Craig Terlson on Exploring Truth Through Scandal and Conspiracy

Illustrator Craig Terlson spent more than twenty years drawing for the likes of The Boston Globe, The Globe and Mail, and Saturday Night magazine, racking up numerous awards. After making it to the finals of a Washington Post Writer’s Group contest, he realized just how much he loved creating stories as well as images, and turned his attention to fiction.

Now his novel, Fall in One Day (Blue Moon Publishers), is here, proving Terlson is just as talented with words as he is with illustration. Following 15-year old Joe Beck through a turbulent summer during the Watergate scandal, Fall in One Day asks questions about trust, identity, and integrity. As Joe searches for his missing best friend, Brian, he watches politicians try to lie their way out of the scandal south of the border. It seems like the truth - about Brian, about the world - is forever being withheld. It's a painfully relatable story, and one that will keep you turning the pages not only to find out what happens next but because of the bond readers feel with Joe, whose vulnerability, honesty, and bravery drive the story to its stunning conclusion. 

We're excited to speak with Craig today about Fall in One Day as part of our Lucky Seven series. He tells us about exploring truth and conspiracy through Joe's story, how the story changed and evolved during the 10 year writing process, and the other literary love that is driving his next project.

Open Book:

Tell us about your new book and how it came to be.

Craig Terlson:

The impetus of Fall in One Day began with the idea of hidden truths. I have always been fascinated by stories of conspiracy and intrigue, as well as the paranoia that comes out of not knowing who is telling the truth, and what remains unknown. Growing up in the 1970s, I knew that Watergate was a watershed moment not just for the United States, but Canada, and really the whole world. In the novel, I wanted to explore these ideas of hidden truth and subversion in the era of Watergate, but in a more intimate, family situation—because families also can hide the truth.

OB:

Is there a question that is central to your book, thematically? And if so, did you know the question when you started writing or did it emerge from the writing process?

CT:

Ultimately the question that drove the novel was, “Is it better to know the truth, even if it is painful?” As teenagers navigate adolescence they experience this wondering about truth-telling in a profound way. Other themes emerged as the novel developed, but at the centre of the story was the question of who can be trusted.

I didn't know this when I started writing Fall in One Day. The writing began by following the main characters, and listening to where they were going. I know it sounds a bit odd, or mystical, when writers say that, but I've learned that you can't force a story where it doesn't want to go. Writing under the constraints of theme is a recipe for a novel that becomes an overlong Aesop's Fable.

OB:

Did this project change significantly from when you first starting working on it to the final version? How long did the project take from start to finish?

CT:

It did change a lot over the ten years it took to write. That sounds like a long time, but I did write other projects (including another novel) in-between. In the beginning I had a lot of threads to follow, and I actually weaved together three different narratives, moving the story from the 1950s, to the 1970s, and back again. A helpful agent showed me that the novel really was Joe's story to tell. Shifting the novel to one voice, that of a fifteen-year-old growing up in the 70s, challenged me to hone in on what was important, and let all the extraneous narratives fall away. There was a lot that hit the cutting room floor, and I have lost track of how many times I rewrote the novel.

OB:

What do you need in order to write – in terms of space, food, rituals, writing instruments?

CT:

I simply need a routine. I work full-time at a University, and so I had to find time within a very busy life to commit to writing. I learned that if I sit down from 6:15 to 7:30 every morning—coffee is a must—that it's amazing how the words, pages, and chapters pile up. I've written longhand when I've been on the road away from my laptop, and it's a different vibe, but I have a hard time reading my own writing. I also write a lot to music. Setting the novel in 1973 gave me a wonderful soundtrack to play while writing.

OB:

What do you do if you're feeling discouraged during the writing process? Do you have a method of coping with the difficult points in your projects?

CT:

I've had periods where I felt what everything I wrote was garbage, and I wondered where this giant mess was headed. Since I'm a panster (writing by the seat of my pants), I avoid outlines. But when I'm stuck, I'll force myself to write a paragraph of what happens next, just to keep things going. I know writers whose outlines are 80 pages long; mine are maybe three or four sentences. Again, the routine helps, and sitting down and just writing a few sentences, even if they are bumpy crimes against grammar, will be enough to get the engine going again.

OB:

What defines a great book, in your opinion? Tell us about one or two books you consider to be truly great books.

CT:

I read across the genres, but the ones that stick with me are those that challenge my way of thinking. George Saunders’ short fiction collections, and his Booker winning Lincoln in the Bardo, are examples of great books that have made me see the world in a new light. I also had a two decade obsession with Don Delillo, notably his masterpiece, Underworld. This book pushed my brain to the wall, and the ideas in it, the emotions, and vivid storytelling are burnt into my memory. The 50-page prologue to Underworld is one of the best things I've ever read.

OB:

What are you working on now?

CT:

I've been immersed in one of my other loves, literary crime fiction. This genre term is not pointing fingers at other crime and mystery writers—but there is a difference in writers like James Lee Burke, or John D. Macdonald. I guess it is the narrative structure, or the use of language, that makes it literary. The novel I am working on will become part of a series. The main character is a man who consistently denies that he is a private detective, yet he finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations because people keep asking for his help. Another book, on the back burner, is my Samurai novel—because doesn't every writer have one of those?

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Craig Terlson has had a 26 year career of illustration, working for magazines and newspapers such as Saturday Night, Toronto Life, Chatelaine, and The Globe and Mail. His work also appeared in and won awards for The Boston Globe, Philadelphia Enquirer, Psychology Today, and Graphics World London. In the 90’s, Craig moved to Winnipeg, continued his illustration career, and began to pursue a comic syndication contract. After consideration from King Features, and then placing in the finals of a Washington Post Writer’s Group contest, he realized that he loved writing the words to the comics even more than drawing the pictures. He is the author of the novels Correction Line, Surf City Acid Drop, the story collection Ethical Aspects of Animal Husbandry, and his short fiction has appeared in Carve, Smokelong Quarterly, Hobart, 3:AM, and many other literary journals in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa.