If the Creek Don’t Rise

by Leah Weiss

  5. Did you think Gladys was oblivious to her mean behavior? Why did she feel entitled to that mean behavior? How do you think she would have described herself?

  6. Who were the most lovable or admirable characters? What made them that way? What were their strengths and weaknesses? In what ways were they important to Sadie’s salvation?

  7. Preacher Eli Perkins never quite believed he was good enough for his job. How did that quality make you feel about him? How do you think he performed his job?

  8. Three characters that are hard to love are Prudence Perkins, Roy Tupkin, and Billy Barnhill. Did you find any reasons to empathize with them? What were the pivotal moments in their past that shaped their personalities? How do you think you would have fared if you were born into their families and stations of life?

  9. When Kate Shaw arrived in Baines Creek, she expected to be doing the teaching. What were the things she learned instead?

  10. Birdie’s Books of Truths: What insights did they give you into life in Appalachia and the gifts Birdie possessed?

  11. What role did Tattler Swann play in the book? Was he a good spokesman for Jerome Biddle? If so, why?

  12. This book is written in first person, present tense. Did that choice by the author make the story more intimate? If so, in what ways?

  13. Which characters were most capable of loving? In what ways did they demonstrate that?

  14. A number of murders were committed in the book. Do you think any of them were justified? If so, which ones and why?

  A Conversation with the Author

  When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

  I’ve always loved pretty words and sentiments, and I got much pleasure writing letters to friends getting married, struggling through a hard time, or celebrating a landmark. Some of those letters were framed by the recipients, so I knew I had a penchant for heartfelt prose that mattered to people. I was well into my fifties when a friend encouraged me to write a book of short stories, and my initial response was Does the world really need another book? But his encouragement and support planted a seed that grew roots. The first stories I wrote were about my mom, Lucy, and her life on a tobacco farm in the 1930s. She was one of fifteen children living in an unpainted house without running water or electricity. She and I found a special bond talking about her childhood, which she thought no one cared to remember. I didn’t know that in a few months Lucy would die of cancer and I would be left with grief and amazing fodder from those conversations. When the stories tugged at me to do more, I knew I wanted to write them.

  Who are your favorite authors and why?

  I am a picky reader. I look for a great story written exceptionally well, with the prose highly polished and the deadweight removed from the story line. Because I have a particular love for the southern voice, some of my top choices are obvious: Harper Lee, Rick Bragg, Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Morgan, and Ron Rash rush to the head of the line. Pat Conroy’s The Prince of Tides was as compelling a read as I’ve ever had. Even today the images of those sincere, flawed characters Mr. Conroy put to paper burn bright. A more recent book that was a marvelous surprise on all fronts (except it isn’t southern) was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Who would have guessed that Death as the narrator could be so sympathetic and compassionate? Or that a book’s format could be so original?

  Where did your idea for the book come from, and why is it set in Appalachia?

  The inception of this book began in 2011 with a writing contest that had a cap of 1,500 words and an opening prompt of I struggle to my feet. From the moment the prompt fell on my page, Sadie appeared in my mind as a complete person and personality, from her slight form and pale skin, to her mountain voice and her birth in Appalachia. Why? That’s a mystery I can’t explain. Maybe the Appalachia I heard about in my youth resonated in the pain painted in the opening five words. My initial task was to tell Sadie’s story in only a few pages. I often wondered what the rest of the story was. Now I know.

  Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

  Let me preface the answer with the fact that a favorite character for this writer isn’t necessarily the lovable one with the kind heart, good teeth, and best intentions. Good characters ground a story and give us someone to worry about and cheer for. The reader in me never likes a book that doesn’t have characters I care about. In this book, Marris Jones is about as good a soul as you’ll ever find. But the ugly, blackhearted characters, those who manipulate and claw through life, are the most compelling to me as a writer. Prudence and Roy take the cake in that category. Two more self-serving and cruel people I’ll be hard-pressed to write about. When I found the courage to walk into the mind-set of these characters (yes, they scared me), their stories floated to the surface like greasy oil, and so did their vulnerabilities. That was the surprise—to discover pivotal moments in their development that formed their life’s dismal path and to ask the question: What would I have grown to be if faced with those obstacles?

  You talk as if these characters are real, but they’re not, are they?

  A good writer strives to make her characters complex and flawed and susceptible to all human foibles, and that’s what makes them real. But no, this book, the characters, and their settlement are a work of fiction pulled from someplace deep in my psyche and the soup of my life’s experiences. Only Preacher Eli Perkins resembles someone I knew, and that was my favorite uncle, who was a Baptist preacher. He could fire off jokes, one after the other, rivaling stand-up comics. He was my inspiration for Eli, but everyone and everything else is fabricated.

  What is the most fun part of the writing process?

  When the book is 90 percent complete, all the major pieces are in place, each character has a distinct voice, and the narrative arc is clear—then the fun begins. I call this part of the process “polishing the silver.” It is slow going but satisfying to fill in missing pieces and ponder every word to see what stays or goes for the sake of the story. I look for anything that bogs down the story line. Anything that doesn’t make sense to the character’s behavior or reaction. Then I wander deeper into their background and always discover something new and pertinent I didn’t know about them the day before. While it sounds odd, the characters do take on a life of their own—and I miss spending time with them when the story ends.

  What is the most challenging part of writing?

  For me, it was developing an accurate timeline for the story. I thought I had created one, but it was not tight enough when dealing with ten major characters. Some of my last cleanup efforts were spent fixing it. Until a timeline is clearly established, it is easy to have things happening before they should to people they shouldn’t. This part of the process takes patience, research, and copious notes about the time period and the events, large and small, in the lives of each character.

  What is the one thing you know now that you wish you had known at the start of your writing career?

  I wish I’d known I had to start at the beginning as a writer. Wishful thinking and my love for pretty words didn’t give me a shortcut to success. For a while, my ego held me back because I wanted to believe that what fell naturally on the page was good enough. It was when I took down that defensive wall and committed myself to learning this craft from the ground up that progress was made. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache if I’d just enrolled in Writing Kindergarten 101 and started, In the beginning—which is the place all good stories start, right?

  What advice would you give aspiring writers?

  Take to heart the confession above, and believe the world always has room for another good book.

  Acknowledgments

  Kudos and heartfelt thanks to my agent, Rebecca Gradinger, for her instant love for this book. She led with a delicate touch and a steady sense of partnership. Her savvy suggestions produced better pacing and greater depth to the characters. Shana Drehs’s eagle eye brought more edits
and helped the book grow stronger legs. Publicist Lathea Williams came with creative ideas, a quick response, and thorough planning. This trio of professionals left no stone unturned in their quest to get this book out and into the hands of readers.

  The idea for the novel’s format was born when Sharon McFarland Day, mon amie since high school, sent me a signed copy of Olive Kitteridge. Its unique short-story structure and the dark character of Olive inspired this book about richly flawed folks.

  When If The Creek Don’t Rise was in a nebulous state, I attended the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference, where author Carrie Brown suggested I sign up for the Wildacres Writers Workshop in North Carolina. I was fortunate my first writing class was under the direction of Luke Whisnant, English professor, author, and poet at East Carolina University. Talented writers in that weeklong short-story class reviewed a shorter version of the Billy Barnhill chapter and challenged me to write more fearlessly and go deeper into his unsavory side. I left Wildacres with a clearer vision of where the book was headed.

  The next year, between writing and my final year traditionally employed, I researched the history of Appalachia, ginseng, moonshine, healing herbs, Mother Jones, coal mining, the Peace Corps, and exorcisms. No detail was too small to bring authenticity to Baines Creek residents in 1970. For example, in my quest to understand better Preacher Eli Perkins’s education, I spoke to Adam Winters, the archivist at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY. He emailed me a copy of their 1937 catalog so I could see what courses Eli would have taken, how many men from North Carolina would have been in his class, and what the tuition cost was (free!).

  When I was close to submitting the manuscript for an agent’s consideration, I had lunch with Marie Colligan, a published author and member of Lynchburg’s Hill City Writers. Marie asked to read a chapter, and I gave her one with the request to “bleed ink all over the pages.” I had worked in solitude for more than a year, and a fresh and critical eye was welcomed before I hit Send. Marie didn’t disappoint. Her editing skills and suggestions were a gift when I needed them most.

  The appeal of the story had already been affirmed by early readers, and I thank dear friends Harold and Jenny Beirne, Fran Harker, Sheila Peters, Marti Davis, and Shannon Brennan, who read early drafts and found them compelling enough for me to write on. My nurturing and supportive sister, Glo Swann, has always been my biggest fan. She loves to hear me read my work out loud (and I love to comply). Dan Smith publicly supported me at every opportunity and was a resource for details from moonshine and hot rods to transistor radios. Kathleen Grissom taught me to give my characters free rein to tell their own stories and to do the work. She has shared every exciting step of this publishing journey with me. Her talent and generosity are boundless.

  The faith the Virginia Episcopal School community has had in my writing dream is steadfast: the Hanning family, Phil Garmey, Debbie Leake, Liz Parthemore, Mary Stuart Battle, Jen Anderson, Esther Johnson, and Jane Winston followed my progress and cheered me on. Tommy Battle and Sarah Cuccio even bought stock in my future. Cory Anderson, my video guru, took my words and made me look good.

  I am forever grateful for the guidance in my early writing years by dear friends Regina Cour, Jill McDonald, and Cheryl McMillan. When I was green at the craft, they were patient beyond measure. And finally, I thank Rolland Smith, who suggested I walk this creative path, and to trust there was room in the world for another book.

  About the Author

  Photo credit: Ashley Ancheta

  Leah Weiss is a Southern writer born in North Carolina and raised in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. If the Creek Don’t Rise is her debut novel. She retired in 2015 from a twenty-four-year career as executive assistant to the headmaster at Virginia Episcopal School. Leah resides in south central Virginia and continues to write. She enjoys speaking to book clubs. You may contact her at leahweiss.com.

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