We chat with author S.L. Coney about their debut novel Wild Spaces, which is a foreboding, sensual coming-of-age debut in which the corrosive nature of family secrets and toxic relatives assume eldritch proportions.
Hi, S.L! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Sure! I’m a writer currently living in the St. Louis area. I studied clinical psychology but decided I didn’t want to be a psychologist so I ran away from my doctorate program to become a writer. I love animals and have two dogs. I’m always on the lookout for books that can freak me out (not many do), character-driven stories, and great atmosphere.
My current writer crushes are Nghi Vo and Becky Chambers. I adore French New Wave films, the movies of Val Lewton, and I have a real soft spot for Stephen King’s Silver Bullet—it’s my favorite feel-good film. Current director crushes include Taika Waititi, Tarsem Singh—his movie The Fall is perfect–and Wes Anderson.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
My mom read to me when I was very young. Picture books mostly, but some Hardy Boys as well. We lived far away from my grandparents so my grandmother recorded herself reading The Secret of NIMH on tape and sent it to me. I listened to that over and over before going to sleep. When I grew older, I continued that tradition by making up stories while I waited to fall asleep—I’m a lifelong insomniac. I’d visualize the stories in my head, playing them out. Then, when I got my first computer, I’d put my stories on disk. Being a writer was all I ever wanted to do.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I ever remember reading on my own was either The Secret of the Old Clock–the beginning of my Nancy Drew phase–or a book about the golden fleece which kicked off my Greek mythology phase.
I don’t know that there was a single book that made me want to be a writer, or if there was, I don’t remember what it was. There are two books, though, that I credit with setting me back on the path after I took a break from writing to deal with life stuff. One, was On Writing by Stephen King. Specifically the part where he talks about using writing to get back to himself after he’d been hit by a car. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to that book and to Mr. King’s willingness to talk about his struggles. The other is Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones. That book knocked the breath out of me. It’s the book that made me want to be a better writer. It drove me to the keyboard and made me engage in deliberate practice to try and hone my skills. I’m always aiming for a Stephen Graham Jones or a Ted Chiang ending.
I hold so many books near and dear to my heart, but the one that I keep coming back to is Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. I have a real penchant for ennui and anything set in the desert. It’s got this quiet desperation and LA noir vibe so it’s hitting a lot of my favorite literary soft spots, but it’s also masterfully written. Ellis uses subtext like he was born with it in his fingertips.
Wild Spaces is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Haunting. Heart-breaking. Hopeful. Summer. Fable.
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect a coming-of-age story that taps into the magic of imagination and mystery. They can expect secrets and monsters. It’s a painful story, but it’s also a story that holds redemption, I think. There are alligators and caves and pirate lore. They should expect the feel of salt on their skin and the wind in their air, the smell of low tide and the buzz of mosquitoes. They should expect to experience the events of this story with the boy, to find themselves questioning as he does.
It’s not a book that spells everything out, so they should also expect to think about things.
Where did the inspiration for Wild Spaces come from?
It started with an image in my mind that didn’t actually make it onto the page, but it gave rise to the final image in the book. From there, it’s a mix of wanting to capture what I loved about Micaela Morrissette’s “The Familiars” a haunting story filled with magic and wonder, and wanting to tell a story about the dangers of holding onto toxic family. It’s also inspired by my own childhood in the lowlands of South Carolina.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Teach was a lot of fun to write. I don’t want to give too much away there, but he’s such a good boy. I enjoyed writing the field trip scene, there’s a lot of nuance there, a lot of subtext going on between the characters so that was fun to play with, and there’s a scene in the cave when the boy makes a discovery. It’s a realization, a moment of decision where I was able to use a lot of symbolism. And of course the storm. But I had so much fun throughout all of it, tapping into the senses and bringing that world alive was a joy.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on novel rewrites right now and I’ll be signing books at the Tower Grove Pride event in September with Left Bank Books. Then, in December, I’ll be reading at KGB Bar in NYC.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Always!
- Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
- The Singing Hills Cycle also by Nghi Vo
- Pomegranates by Priya Sharma
- Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum
- The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
- The Ghost Sequences by A. C. Wise
- The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
