Take 5 with ‘This Is Your Mother’ author Erika J. Simpson

Courtesy Atlanta History Center Author photo by Christopher RubarthAlthough from different eras experiences and trajectories Erika J Simpson s mother Sallie Carol and my mother Viola Iris had certain similarities both were educators were North Carolina natives and loved their daughters fiercely These Venn Diagram cross-sections struck a chord with me and forthwith connected me to Simpson s deeply personal story and debut memoir This Is Your Mother about the unconditional and imperfectly perfect love between a mother and daughter Simpson who spent a lot of her childhood in Atlanta also has a passion for pop tradition TV and film She is a multi-faceted creative having a background in theatre and writing for TV In addition to reads she wants to see if she can get anyone new to watch AMC s Interview With A Vampire or talk Black Mirror and the cancellation of Mythic Quest Another similarity we share is after watching Sinners it became my personal mission to ask even unsuspecting coworkers or anyone within a -foot radius whether they ve seen it and if not why not when and how soon they ll assessment back so we can discuss Speaking of movies I sought Simpson who she d want to play her and her mother in a film For her it s Storm Reid in part because they are both Cancers and also because she has a mean crying face However when it comes to casting her mother she didn t have a specific actress in mind which I fully understand sometimes our mothers are much larger than life than any actor we can imagine And what s next for Simpson She hopes to release short stories soon maybe a novel perhaps even a show based on her twenties she cannot wait to see what her readers want from her To quote Roxane Gay Simpson is a writer who s absolutely going places so on behalf of her readers I think I can say quite a lot My goodness Erika let me say that your book had me in a chokehold and then choked up Especially the chapter where you wrote about your mother in hospice care and never knowing when you d receive that call Like yours my mother was in hospice care but due to Parkinson s illness dementia when she passed in January I in recent months read your award-winning essay If You Ever Find Yourself how did you journey from personal essay to memoir First off I m so sorry to hear about your mother January is so fresh and I hope you re allowing yourself plenty of space to grieve in however it presents itself Know she is with you inevitably As for the journey from essay to memoir I d have to say the expansion of it called to me My mother s death leaked into all my fiction in particular way and in general consumed my thoughts even years later You have to write what s driving you in the moment and it felt time to tell my story Which required widening the lens on my memories Figuring out how to tell a full circle story from a life I m still living and my editor prodding me with leading questions until a buried memory emerged As a poet I have navigated the delicate boundary and internal debate with the question is it my story to tell Do I have permission to tell this story I perpetually land on yes if my life is experienced involved or impacted How did you tackle this question while writing this deeply personal book This concept may have been my first thoughts on the memoir too So much of my story feels like my mother s As if I m but a background character in the happenings of her life her endless sicknesses and her strive for success with her business I wasn t sure where I began and she ended But like you mentioned I was involved and impacted I m a human being with a point of view Do you know how at work someone says I only got four hours of sleep and someone else says Girl I only got two Well we re both tired now aren t we Just because one got less doesn t mean they both aren t suffering in the daytime And what makes each story unique is the conditions in which they slept I m a Cancer so I m a firm believer in the validation of one s personal feelings In writing your book combining your memories and your research what did you discover surprising about yourself or your mother Did you uncover any unexpected or hidden stories about your mother while working on the book You know I did discover specific things One such revelation is in the book Aunt Mattie revealed to me that she did have to withhold certain things from me as a child which my mother had whispered to me and I was never sure if I could believe it Auntie stated me she withheld to protect me And that felt worth including that even as a child hungry for more sometimes an adult has to control what s being fed to you For your own safety However there was a few other grown folks business my Aunt revealed that spun me for a loop Threatened to change my perspective but ultimately I did not use that information because it wasn t relevant to my story and experiences and my mother s love doesn t change for me just because she demands money So I had to honor my own understanding and not the interpretations of a little sister from years ago It doesn t change what I experienced which is what the book is about Your book carries a sense of melancholy similar to Natasha Trethewey s memoir Memorial Drive Though very different stories both center around mothers and are set against the backdrop of Atlanta with the iconic Memorial Drive itself appearing as a connection How did the setting of Atlanta and perhaps the emotional weight of its geography shape how you described your story On a side note my other connection to your story is that my mom is also from North Carolina near Greenville Oh we just might be selected kin girl I love the synchronicities And I ll have to get that memoir this instant As I answer this question I m terrified of visiting Atlanta for my book tour but know that I need to Atlanta is very much my mother s home her chosen city where she fought to survive It aches to visit there and not have a warm familiar home to visit and be reminded of my mother s final days However my mother is also so alive there It was so helpful pulling up google maps and seeing the old stores we used to go to and the length of Memorial Drive all the motels and hotels on its strip seeing what s in walking distance and what s two buses away The greater part touching part was that I looked up the-house-we-stayed-at-when-things-were-good on Google Maps The last picture captured had my mother s car in the driveway Oh I cried Digital ghost Wow that leaves me breathless I believe nothing is coincidental and gifts like that photo of your mom s car are intentional messages Just wow Speaking of messaging I know you are a multi-disciplinary writer in TV film as well as in essays and novels Talk about your choice to interweave script dialogue and the personal narrative like the Book of Sallie Carol s scriptures It s all about escape An emotional separation from the moment A theater kid at heart my whole life has felt like various sort of movie I m trapped within and so I requested to tell my story in that way How we picture scenes playing out and how we want to rewrite them later when we re lying in bed My mother was so religious and also a preacher and could talk your ear off at any moment of any day Particular stories and lessons repeated so often that I could seemingly finish all her sentences while she communicated them so I thought it would be cool to turn her into a religious figure of sorts and make my memoir the Bible of her Here s a link where you can read more about and order Simpson s debut memoir This Is Your Mother She will discuss her book on Thursday May at p m at the Atlanta History Center To connect with Simpson you can follow her on Instagram erikajsimpson The post Take with This Is Your Mother author Erika J Simpson appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta