Tell us about Starling Days:

 Starling Days begins when Mina is picked up by the police for walking alone at night on George Washington Bridge. They demand she gets into their car, arguing that they don’t know what she’ll do if they leave her alone. They only release her when her husband, Oscar, comes to pick her up. The novel is everything that happens next. It is about mythology, London, the things families hide, the ways our minds and bodies can break, and trying to hold onto your love.

How are you nesting during this time? 

With buckwheat tea, a thick duvet, and my dog.

Do you have a bird story or favorite feathered friend?

I should probably say Starling Days.

 There are quite a few birds tucked in the pages. But my favorite starling fact that didn’t make it into the novel is that in 1949 a flock of starlings perched on Big Ben’s minute hand and slowed it down by four and a half minutes.

What is your most memorable reading experience?

One summer, a friend and I read Anna Karenina together. By together, I mean we started at the same time and were always checking in with each other to see where we were. Sometimes he’d speed ahead and other times I would catch up. It was a strange summer when we were both young and on the verge of making our lives all about art. I remember thinking that such conversations were the ones I’d waited my whole life to have. I remember too walking through a graveyard talking about how I loved Anna, felt an aching sympathy for Karenin, and detested Levin.

What makes you most excited about Starling Days?

I love hearing from readers. A book is like a message in a bottle. You never know who it will end up with. Perhaps because Starling Days is such a personal book, people have written to tell me about their own depressions. I’m not sure excited is the right word for how I feel about this, but it feels good to know my book has connected with them.

To tweet or not to tweet?

That is the question. It is like receiving a drunk text every two minutes—some love here, some rage there, some pure terror. I guess you have to decide how you feel about that. But I’m still on it.

What books do you have in your bag right now?

None at all. In these strange pandemic times my bag is empty of all but lip balm and loose change. But Deborah Levy’s The Man Who Saw Everything has pride of place beside my bathtub. On my bedside is Vampires in the Lemon Grove because my partner and I are reading it to each other before we go to sleep. Under my pillow is Nina Mingya Powles’ Tiny Moons.

Can you tell us your favorite rejection story?

Most rejections are dull. You write something and somebody says no thank you. Maybe you try again and later they say yes. Maybe you don’t.

 Still, rejection can be good in a way. The same way vinegar can bring out the sweetness of a pickle—they make the acceptances taste better.

What literary journals do you love?

I know the wonderful founder of No Tokens—T Kira Madden. I’m biased because I used to be an editor there. But I know how much energy and thought and care they put into choosing and editing each piece. Then of course there are the old suspects: Granta and The Paris Review. But also the London-based The White Review, the Scottish Extra Teeth, and the Irish The Stinging Fly.

What shakes your tail feathers?

I have a playlist called “Fuck You” on Spotify. Usually I play it while kitchen-dancing and making pancakes on a Saturday morning.

What advice do you have for fledgling writers?

Write into your obsessions. A book takes a long time and you’re going to live with it for years. Write about the things your family wishes you’d shut up about. Write about what makes you want to scream and what you want to hold onto. A friend once told me how his mother saw a sculpture in Dia Beacon that she loved so much that she actually licked it. (And got in some trouble with the guard.) Write about the ideas you want to gorge on.

What other eggs do you have in your basket right now?

I have some stories due to come out—mostly about ghosts. And I’m tending the tiny flicker of a new novel idea.