Q&A: Carmelinda Blagg

An Interview With the Author of “Without A Map”

by Isabella Austin

Anyone who has a chance to read Carmelinda Blagg’s short stories will note not only the complex characters, but also the vivid worlds and complicated relationships present that make them impossible to put down. Blagg grew up in Texas, in a large family where several of her brothers became artists, so it is no surprise that she caught the creative bug, too. Since relocating to the DC area in the early nineties, she was grateful to discover its diverse and supportive writing community while earning her MA in writing at Johns Hopkins. Blagg’s pieces have been featured in a number of journals including Barrelhouse, The Lindenwood Review, and Halfway Down the Stairs. Her piece “Geographies” was included in the Best of the Web Anthology from 2009 and she presently serves as an Associate Editor of O-Dark-Thirty.

In this issue of the "Grace and Gravity" series, Grace in Darkness, which creates a space for DC women writers to share their stories, Blagg’s piece “Without A Map” stands out as it is not set in the United States. However, it includes undertones throughout that connect the characters to the US in an unexpected way. I had a chance to speak to her about her path to becoming a published writer, her inspirations, and what the DC writing community means to her. 

Isabella Austin: When did you start writing?

Carmelinda Blagg: I was always interested in stories, but writing didn’t come to me right away. Several of my brothers are visual artists (painters, watercolorists) and, like them, I drew. Later it was photography. I think we all got the creative spark from our mother, who had a love of the arts and encouraged us to use our imaginations. When we were toddlers, she used to read to us and I loved that. I think it was the sound of her voice, how it evoked the rhythms and patterns of narrative. That’s something that stayed with me.

By the time I got to college, I had settled on studying literature. And the more I read, the more I fell in love with the idea of writing. I loved what language could do. It was very powerful. But I didn’t really settle on writing short fiction until my late thirties. I did a lot of traveling (to Europe) and, like most writers I had to keep a day job. 

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IA: Did you consider yourself to be a writer when you got your first piece published or before that?

CB: It was actually by the time I received my umpteenth rejection, strange as that might sound. When I started sending out stories and getting back rejections, I’d go through these cycles of thinking ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ But I knew, deep down, I’d never quit. Grappling with rejection (like all writers do) tested my determination and helped me appreciate that rejection is an ongoing part of being a writer. It never goes away. 

IA: Who are your writing influences?

CB: I would say early on, Eudora Welty. I loved her humor, her heart, and the way her stories evoked Southern life in particular. There was Flannery O’Connor, James Agee; later on, I discovered Alice Munro, Marilynne Robinson, James Salter, Ann Beattie, Frederick Busch, so many more. The list is endless, needless to say. Recently, I’ve been enjoying the essays and stories of Italo Calvino and other fabulists. Poetry has also been an important influence. I’m not sure why, but reading poetry has kept me grounded in my stories. Among the poets I admire are W. S. Merwin, Louise Glück, Jorge Luis Borges, and Wallace Stevens.

IA: In the short stories of yours that I’ve read, the dynamic characters are what stand out to me. It’s probably not this simple, but do the characters tend to form in your mind before the plot? Or vice versa? Or together?

CB: It depends. Sometimes a character comes to me and I write the story through that character. I’m a big believer in character-driven fiction. I like starting with a character rather than thinking, ‘What’s the plot?’ because if you start with a complicated human being, you’ll always find something.

Having said that, sometimes a story comes to me because of an image. That’s the way it was with “High Grass,” which is right out of my childhood days in Texas. We did encounter snakes, but it’s completely made up to the point of being an allegorical fairytale of sorts. At the same time, it’s very true in spirit and setting. The image of that snake is what kept me grounded in the story. I thought, ‘just follow that,’ because the tension was really rich there.

IA: The relationship between the younger brother Weldon and his sister also drives the story.

CB: Yes, exactly. It’s the typical antagonistic sibling push and pull that goes on. In that regard, most of it came to me pretty easily. I didn’t think about it much. I really liked taking myself back to that time, remembering that feeling of the grown-up world versus being a kid trying to figure it out.

IA: What is your writing process? Do you have a process at all?

CB: Well, if I’ve got one, it’s a pretty terrible one! I don’t tend to write every day. I know some writers do. I write in bursts, depending on what I’m working on. When I’m making a first draft, I do work every day. Then, once I’m through with that draft, there might be a period of time where I won’t necessarily write every day.

