girlbomb: Janice Erlbaum

June 17, 2011

An interview with my homegirl(bomb), Michele Carlo

I wish I could remember the first time I met Michele.

I remember, back in 1999, when I was first starting to steep in the amazing stewpot of creativity known as Surf Reality, seeing Michele’s stage persona, Carmen Mofongo, who told jokes in Spanglish, and wore hats decorated with cans of Goya beans, packs of Newports, and plastic fruit, and I’m sure that at some point I must have seen her off stage and noted, “Oh, that’s the girl that does Carmen Mofongo,” and it would not be implausible to think that I probably went up to her and was like, “Nice set.” (Not meant as a come-on, but I think she would have known that.)

One way or another, we met, and we formed a mutual appreciation/respect society. And a decade later, our society meets still! Last year, Michele published her first memoir, FISH OUT OF AGUA, which is not only a terrific read, but a really excellent re-read, as I recently discovered. I asked her some questions about How She Did It, so those of you Doing It can benefit from her example.

Since I’ve known you for ten great years now, I’ve seen this book develop over an extended period of time, from stage pieces to a proposal to a manuscript. When people ask, “How long did it take you to write your book?”, what do you tell them?

Ten years? More like twelve! (author winks and laughs) Wow, you have seen much of this journey, haven’t you? It’s been a long ride, yet somehow it feels as if it’s just now really begun, if you know what I mean.

How long did it take to write “Fish Out Of Agua?” I could say,”my entire life”—as my life events had to occur as and when they did. As for physically putting pen to paper and finger to keyboard? The timeline from when I finally decided to get serious about putting together a book proposal to my book release parties was just under three years total: from the fall of 2007 to the summer of 2010.

Which was the first story in the book you knew you wanted to tell, and when did you first tell it, and in what form?

The first story I ever told onstage was at a MOTH StorySlam in 2003. It was a story based on one of my Titis (aunts) that I had used in some of my solo work at that time. I ended up winning that StorySlam, which led to me telling about 25 stories with the MOTH over the next several years. (Ironically, that first story is not part of “Fish Out Of Agua.”)

The first story in “Fish Out Of Agua” came from a memoir workshop that you led at the McNally/Jackson bookstore (in 2007, I believe). You asked us to write about the first funeral we attended. I wrote about my great-grandmother, which indirectly led me to join a writing workshop, which ultimately led to “Fish Out of Agua.” See how what goes around comes around? (author winks and laughs again)

How did you decide what stories to write? How did you decide what was important enough to put in and what to leave out?

When I first started telling stories, they were mostly humorous ones about being a teenager in the Bronx in the mid/late 1970s. But when I began working on what would become “Fish Out Of Agua,” I realized that there was another, much more compelling story that needed to be written. That was the story about events that happened to both my mother and me and how they caused (or contributed to) a disconnect in our relationship for many years.

So early on, “Fish Out Of Agua” was a multi-layered book with three arcs. There’s a thread about what it was like to grow up in NYC during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. There’s a thread about how I realized I was an artist with how I struggled to find my voice and where I fit in. And there’s a thread about my family, with the secrets and events that affected my mother’s and my life. If a story didn’t advance either of the three threads, it didn’t make the cut. There’s at least a dozen (probably more) stories that didn’t make it into “Fish Out Of Agua.” So there’s at least ‘some’ material for another book.

You address a lot of sensitive material here — abuse in your family, your mom’s emotional issues. How did you handle it with yourself while writing about it? How did you handle it with your family?

Seriously? I cried. A LOT. Many wounds were opened then reopened and remained raw throughout much of the writing. But it was all necessary. In order for “Fish Out Of Agua” to be a wholly complete story I had to “out” all the skeletons, go into the caves, grab all the monsters by their throats and tell them they didn’t have power over me anymore. When I finally finished the manuscript, I felt like Galadriel (excuse LOTR reference) going into the pits of Mordor and laying them bare.

As for my extended family: before “Fish Out Of Agua” came out, I told the surviving people who were directly involved in certain events (and their descendants) I wrote a book which included things that happened to both my mother and me—and fully expected to be forever estranged from all of them. But what happened was: the people whom I thought would never speak to me again said they were behind me 100%—and some whom I thought would surely understand—are indifferent, at best. So it’s true you never know who your real supporters are. But what matters most is that in the end, I wrote “Fish Out Of Agua” for my mother and for me—so that the secrets that shadowed both our lives for so many years wouldn’t have power over them anymore.

This book was sold on the basis of a proposal. Can you say a little bit to prospective memoirists about the proposal process and what you learned? Any advice for those looking to get published?

The first thing I learned is that it really does take a village to create a book. And by that I mean all the people who inspire you, support you, teach and mentor you…and kick your butt when it needs to be kicked. “Fish Out Of Agua” would not exist if it weren’t for the writing group led by author/storyteller Jennifer DeMeritt (a fellow performer from our ArtStar days). Anyone who is serious about writing a book simply must find a group of like-minded people who are equally serious about getting published. You cannot…repeat…CAN NOT edit your own work or make structural decisions alone, especially during the initial process of putting a book proposal together.

Writing that book proposal was the hardest work I’d ever done. Once it was finished (in the spring of 2008), the next step was to get a literary agent. Luckily for me, I found Janet Rosen of Sheree Bykofsky Assoc. (or should I say, she found me). That fall, the proposal was shopped around until early 2009, when Amy Pyle from Citadel Press saw it and became my (most awesome and appreciated) editor.

Then came putting a manuscript together, which again, became the hardest work I had ever done: a year of drafts and more drafts, until in early 2010, it was completed. And now that “Fish Out Of Agua” has been published (you can find it online or at your local Barnes & Noble) I can say in all truthfulness that I thought all the hard work was finally over…and boy did I have that wrong! But that’s another story, for another time…

(Here’s where to find Michele.)