”
(This 1995 photo is the way I remember Vicki!)
When I look back at our classmates, most never published a single book, even though some of them were talented wordsmiths. Why do you think those of us who have made a career were successful?
It takes tons of drive to finish a single novel, and getting one published is an entirely different skill. To me, luck is the most important factor. You can help luck along with perseverance, but obsessive years of effort can wreck lives.
I doubt if I would have kept writing if I hadn’t had the luck to be rewarded with publication for Miami Purity. During most waking hours, there’s that feeling of being semi-present, disconnected from real life by contemplating details and images and anything that might be of use in the imaginary world. I think this must be true for every writer, to some extent, although I’ve never heard it discussed. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous, if while driving.
I spent over eight years on Chez Usher, stopping for six months at a time, to take a break from that feeling. Finally, I reached the home stretch and surprised myself by finishing. Every time I finish a draft, I’m surely a better writer than when I started it. Since I couldn’t remember where I was after each break, I rewrote so much, so many times, that the book and I got better and better.
Without luck, it’s a matter of how much disappointment and discomfort a person is willing or able to suffer. Beyond the writing itself, the business of getting published is mostly painful and often humiliating. I thought Chez Usher would remain unpublished, and I would finally be fed up for good. But what do I know? Luck struck again!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this interview. It’s kind of amazing to me that Vicki and I have been friends for nearly thirty years! I do miss spending time on campus with her and talking about books. Chez Usher is also available from the publisher, Fahrenheit Press.
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