The Interview with Morgan Jerkins
Author of ZEAL
Greetings to new subscribers and welcome to Sitting in Silence, a newsletter for writers, readers, and thinkers. The interview is a popular ongoing feature of the newsletter. I love talking to writers about inspiration, craft, and life. They never disappoint. So, from time to time, you’ll find these intimate and enlightening conversations in this space. Today’s conversation with Author Morgan Jerkins.
Morgan is the author of This Will Be My Undoing, Wandering in Strange Lands, Caul Baby, and her new historical novel, ZEAL. I hope you enjoy our discussion.
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Maurice: What are your earliest memories of reading or writing stories?
Morgan: Oooh this is a good one. When I was younger--couldn't have been more than 8 or 9---I would go to Blockbuster (RIP) with my mom every weekend. One of the movies that I always rented was Titanic. Whether it was the ethereal score, the historical research that went into recreating this grand ship, or my crush on Leonardo DiCaprio, I never get tired of it. First, I'd reimagine what it would be like to be a passenger on this boat and then I started to recreate scenes by writing down what I would've liked to happen or what happened with my own personal touch.
I even had friends from school act out these scenes on the bus!
Maurice: I am unabashedly a huge fan of this movie. I really wanted Rose and Jack to make it out together, especially because Jack could have totally fit on that door! You write a good bit of historical literature. Was Titanic instrumental in raising your interest in the past?
Morgan: Now that you asked me this question, it might've been and I wasn't even conscious of it!
But I think about how movies ignited my interest; Titanic, The Last of the Mohicans, Othello---even when my mom would buy me books on antiquity. I suppose it's been a life-long interest. I could've been an historian or philologist.
Maurice: With a book like Caul Baby, you're looking--at least it seems to me--at how the past shapes the present. But This Will Be My Undoing, you're looking more at our contemporary society. How do you decide which historical approach to take?
Morgan: Often, it just comes to me--sorry for the anti-climatic answer. Fiction was always my first love but my debut was nonfiction because I'd already been making a name for myself as a journalist. So my agent at the time suggested that I do nonfiction first and remember my debut came out in 2018. When I started building a portfolio in 2014, which was when Bad Feminist came out and that changed the game for so many Black female writers.
Maurice: Right! Bad Feminist was such a world-turning book. It really made me question a lot of my assumptions about craft and society-at-large. What was the process of writing your books like and how has it varied?
Morgan: I will be honest: My writing process was very unkind in the beginning. I wouldn't even go to the bathroom unless I had at least 1000 words written. Didn't eat either even if my stomach was in an uproar. I would write pretty much every single day relentlessly. Now, perhaps because I'm older, I'm looking for more balance. Some days I write and other days I don't write at all because I'm recovering. Our creativity is so much like a muscle and if you overwork it, you'll be burnt out, sore, exhausted. In other words, I wrote my books back then with less of a mind-body connection. Now, I'm definitely going by what I feel and not what I think I have to prove in order to get there. The work will get done. It always does.
Maurice: I'm glad you're being kinder to yourself! I also agree that we have to be careful about overwork. I've noticed that prolific writers often have routines that give them plenty of downtime. Given how many books you've written, I think this is an appropriate question for you that I often hear: how do you know when a book is finished?
Morgan: Oh this is an even worse answer—when an editor says so, ha!
But I suppose internally, i know the book cannot go on forever so I think when I start feeling that pang of grief, the story is coming to a close.
Maurice: Haha! That's fair. How many books do you ultimately want to author?
Morgan: Wow, I haven't really thought of that. I think 7 or 8? But then if I can do 10, that would be fabulous. I love even numbers.
Maurice: You'll be halfway there in no time! What is your favorite book of all time and why?
Morgan: That's a tough one. I love The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov because it's so damn wacky--a talking cat? the devil? It's very funny and feels unserious at times but I loved it! I'm a sucker for Russian writers.
Maurice: So am I but I can't read them in the original language like you! Which languages do you speak and how has being able to speak so many languages helped you as an author?
Morgan: I speak Russian, Japanese, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and of course, English.
What's frustrating is that sometimes I'll think of the perfect word while writing and it's not even in English! But being multilingual helps my brain stay sharp and elastic, which of course assists me into being open and adaptable to all sorts of ideas.
Maurice: That sounds like a good problem to have. What's next for you book-wise?
Morgan: I’m keeping it close to my chest…for now. I’m trying not to jump into anything too quickly because so many things inspire me; however it is a years long commitment. Also I really wanna enjoy the ride with ZEAL which is something I did not afford myself before with previous books
Maurice: I'm glad you're leaning into the current publication experience. You deserve to enjoy it. What else brings you joy?
Morgan: Pretty much everything these days--a recipe that turns out well, discovering a new bakery, coming across one of my fav movies being on TV, a good laugh from social media, buying new flowers at Whole Foods.
I'm feeling my emotions without shame these days and now the floodgates are open!