Emerging Writers Network *Glance at our review of A Mouthful of Air, by Amy Koppelman. The following is an interview with Amy Koppelman, author of the novel, A Mouthful of Air. Dan: Thank you Amy for taking some time from your day to respond to some questions. Amy: Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Dan:
Who did you study under at Columbia, and what did the process of obtaining an MFA do for you in terms of your writing?

Amy:
It took me a few tries before I got into Columbia. During that time I took classes with Michael Cunningham in Columbia's general studies program.  He was the best teacher any young writer could ask for---somehow he was able to teach-to help me refine my writing-to give me real criticism without destroying the little confidence I had.  Later, in the program, I took classes with Maureen Howard.  What a special lady.  She gave me Edith Wharton.

Dan:
You live in New York City, and besides having the bulk of the publishing industry set there (though not M/C interestingly enough), there also seems to be a great network of fairly young writers going on.  I know I read about both your work and Beth Ann Bauman’s at Felicia Sullivan’s site.  Her online literary journal, Small Spiral Notebook has also reviewed works like yours, and Krista McGruder’s short story collection. There are also the women doing One Story Magazine, Maribeth Batcha and Hannah Tinti.  Do you all actually know each other, or am I just reading into a bunch of coincidences?

Amy:
I think there is a network of writers working together, trying to help each other. I wasn't part of it until a few weeks ago when Felicia wrote to me. From her came you and now Beth.  It's nice.

Dan:
Your novel, A Mouthful of Air, tells the story of Julie Davis, a young mother who seemingly has it all, a loving husband who has a job that enables them to live comfortably in the city, with her not needing to work, and a maid/nanny.  However, Julie suffered from Postpartum Depression. I understand that you also suffered from this disease.  Let’s start by clearing up the probable often asked question; this is not an autobiography disguised as fiction is it?

Amy:
I try to be as honest a writer as I can be and to that end certain feelings in the novel are true, the endless self-doubt, the fear, the lack of trust... I think I was trying to write through my fears-what if I didn't get the help I needed.  What if I didn't make the choices I made.

Dan:
The book’s epitaph is the poem, The Girl, by Marie Howe.  What about that particular poem resonated with you, especially in terms of your novel?

Amy:
Marie.  How can I explain her poetry.  She is the standard, the most brave, the most honest writer I have ever read. "...And even if I could go back in time to her as me, the age I am now she would never come into my arms without believing that I wanted something." I remember reading that and understanding so much about myself from that poem.  I didn't believe that there were people out there able to love without taking.  Men come, take, and leave.  That's all I saw of the world. It took me years and years to accept that my husband really loved me.  I used to imagine him waking up one morning, rolling over and going. "My gosh.  This is a mistake."  When I read that poem I knew that while I was, in many ways, the girl in the poem, I also knew that to have any meaning in my life I had to change that somehow.  I didn't want to be that person.   I wanted to be strong enough, somehow, to continue.  To trust, to believe.

Dan:
Your prose can be described as spare. You don’t go out of your way to embellish anything in an unnecessary fashion.   Has this always been your writing style, or did you choose to go this route for this particular story?

Amy:
My husband says that I won't be happy until I have a blank sheet with a period in the middle of it. 

Dan:
In the novel, Julie is diagnosed with PPD after the birth of her first child.  She ends up getting pregnant a second time, creating most of the discussions about PPD in the book.  You used Julie’s own thoughts, as well as conversations with her husband, Ethan, and her psychiatrist, Dr. Edelman, to explain PPD.  Which route do you think ended up being most effective?

Amy:
It took me six years to right the novel and during that time I played around with all different points of view.  When I wrote from the other points of view Julie was a much more likeable protagonist.  But I wanted the book to feel like depression-and depressions a very insular disease.  A depressed person is deaf to any voice other than the one they hear in their head.

Dan:
My wife suffered from PPD too.  It seems to me that as difficult as it is to get prospective and current mothers to understand the disease, it is just as important to get their male counterparts to understand PPD as well.  Was this a goal of yours, or do you believe your novel is geared more towards that mother who will potentially suffer?

Amy:
It's funny.  Early on, I reached out to different people involved in the field of depression.  I got 20 free books as part of my deal and I thought that at the very least, I could get a copy of the book to some doctors, nurses, people who understand the disease.  Maybe they could use the book to help people. So I get this email from this one psychiatrist who says thanks for sending, blah-blah-blah-and that while she thinks the book is accurate she would never give it to someone suffering from ppd.  I wrote back explaining that the book is a cautionary tale.  That Julie didn't make the right choices for herself and her family but the reader can. A week or so goes by and I get another email from this doctor.  In it she says that she had a patient in her office who needed to go on medication, she was there with her husband and mother, both resistant to the idea of medication, and she gave them my novel and said, "Read this."  That's all I wanted, to know that I was able to help some people through story. 

Dan:
There is a sub-plot running through the novel regarding Julie and her parents, who are divorced, and the relationship she shares with them.  The relationship with her father potentially clouds a bit of Julie’s PPD issues, as it seems like a possible cause of her troubled views of herself.  Were you at all worried about readers, specifically those not overly familiar with various forms of depression, getting confused in this area?

Amy:
I didn't start out thinking I was writing a book about ppd.  All I knew is that I wanted to write a book about shame, real or perceived shame, and how those feeling of shame regulate so much of what we allow for ourselves.

Dan:
Dr. Edelman really does not appear all that often throughout the novel.  Is this because you were more intent on showing the signs and effects of PPD strictly through the patient’s eyes?

Amy:
I think so.

Dan:
In previous conversation, you have pointed me to a review at amazon.com that suggested the book carry a warning label in regards to shocking events that PPD can lead to.  What was your reaction the first time you saw this?

Amy:
There are always people who don't understand.

Dan:
You have a great website (www.amykoppelman.com) with reviews of the book, details about the cover, information about yourself, and a specific resource page in regards to PPD.  Have you received any responses to the book and website in cases where somebody thinks that you have helped them with their own situation?

Amy:
Yes, and that has been the most meaningful.  It's why I wish I could get more press about the book.  In the tradition of The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper, I tried to give voice to women without one.

Dan:
Can you explain what you have been doing in terms of making the book available for sale at PPD seminars and similar groupings?

Amy:
I've had the privilege of working with PSI and DAD and have seen the book really move people.  I offer it at my cost to any organization that can benefit from it for fundraising.

Dan:
In terms of women diagnosed with PPD, is there any known testing that can be provided that would verify that they are taking the medication prescribed to them?  I know it must be difficult, but there are women who have been able to act in a convincing manner to convince others that everything is running more smoothly, when in fact they are still suffering greatly.

Amy:
Yes.  There are screening tools and many organizations with help lines. 

Dan:
How exactly did your work come to be published by MacAdam/Cage?  What benefits do you see in being published by an outfit that is not based in New York, but is not really looked at as a small press?

Amy:
I came to M/C from my agent Amy Rennert.  I got to herby query letter.  I couldn't have asked for more in an editor.  Pat Walsh is kind, nurturing and smart as a whip.  Most importantly, he not only believed in me but was and remains a ferocious and faithful supporter.

Dan:
Have you done many readings?  If so, do you enjoy doing them?

Amy:
I've done a few readings and while they are not the easiest thing for me, being that I'm pretty shy, they are really wonderful.  I wish I could do more readings.  Meet more people.  Hear their stories.

Dan:
Did MacAdam/Cage allow you to choose your own cover, which is an interesting painting by Kathryn Lynch? Where did you come across the work and how did you feel is worked with the story you have told?

Amy:
Kathryn is one of my closest friends.  She's an amazing artist and it was part of my dream-if I ever got this story, Julie's story published, I wanted Katheryn's painting to be on the cover.  This painting is from a series called "the blizzard Elizabeth came home in."  Elizabeth is her daughter. Naturally, as most people do with art, I project my own feelings onto the painting.  For me, the white, the fogginess, the distant city really looks like what depression feels like.  At least to me it does.

Dan:
You are currently looking at putting together an anthology of short stories regarding waiting rooms.  Would you care to elaborate on that?

Amy:
I don't know what it is, but I can't stop thinking about the dynamic of visiting.  How one person is going to leave and the other will stay.  How there is a time limit on it.  I don't know what it is yet that plagues me about this situation. Is it the conflict, the unfairness?  Hopefully, through doing this anthology I'll figure it out.

Dan:
Lastly, if you were a character in “Fahrenheit 451,” what work(s) would you memorize for posterity?

Amy:
My gosh...I haven't read "Farenheit 451" but I think I know what you are getting at.  What would I memorize? I love Bowles and Tolstoy-Nabakov.  But if I were to memorize something - Franny and Zooey.  Salinger. Hard for me to get past the Glass family.

Dan:
Thanks again Amy for taking time out of your schedule to answer some questions.

Amy:
Thank you.  Really.  Thank you very much, Dan.