Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a freelance journalist, a movie lover and reviewer, and a bookseller and book addict. I’m twenty-two years old and have been writing for about twelve years now. I’ve always been a storyteller and a very, very imaginative and introverted kid, but I randomly decided to try writing an actual book–as opposed to making crazy fantasy drawings in notebooks and pretending they were stories, which I often did as a child–the first day of summer after 5th grade ended. It was horrible, basically just a clashing ripoff of every fantasy movie and book that I loved at the time, but I haven’t stopped writing since then. In this way I taught myself how to write and tell stories, but especially in more recent years it has become a more serious passion, and film and literature has greatly influenced me.
I have two published novels: Other Endings, and Fairlane Road. The latter is the one I prefer out of the two, and which I am more passionate about promoting, as I believe it to be a better book. In 2017, Fairlane Road was named a Finalist under Visionary Fiction in American Bookfest’s Best Book Awards, which is still surreal to me. In addition to these two published novels, I have written a number of others, and am always working on more.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent published novel is called Fairlane Road. Other than one time literally seeing a street called Fairlane Road and taking a liking to the name and how normal it is, the heart of the story is largely in the antagonist, who is one of the only characters I’ve ever taken from a dream.
The dream is distant to me now, but I remember that it had to do with a married couple who were the leaders of a dangerous cult. The couple were psychopaths, murderers, and they had a son. I woke up wondering what a child raised in that environment would be like, but this character grew beyond what I’d previously imagined.
The story itself was something I had wanted to write for a long time, but never knew how. I can find traces of the book Fairlane Road became in older stories of mine, ones that always dealt somehow with the line that divides our world from another, and a person–a young woman–capable of crossing that line.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think any of my habits would be called necessarily unusual, as every writer has different habits. My writing habits are simple. I handwrite all of my stories, and I always have. It is a slower process, but I write every day that I can–which, thankfully, often ends up being every day–even if it’s just a couple of lines, or mental progress in brainstorming (which kind of counts… right?). And come to think of it, it isn’t a habit, but I have incredibly tiny handwriting, and use the finest Micron pen available for my writing. And I am capable of writing anywhere. Many of my coworkers at the bookstore I work at comment on how I write on my breaks, and a fellow writer coworker is often amazed by that work ethic when it comes to writing, but to me it’s always been normal, and not unusual.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The first author to have a serious impact on me was Stephen King. There will always be J.K. Rowling, I also loved a couple of Scott O’Dell books as a kid, but when I was fourteen I picked up Stephen King’s IT. I had never read an adult novel before, nor had I even read a scary book before. So in that sense, IT was a traumatizing but life-changing experience to me, opening my eyes to the possibilities of literature, and changing how I viewed my own writing. It was the first breakthrough in my life as a writer. Suddenly I could write anything, and my voice began to develop in a way that it never had. Stephen King showed me the powers of imagination, the power of words in the hand of a master, and the importance of character over plot. King always writes human characters, and the plot never seems to get in their way: they are the plot.
Another huge influence is Neil Gaiman. His unapologetic originality, his almost casual way of handling the fantastic and unusual. I could swoon for paragraphs and paragraphs.
I would be amiss if I didn’t mention Edgar Allan Poe. I read his poetry compulsively, and am in constant awe of the way he could dance with language.
More recently in my life, within the last couple of years, I discovered Raymond Carver, who I name as possibly my favorite writer of all time. Carver could distill language down to the purest of expression, coupled with his intimate and painfully clear eye for depicting the human condition. He accomplishes in single sentences what some writers take paragraphs, even pages, to accomplish. Whether it’s his deeply painful but deeply human short stories, or his rich, gorgeous poetry–he is probably my single favorite poet–he is one of the only writers I can only read in doses. After sitting with Carver for a certain amount of time, I end up having to close the book and recover, and just let the emotions wash over me.
Dan Simmons is probably my favorite novelist alongside Stephen King. His books are dense, literate, serious, and masterful from beginning to end. Simmons is a storyteller with few, if any, equals when he is in full possession of his powers.
Richard Matheson had a similar effect on me as Stephen King, but Matheson was the first time I was conscious of the power of concise language. And his stories still amaze me: they terrify, they move, they play with you like a puppet.
Lastly–I could go on and on talking about books and writers, but I’ll try to stop myself here–is the Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai. Known as much for his collaborations with the legendary filmmaker Bela Tarr, as he is for his novels–a few of which are the basis for Tarr’s greatest works–Krasznahorkai is known for sentences that stretch on sometimes for multiple pages, and he almost never breaks paragraph. The result is a lava flow of text. Laszlo Krasznahorkai made me realize how much I love to be challenged by art, even bored by it or lulled by it if that is its intention. His books are incredibly challenging and dense, but I was in awe of every single sentence of every book of his I’ve read so far. Who knew you could do that with language? It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.
Oh, and one more. I have only read a single book so far from Fyodor Dostoyevsky, that being Crime and Punishment, but it is my probably my single favorite book of all time. Tied, at least, with What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, by Raymond Carver, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman. Crime and Punishment is also a dense piece of literature, but I was in a state of wonderment and awe through its entirety, at the language and the intimacy and depth of the story, how it is unlike anything I’ve read and yet is so undeniable a presence in the world of literature. I can’t wait to reread it, though I should probably read more Dostoyevsky before I do that.
Anyway, forgive my rambling! I swoon and swoon over art. Don’t get me started on films and filmmakers that have influenced me, too 😉
What are you working on now?
Currently I am nearing completion on the sequel to my novel Fairlane Road. I finished Fairlane Road about two years ago, and it was, at the time, the hardest book I had ever written despite its short length. It was more philosophically complex than I had imagined. Getting to revisit those characters with this sequel, to discover there’s so much more to the story, has been such a joy, and quite an emotional ride.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still new to having a platform of any kind, and don’t even have my own website yet (which will change soon, no doubt). For me it’s simply Facebook and Instagram. I have a personal page on Instagram which I use also to talk about writing sometimes, and I have an Instragram page dedicated to reviewing and discussing film. I have a decent following there, and do occasional promotion for my book. My publisher helps greatly with marketing opportunities. And I am in a lucky position to be a bookseller at a Barnes & Noble, and the store I work at carries my book, allowing me to handsell it to customers when the opportunity arises. I’ve sold 21 copies of Fairlane Road this way so far.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
My advice would be tailored more to the writing aspect of being an author, as opposed to marketing or being an author, which I’m still new at, partly because it’s still surreal for me, and I struggle with impostor syndrome. My advice to new aspiring writers would simply be this, considering that there is so much I could say, but I’d like to narrow it down:
Consider the greatest artists working, or who have worked. I mean in literature as much as in film. Neil Gaiman once said that there is no market. Don’t write what you think everybody else wants to read. Before Harry Potter, nobody knew they wanted to read Harry Potter so bad. The same goes for anything. Write what only YOU can write. Write only what YOU want to write. And do it your way. There is literally only one you in the entire world, in the entire universe, and nobody has told the stories that only you can tell in your own way, because nobody else is you. So do that.
Look at the great filmmaker David Lynch, who is, in many ways, a surrealist. His films are mind-blowingly weird, often terrifying and hilarious and bizarre all at the same time, but he is considered one of the greatest filmmakers to have ever lived. He is entirely himself. No one makes films like Lynch does, and Lynch doesn’t try to make films like anybody else does. The same can be said for some of the greatest artists–writers, filmmakers, painters, sculptors, etc–who have ever lived. So, to boil it down, my advice is probably eye-rollingly simple: Be yourself. Make YOUR art. Embrace it. And on top of that, be interested in your own art as if it were somebody else’s. Love it. Live it. Because why not? If you’re a true artist, you’re going to always be making art. Why not love it, and be interested in it, at least as much as the art of others?
Also, form is content; style is meaning. Don’t ever forget it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“But when it comes to fiction, the writer’s only responsibility is to look for the truth inside his own heart. It won’t always be the reader’s truth, or the critic’s truth, but as long as it’s the writer’s truth–as long as he or she doesn’t truckle, or hold out his or her hat to fashion–all is well.” – Stephen King
What are you reading now?
Currently I’m reading Neither Wolf Nor Dog, by Kent Nerburn, a powerful story that serves as a kind of open conversation between White and Native American. It’s as entertaining and funny as it is jarring and heartbreaking, as well as being more educational than school ever was on the subject of American Indian history and culture.
In addition I’m always reading the poetry of Raymond Carver, I recently discovered the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and have a to-be-read pile as high as any big reader’s or writer’s. As Lemony Snickett said, I’ll probably die next to a pile of things I was meaning to read.
What’s next for you as a writer?
After I finish the sequel to Fairlane Road, I intent to edit both that and another novel I finished before it. I am deeply excited about both novels. The other one–which I’ll wait to name until its eventual release, if my publisher likes it–is probably the work I’m most proud of that I’ve completed.
And after these, I intend to do some more short story writing, and have a few ideas for more novels that will take me in directions I’ve not yet gone as a writer, but which I’ve been preparing myself over for a long time now.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh no.
Here’s four… I think. I guess. Only three or four? That’s mean. I’m going to assume that I am definitively stranded, and other than a (hopefully) honorary survival guide that (hopefully) doesn’t take up one of the four spots…
– All of Us: the Collected Poetry of Raymond Carver
– The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (haven’t read it yet, but may as well bring a tome I know I’m going to love and can pour myself over for a long time, right?)
– Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace (for the same reason)
I’m gonna leave it at that for now, because this is stressful XD
Author Websites and Profiles
Cody Lakin Amazon Profile
Cody Lakin’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile