A Conversation with Tiffany Clarke Harrison

What do we owe to our characters? How do we bring ourselves to the page? How do we muster the courage to tell the stories that are banging against the inside of our heart like a battle cry? How do we show up and how do we finally ever finish the thing? These were the questions on our mind when we started chatting with Tiffany Clarke Harrison, the author of the novel, Blue Hour, released on April 4th, 2023. 

Tiffany is also a writing coach and mentor who brings the full gravity of her own writing experience to every single author she works with. She acts as both coach, friend, and Virgil through the inferno of novel writing. She is an absolute force of creative power and possesses a kind of magical grit that will help you access your own. 

Tiffany graduated in 2021 with an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Queens University of Charlotte. In 2017, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). From that moment on, and in her own words: “I promised to stop trying to fit in conventional, inauthentic boxes to be who I truly am in this life.”

Here, we talk with her about how her idea for Blue Hour was born, her writing process, her reaction to readers’ reception of her novel, her most challenging moments with getting the book out into the world, from where she gleans inspiration, how her characters reflect her personality, and how studying creative writing impacted her as a writer.

What spurred the idea for Blue Hour?

I knew I wanted to write a story about a multi-ethnic couple in which the wife was uncertain about having children. I'd had this image of a couple in my head for a while, and was excited to start creating their personalities and world. About 30 pages in, I wasn't sure where the story was going and put the draft away for about a year. Then, Michael Brown was killed by police. I remember reading comments on Facebook, people passing harsh judgment on this human being, and thinking "this is what they think of my son." This all happened around my son's fifth birthday, and I immediately knew the reason why the wife of my novel didn't want to bring a child into this world.

We’re curious about the writing process you underwent to birth Blue Hour. Can you walk us through it, from inception to the published book? 

My writing process is steeped in embodiment. Kind of like method acting (ha! I call myself a method author). I allow myself to "go there" into my hard memories and bring that energy to my character. This also allows me to get into the physical body of the character so they show up on the page as real people. I encourage my coaching clients to do the same in their work, allowing their emotional intensity to connect with that of the character. It's why readers have said reading my work is like watching a movie. Blue Hour took about 6 years from start to finish, with large breaks in between. I don't write every day, and sometimes go very long periods without working on a manuscript. I can be halfway through a draft and decide to put it away for a while or to finish within a certain timeframe. I finished the last half of Blue Hour in a couple months where the first half took a couple years. Once done, an agent was interested but wanted a major change. I didn't touch it for about six months after that. Then I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and that shifted quite a lot for my life. One of those changes was that I quit my job and started an MFA (creative writing) program where I took Blue Hour from a more traditional structure to a fragmentary one. I cut about 30,000 words from the book, and was pretty ruthless about it. Every word counts, and when you are writing a book that sounds and feels like poetry and music, it’s choppy because the structure reflects the narrator’s mental and emotional state, and every word really counts. I didn’t want even an extra sentence or syllable. I often hear the rhythm of a sentence before I know the words, so if it didn’t fit the rhythm, it was gone. Once everything was cut, I could see what needed development and where. I do my best not to be precious about what I’m writing, and often just close my eyes and type what I’m seeing and hearing in my mind. I often give that advice to writers, too, the ones who say: “It doesn’t look like it does in my head.” Then write what’s in your head. 

How is your own writing experience affected by, changed, or shaped by helping other writers find their story and unlock their abilities? Does it help you? Does it ever make it harder?

A lot of what I work with authors on is introspection—of themselves and of their characters. Why would they do this or that? It usually reveals a belief underneath the surface that may or may not be true. Regardless, we make decisions based on these beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. Most if not everything you need to know about yourself and your characters inner world and actions is based on what you/they believe. Often what happens when I'm coaching an author is I'll say something and realize I'm also talking to myself. A question as simple as, "why does it need to look like that?" usually shows the author that it (whatever 'it' is) can look different, and in the conversation I realize I've been forcing something to look a certain way because I believe it should. There's so much freedom in asking why, and so many answers as well. 

From a more practical standpoint, how I work with authors shifts based on what season of being an author I'm in. I've spent the past year preparing for Blue Hour's release. I was doing very little of my own writing so I included editing as part of my mentorship. I pour so much of myself into editing a client's work (I do heavy developmental line edits including some of what could be considered ghost writing) and workshopping with them. However, I'm moving into a writing season working on my next book and I need that time and creative energy for my own work. So for the rest of 2023, while I'll still be mentoring authors (so many emotions!) and workshopping in session and over private voice messaging app, editing won't be included. The focus will be more on character and story development, organizing the work, making writing part of a busy schedule, managing emotions, etc. I also work with those who aren't writing but dealing with all the emotional stuff that comes up when final drafts are submitted and you're on the runway to Pub Day. Again, it all comes back to introspection, no matter what stage of the process you're in. 

What's the number one piece of advice you find yourself telling all the writers you work with? 

Feelings first, logic later. I don't always say it that directly, but I am always pushing authors to get into how the character feels and how they would express that feeling. What does anger look like for the character? How does it affect their body? What language would they use? What would they notice around them? When you're writing, choose words that support this feeling. The leaves didn't sway, they shook or rattled. See the difference? We're talking about anger and the word sway softens the mood when you want it hard. When I refer to logic, I'm talking about following the writing rules. Or that thing we writers call "craft." Your characters couldn't give a shit about craft. They want you to tell their story. Leading with feeling and humanity exposes the real story, then you can get into craft elements to make that feeling stronger. The craft supports the feeling, not the other way around.

Below are some comments from readers of Blue Hour. What does it feel like to have your first book published and loved this way? 

I was not adequately prepared for how vivid and heart-wrenching this story would be. It crept into the nooks and crannies of my heart and managed to expand it. 

It’s difficult to find the right words to review this short book. Succinctly: it’s so incredibly moving. I don’t share life experiences with the protagonist and didn’t expect to connect with her, yet I now care for her so deeply. I was enthralled by her story and by Tiffany Clarke Harrison’s writing.

It's wild because it's both surreal and also feels like the most natural thing that my book is now in stores. I always believed it would be, and I know my work is powerful in part because of how honest I allow it to be. I write such raw characters because in a world where everyone is numbing their way through life, emotional intensity in the work reminds people that it's ok to feel, and feel a lot. I'm so glad that's exactly what's happening for readers. 

With any birth comes pain. What was the most challenging moment you experienced getting Blue Hour out into the world?

Probably the week between sending the revisions to my now agent and waiting for her feedback. When I sent her the revisions, it was 2 years after our initial correspondence when she said she loved the story, but something wasn't quite there yet for her to sign me. My email to her makes me laugh. I was like, "Hi, I don't know if you remember me but..." I heard from her about a week later, I think it was a Friday, and she asked if I could get on a call the coming Monday. I said yes, of course, but had no idea what getting on a call with an agent meant. I was shaking waiting for my phone to ring that Monday. She offered me representation immediately. 

The second most challenging was probably the week or so leading up to the publication date. I was incredibly moody and didn’t know why. I wasn’t sleeping well, I couldn’t focus, I was super critical of everything (including myself), I was crying a lot, and I was overall an irritable person. I didn’t know what was going on. I finally realized that, while I believe in my writing and the story, having your book in stores across North America is a seriously public experience. I would be “seen” in ways and on a grand scale that I had never been seen before. Basically, my body was freaking out. I’d actually decided to spend publication day in my bed and under covers, but that morning I woke up to several “Happy Pub Day!” messages and I reminded myself how long and hard I had worked for this moment that I would never get back. So I got dressed, put on a red lip, and went to a local bookstore to sign copies.

What books have you read that inspired the birth of Blue Hour?

Structurally, Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill and Netsuke by Rikki Ducornet. My writing style, which can read more poetic, was influenced by Joyce Carol Oates and James Baldwin. Particularly I'll Take You There and Giovanni's Room respectively.

Very often, characters reflect their authors. Would you say any of the characters in the book hold parts of your thoughts and personality? How so? 

The main character definitely has parts of my personality, namely her sense of humor. One of my best friends recently described my sense of humor as "sometimes dark and twisty" and I loved that so much. Also, the main character's ability to sit with the "ugliness" inside her. She isn't afraid to feel hard feelings, and that's certainly a strength of mine. Where we differ in that regard is she will take up residence in those hard feelings, where I feel what I need to, then move on. Her method of coping is also far more destructive than mine. My main character is way cooler than I am though. I wish I was brave enough to get married in a mini dress and Doc Martens.

You took a leap and studied creative writing at Queens University of Charlotte. How did studying the art make an impact on you as a writer? What other influences have led you down this road?

Getting an MFA for me was less about learning craft or other writing tools and more about refinement. I knew what this story would be. I had a strong vision and I went to school to work with people who would see that vision with me and make it its most powerful. For the workshop, I was placed with one writer in particular and professors who really pushed me. One professor even told me, "you aren't just writing a book, you're creating art." I'm paraphrasing, but that "art" piece meant a lot to me. It meant she really got it. One writer I was paired with for the workshop was so incredibly talented, and listening to him read his work I realized how literature could be a performance. It goes back to what I said about readers saying my work feels like watching a movie—literature can be an immersive art with cinematography and a score that you create through weaving words in a particular way. That said, film has had a tremendous influence on my writing. Films like Moonlight and The Danish Girl were simultaneously quiet and charged. They ripped your heart out and made you look at it, bloody and pulsing. I’ve only watched Moonlight once because it gutted me. I think of the scene with little Chiron and Juan in the ocean and begin bawling. It’s the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. And I remember someone talking about how the set of The Danish Girl was made to look like a particular artist’s paintings. The whole film truly felt like you were inside a somber painting, and it amazed me so. You can do the same in writing when you set your vision for how you want your novel to feel. Even my editor said he read Blue Hour and saw it through a bluish lens. Words are powerful shapeshifters.

If you weren't writing, what do you think you'd be doing?

Something else creative. Outside of my own writing, I work with authors as a writing coach and author mentor. If I wasn't doing that, I'd probably be a photographer or videographer. I'm pretty good at cake design, and people often compliment my home saying the rooms look like something from a magazine. I just love making things beautiful. (I'm a hella Libra if you can't tell). It’s all about storytelling. Everything communicates a story if you choose to see it.

Can you share with us a little bit about what you’re working on at the moment? 

I've started my next manuscript. It's in the very early stages. Extremely early. I'm still getting to know the characters and how their lives intersect and why. I write dark, more somber fiction, and this one is about the lengths we will go to for love, and the masks we all wear. It's literary fiction, but an editor friend said it could also be a psychological thriller. I love the idea of a psychological thriller in a poetic writing style. 

We love a good book recommendation. What are you currently reading?

I'm jumping between a number of books right now as research for the new manuscript. Netsuke, that I mentioned above, is one of them. I've read it so many times; I highly recommend it. Also, Talking With Psychopaths and Savages by Christopher Berry-Dee. A book of essays I’ve been reading on and off because it’s so gorgeous and introspective and alive that I need to walk away and let it settle into my bones is White Girls by Hilton Als. Damn, if I wrote like that, nobody could tell me anything.