If I feel the first draft is in decent shape, I’ll give it to my writing group to get some feedback. Then, I put it away for a while, maybe work on something else. I find it’s helpful to get some distance from the story. Coming back to it, I’m better able to home in on those areas that need more work – they surface more easily.

IA: What do you do when you have writer’s block? 

CB: I read (and pray!) Reading helps me find my way back to my writing. I also try not to be so hard on myself. I think all writers do this. It takes time to learn that negating your worth doesn’t help you as a writer. So, I try to be patient and open to letting things come to me. They always do, eventually.

IA: Do you tend to look to your personal life for inspiration or outside of it for your stories?

CB: I’ve done both. I look back at the life I’ve lived—I’m in my 60s now, so I’ve been around for a while—and I’ve had some pretty amazing experiences, particularly in my childhood which was a checkered past of blessings and really tough times. But I also look at the world around me and other lives and experiences that amaze me. A story I wrote called “A Bowl Full of Oranges” came from reading a news item about starving Romanian children devouring oranges, peels and all, during the days of the Ceaușescu regime. The image of eating oranges that way—a very sensory one—wouldn’t go away for me. I pulled a story out of that, characters and all, that had nothing to do with my past.

IA: What was the inspiration for “Without a Map,” the short story of yours featured in Grace in Darkness, specifically?

CB: The seeds actually came from a trip my husband and I took to Rome in 2008. We were there in September around the time the financial crisis erupted. I remember watching it unfold on CNN in our hotel room and I just couldn’t believe it.

But I didn’t actually start to write the story until a couple of years ago. I kept thinking about Rome and I had an idea to write about a young American couple vacationing there. They were married but things were a little shaky between them. As I continued writing, it came to me that the story was really about numbers and how they control so much of our lives today. Then, I came up with a structural metaphor that helped propel me forward; one that comes out of mathematics. It’s the Mobius Strip, which fit perfectly with what I was trying to do.

I added the plight of the refugees as something that would play out in the periphery of the story while creating some tension that pricked at the conscience of my protagonist.

IA: Since Grace in Darkness celebrates DC women writers specifically, what made you want to set “Without A Map” outside of the US? 

CB: I really loved the setting. Rome is so rich and full of its own history and metaphors of excess and ruin. I liked the idea of a US financial crisis unfolding against the backdrop of a place where so much history has already happened. It made the event seem both large and small. In many ways it’s just another chapter in history, but at the time it’s unfolding, of course it feels very seismic and consequential. And it was. I thought it would be interesting to situate my protagonists in a place where so much of the past is right there beneath their feet.

IA: What do you think is the importance of having an anthology like Grace in Darkness that celebrates DC area women writers?

CB: Well, we’re living in extraordinary times right now, aren’t we? I think it’s an especially significant moment for women. Remember the crowds last year at the Women’s March? I was there, and remember meeting women who had come from everywhere in the country. DC is the nation’s capital where women have made and continue to make history. And what I appreciate about living here is that it has such a great writing community. It’s very broad and deep, it’s academic, it’s literary, full of poets, historians, journalists, and, of course, there’s the politics. And women are involved in every part of that. During my time at Hopkins, I was fortunate to have workshops with some terrific writers. Among them, the poet Elizabeth Rees; and the novelist, Mary Kay Zuravleff, who has this amazing energy, intelligence, heart, and humor she brings to everything she does. Of course, there’s Alice McDermott. And so many more.

Among the members of my writing group are three women from this area: Kathleen Wheaton, Christina Kovac, and Catherine Bell, all published writers whose work I admire immensely, and whose insights have helped me in my work.
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The DC area is blessed to have so many talented women writers. So, of course I think it’s really great that Richard Peabody decided to create an anthology recognizing the contributions of women writers in this area.

IA: What’s your favorite part of writing? 

CB: Getting those first few paragraphs down, writing the beginning—that’s what I like best. I can feel the promise of the story and it gets me excited.

IA: What pieces of advice would you give to your younger self that you wish you’d known?

CB: To have more faith in myself and more confidence. It took me a long time to understand the importance of that. To appreciate how hard writing is, but also that it’s really not that hard if you can learn how to get out of your own way. You have to be patient and stubborn, and you have to forget the ego, which is easier said than done. It’s not always a good guide for you.


Carmelinda Blagg has a story forthcoming in April 2018 in Noctua Review from Southern Connecticut University titled, “Needles.” You can read her short story “Without A Map” featured in Grace in Darkness, out May 7th.