Behind the Book with John Young
In October, booksellers Mariah and Emily ventured out to one of this year’s big book conferences, the Heartland Fall Forum. There they met dozens of wonderful authors, and they’d be remiss not to introduce you to the willing parties…which brings us to this edition of Behind the Book! The culminating event of the conference is called The Moveable Feast. Booksellers gather around tables and munch their lunch while pairs of authors stop by to talk about their books. It’s a quick pitch — each author gets about 5 minutes before they have to leave for another table. It’s fun. It’s quick. It leaves us booksellers wanting to know more.
One book that stuck in our minds was Getting Huge by John Young, a novel about a 7-foot-tall minister who becomes obsessed with growing the world’s largest pumpkin. Minister John Crackstone is cracking under the pressure of working with the wrong people in the wrong place. And he’s aching for success. What begins as backyard lark swells into a hilarious and absurd idea to build a pumpkin empire by making everything from snacks to toilet paper. It becomes his chance to flip the tables on his affluent and perpetually disappointed deacons. The novel culminates in an unforgettable Christmas evening, making this book a great holiday gift.
John was a blast to hear from at The Moveable Feast, and we know you’ll want to check him out after reading this interview. Without further ado, please enjoy getting to know more about him and his book!
Questions About John
What was it like meeting booksellers at Heartland Fall Forum?
John: This year was my first time attending. And it was a blast. Whenever you get a bunch of book people together–booksellers (who are avid readers), writers, and publishers– how can that not be a blast? The last day, the Movable Feast, was like speed dating on steroids as authors went from table to table pitching their book and answering a few questions before your five minutes ran out.
Getting Huge is not a religious book, but the main character is a minister. What made you choose that career for your protagonist?
John: Right, Getting Huge is not a religious or Christian novel. But I made the narrator, John Crackstone, a minister because they live in a fishbowl and are under a lot of pressure. Research shows they feel watched and scrutinized for a misstep or hypocritical act; have a high divorce rate (often due to an affair); and they feel financial stress. Then I amped up the pressures on John Crackstone by making him 7’ tall (as out of place physically as he feels psychologically), and have him following in the footsteps of his very successful minister father.
Crackstone has been working with the wrong people in the wrong place—something many of us can relate to—the affluent community of Condord, MA and with perpetually disappointed, wealthy deacons. And the community protects its way of life which often runs counter to Crackstone’s views for the church.
How did you balance the humor and the sorrow of John’s situation as you wrote?
John: While it sounds like a serious life crisis, and it is, the reader experiences it through the absurd and humorous lens of a man obsessed with growing the world’s largest pumpkin. It’s his gambit for success somewhere in his life.
Humor often uses problems to comic effect. What’s funny is how characters react. Or there’s a neutral action that draws an absurd response. In Getting Huge, my aim was to use humor to draw readers in and slowly turn the balance from humor to the more serious side. All while peppering some humor in during the serious moments too. That was the challenge I created for myself before I started writing. I had to trust my reader to see that even while laughing, there’s trouble under John Crackstone’s decisions and actions. Yes, he becomes obsessed with growing the world’s largest pumpkin–but why? That’s what I want my readers to think about.
What do you hope people take away from this book?
John: My hope is that readers of Getting Huge, pause to think about their own lives. Who’s setting the goals? When we let other people set goals for our lives–as the deacons do for John Crackstone in the novel–we’re bound to feel somehow bereft of ownership in our lives.
Questions About His Process
What’s your writing process look like?
John: In at least one respect, my writing process is weird. I’ve never heard of it before. I let story ideas simmer on the back burner of my brain for years, sometimes for decades. Getting Huge started in 1990 when I happened to be at the Topsfield Fair in Massachusetts and saw the giant pumpkin weigh in. When I got over being stunned by the immense pumpkins, I started to wonder ‘Who does this, and why?” This novel is a very slow-cooked answer to those questions.
Right now, I’m working on a new novel, and I have three novel ideas simmering. Once I have the idea and key characters, I write an outline of about eight pages. And I always know the ending before I start–John Updike gave me that tip over coffee one day. When you know the ending, it helps steer the thousands of decisions you make along the way.
Beyond that, I think my process is pretty normal. I write in the mornings, five or six days a week, and I aim for 1,000 to 1,500 words a day.
When you feel stuck as a writer (with a particular piece or in general), what do you do?
John: When writing new material, I rarely feel stuck. It’s in revision that I can get jammed. About four times a year—when the going gets tough and I need a long period to focus—I decamp to a state park where I rent a cabin for three or four days. At the cabin, time gets slippery. I start writing around 3:00 in the morning. I usually don’t speak to anyone for the four days and only leave to take afternoon hikes—so I get a lot of work done. It’s not uncommon to crank out 2,000 words by 9:00 a.m.—but I’ve already put in six hours by then!
I also believe in effort, and allowing myself to write poorly. What I mean is you can’t wait for inspiration to strike. You have to show up. Get to your desk and write. Sometimes the muse slips into the room, and sits next to you–and those are fantastic days. But if you’re not at your desk, you miss it. And most of the time writing is work, and it takes effort and rewriting, so you have to love the hard work of writing.
Which element of craft comes easiest for you? Why?
John: People say I write great dialogue, and I take pride in that, but I still work at it.
Which do you struggle with most? Why?
John: I hesitate to say I struggle with beginnings and ends, but I work hard on them, and I typically write 15-20 drafts of them.
I love a good first sentence, and I try to have it express the core conflict in a novel. For example, my novel Getting Huge opens with: “My deacons saw Easter as a business opportunity.” In that sentence, you can see something’s amiss in this world. And I hope people see the humor in it too.
What's one writing project you've always wanted to tackle?
John: For years I’ve thought about writing a sprawling family saga, following a family across three or four generations—perhaps as a series. I’m interested in how our decisions change our lives and we would see how key decisions shape this family’s move from rural poverty to financial success.
His Other Projects
John: In addition to Getting Huge, I’ve written another novel When the Coin Is in the Air, and a collection of short stories: Fire in the Field & Other Stories.
To stay with the Midwestern theme, I’d like to recommend two writer friends from here in Cincinnati. And, like me, both had other careers before focusing on writing fiction.
Don Tassone has written two strong novels: Drive and Francesca as well as several short story collections.
Judith Turner-Yamamoto wrote the beautiful and haunting novel: Loving the Dead and Gone.
